Elite now root cause of crisis

Elite now root cause of crisis

From Media Indonesia

The political game engaged in by the members of the country's political elite at the central level is both ridiculous and boring in the eyes of laymen. I am a layman in politics but can see clearly that they are devoid of any political will and have no grasp of good political management. They have yet to be able to employ efficient and effective management so as to enable the existing institutions to work. Finally, they have made themselves the root cause of the crisis itself. How come?

The function of consultation is no longer to be found in the People's Consultative Assembly. The function of representation that should be fulfilled by the House of Representatives has now been converted into a mere show of power by the legislature. The Supreme Advisory Council has also failed to pursue the concept of balance while the President cannot fully exercise his presidential functions. The Supreme Audit Board and the Supreme Court have also both failed to fulfill their respective auditing and judicial functions.

The state's highest and high institutions seem to have lost their significance and what is regularly exposed to the public is merely their tangled confusion. We lost most of our money through the monetary crisis and what is left is disappearing completely into thin air with a crisis characterized by disintegration and conflicts stemming from ethnicity, religion and race. What is it that we are really after?

FATHULLAH H HUSEIN

Jakarta