Angry men and Clinton's List

Angry men and Clinton's List

From Kompas

Many of our politicians and legislators are angry about "Clinton's List" published in the Jan. 2 edition of The International Herald Tribune. The list says that Indonesia is among the countries which are not democratic and do not respect people's freedom.

I appeal to these people not to get emotional and angry too quickly. Perhaps it is not ethical for a foreign country to evaluate us, but it would be wiser to study and evaluate their findings. Do not judge "who" says so but "what" is said. Are we really not yet democratic?

Let us ask the question whether we all put democracy into practice. Do legislators really voice the people's voice? Can we openly express our opinion? Can we accept differences of opinion? Do we exercise control in the people's interest?

It is common knowledge that most legislators only say yes to decisions taken, adding comments such as "approved", "of the same opinion" or "understandable". It has been proven that many of us do not dare discuss subjects like "justice", "national cake", "social disparities", "direction of development", "business of officials' children". Is that not proof enough that we are not yet democratic? The many pro-democracy activists also indicate that we may not yet practice democracy correctly.

To the politicians and legislators who have hastily expressed their ire against Clinton's List, I would suggest some honest introspection.

I recall the case of a school principal in Central Java some years ago. He was angered by a student's report about a survey (on cohabitation, if I am not mistaken) which put his school in a negative light. The student was expelled even though his findings were correct. As intellectuals it would not be right for us to profess the same bigoted outlook.

RENVILLE ALMATSIER

Jakarta