Disturbing conflicts

Disturbing conflicts

In his New Year's address President Soeharto referred to the disputes that are, at present, bothering the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and Nahdatul Ulama (NU). Although he did not explicitly mention their names, he said he felt concerned because a failure on the part of the two organizations to consolidate their positions would, either directly or indirectly, have an impact on our national development efforts.

The President's words represent our own concern. We, too, are concerned about the discord in NU after the recent congress at Cipasung, West Java. The same goes for the endless bickering in the Indonesian Democratic Party.

How to find a way out of this disturbing situation? We appreciate the government's stance, which may be summarized as: hands off. The government prefers that the two organizations resolve their problems by themselves.

If we want to be consistent, the government can but reaffirm that the problem must be resolved according to the rules of the game and the principles of legality. To settle their problems autonomously, the two organizations must act wisely and allow differences to develop within the bounds of the existing rules.

A paradox is evident in this case: On the one hand, if the government refrains from interfering, unconstitutional dissidence would have no chance of developing. On the other hand, if one isn't smart enough and if there are parties who intend to force things, the government would eventually feel forced to interfere.

-- Kompas, Jakarta