Decree through trickery?

For more than two years now and, ironically, in the reform era, our country has witnessed seemingly unending disasters, willfully caused by irresponsible people.

To name a few, communal strife and bloody incidents in Aceh and Ambon have shown no signs of abating. Other barbaric acts that keep recurring, such as beheading people and lynching criminal suspects, are reminiscent of the times when this part of the world was occupied by uncivilized tribes. The destruction of holy places and bomb explosions have also posed a constant threat to citizens of big cities in Indonesia.

Every time there is news of criminals, corruption cases being brought to court, there are always cases of bomb blasts and the killing or injuring of innocent people.

Only a few days ago in the Slipi area, a bomb was lobbed from a speeding truck onto the road, which exploded and reportedly injured scores of passers-by. Some people made a silly comment: "Don't be surprised! The special session is in the offing".

The police seem to be at their wit's end to anticipate further possible blasts and the government's attempts to totally clamp down on the conflicts have not brought the desired results.

The masterminds of these criminal acts are sophisticated and, unfortunately, professional police officers and government officials are not concerned enough to cope with problems like these.

Many people are beginning to wonder whether there are certain people deliberately instigating unrest across Indonesia so that they can claim this country is in a state of chaos, enabling them to declare a state of emergency and to issue a presidential decree under the pretext that the nation is under the serious danger of disintegration.

FALDY R

Jakarta