Decisive leadership is vital in time of crisis

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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