Decisive leadership is vital in time of crisis

Social philosophy professor at Jakarta's Driyarkara School of Philosophy Franz Magnis-Suseno SJ calls on those in power to be ready to make sacrifices to win back public confidence.

JAKARTA (JP): While the year 1997 is coming to an end, our economy is tumbling into an abyss. The rupiah's fall through the Rp 6,000 to the U.S. dollar barrier is not only a psychological shock, it is simply economically unsustainable. It must not only be stopped, it must be reversed. Otherwise, what we have built up during the last 30 years would be cut by a third and we would find ourselves where we were about 16 years ago.

The social costs would be drastic, but I will not expand on them here. Suffice it to say that millions of people would in the end lose their source of livelihood and the danger of large scale riots would become increasingly likely. Unfortunately, this condition will prevail for at least two years, even in the best of circumstances.

Throughout this terrible situation we have been waiting for decisive leadership. But not in the sense that we expect the government to just end our predicament. We realize that our problem is a global one and that no single government is able to solve it on its own.

Up to now, our government has taken the right steps and pointed in the right directions. It has not tried to put the blame on outside forces and has not succumbed to nationalistic rhetoric. It has not tried to hush up the problem, either.

But the fact is all this is just not enough. And time is running out if we want to avoid total economic collapse with all of its terrible consequences.

It seems undisputed that the rupiah's extreme fall cannot be explained by objective economic facts alone. Weak as our economics may be, they were not that bad. The compulsive buying of dollars -- even housemaids are said to have changed rupiah into dollars, wisely as it seems -- is irrational if looked at objectively in light of our economy. It is the sign of a complete loss of trust in the rupiah. And this means nothing less than the loss of public trust in the government's ability to safeguard people's livelihoods. People have lost faith in our government.

The question is not whether this loss of faith is justified or not -- it is a fact. And this fact becomes more obvious as officials continue to act as if the situation was not so bad and that the public should not be alarmed. This is, in fact, the Indonesian way. Even if you are panicked, you should not show it -- it is best even not to acknowledge it to yourself. You should keep your composure and stay polite.

It is when nobody can see you, when it really counts, that you cannot suppress what really moves you and what you really believe. So people are getting rid of their rupiah. If you want to know what Indonesians really feel (maybe what they do not even dare to think) look at what they do with their money.

Like it or not, the fact is people have lost their faith in the ability of our government to govern. This is the unpleasant truth behind the unproportionate fall of the rupiah which, in turn, threatens to ruin our whole economic system.

And therefore nothing other than decisive, inspiring leadership can save us now. Economic and financial measures, as essential as they are, will not suffice. Only decisive leadership by the government can restore public confidence -- without which there is no way out of the crisis.

What would decisive leadership mean? At least two things. First, a clear, unequivocal acknowledgment of the graveness of our situation must be made by the government and the press in order to mobilize the nation's resilience. The leadership of the nation needs to clearly spell out that hard times lie before us, but that if we all "know ourselves" we shall overcome.

Government pronouncements, including all kinds of pious admonitions, and by-the-way press reports about the crisis are one of the reasons people no longer believe in the ability of our leadership to cope with the situation. They know, and feel, that the situation is becoming desperate -- but the government and the press give the impression that it is business as usual. This must not continue.

Second, there needs to be a clear, credible sign that the government, in taking steps necessary in the national interest, would override all personal interests -- even for groups up to now deemed untouchable. This action should at the same time clearly show a commitment to national solidarity, meaning that while asking Indonesians to make sacrifices, the government would show that it demanded real sacrifices from those in power.

What would that mean? The government should postpone or cancel certain projects undertaken by those close to significant power holders, by function or through family ties. Only such action would restore significant public confidence in the seriousness of our government.

The government's reintroduction of some large projects that it had postponed before the creation of the IMF package was psychologically devastating. Regardless of possible economic justifications for this reintroduction, people immediately interpreted it as a sign that our government would do what we usually do -- cash in on the money but avoid taking really stiff action.

Thus only highly visible sacrifices made by those in power or in privileged positions can restore public confidence which our government needs to lead us successfully on the long, arduous road to recovery. It would be an unimaginable tragedy if what Indonesia has built up for 30 years would be finally ruined because we were not able to put our national interest before everything else.

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