Are rallies productive?

Are rallies productive?

From Media Indonesia

To mark the fifth year of the reform movement, university students held street rallies demanding that Megawati and Hamzah Haz step down. These rallies reflected the strong spirit of reform among university students, although, perhaps only ceremonially.

It is clear that university students were the leaders that started the drive for reform five years ago. We also cannot ignore the fact that not all of the reform agenda has been implemented. However, street rallies demanding that Megawati and Hamzah Haz step down are counterproductive for two reasons.

First, right now, most people in Indonesia are more concerned with how to keep the nation united in solving conflicts across the country, such as the war in Aceh, than they are about changing the government.

Second, although the government under Megawati and Hamzah Haz has not fulfilled all the demands of the reform movement, at the moment Indonesians need a strong government to face various foreign and domestic threats to the country's integrity. To be strong a government needs the support of most of its people.

Therefore, it shows greater maturity, perhaps, to offer only conceptual solutions for the next year or so. Mobilizing the masses for street rallies may lead to moments of anarchy that the political opponents of the current government may cash in on.

LINDASARI

Jakarta