Army of secret informers needed

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