Army of secret informers needed

The Sept. 9 bomb explosion in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, could have been prevented if the police and the intelligence services, had an army of secret informers, who are well-paid and full-time, not doing the job as a pastime or amateurs.

Their search for suspect characters by mingling with all levels of the population should be a 24-hour and well-coordinated duty. The perpetrators knew too well that most security officers were or still are preoccupied with the second round of the direct presidential election and that seemed to be the right time to strike whatever their motives.

Future threats from terrorists, using the same device, have now become a very serious problem, which can spill over to extreme groupings dissatisfied with the results of the election, as seen at the central General Elections Commission (KPU) tally as well as at the several polling booths.

If there are no arrests of the suspected group before the Sept. 20 presidential election, personally I have a hunch that violence and bombing explosions may accompany the democratic exercise. The impression is that police and secret agencies have been taking their duties in this respect with too much complacency with no apparent urgency.

In light of the presidential election, it might have been a test by extreme elements of how the security authorities would react to such a challenge. There is too much at stake, nationally and globally, to refrain from greatly strengthening this army of secret informers. And it should be immediately considered, whatever the result of the election. Common people, like myself, sadly fail to understand why Indonesians have become a people that so easily resort to violence. There is fear that the presidential elections will turn out to be an unruly and violent affair after the latest bombing incident.

GANDHI SUKARDI Jakarta