Golkar still the same

Golkar still the same

From Sinar Pagi

In my opinion, despite the claim made by the Functional Group (Golkar) that it has scrapped the A, B and G channels, standing respectively for the Armed Forces, the bureaucracy and Golkar itself, Golkar has not completely abandoned these channels.

Golkar declaring itself as New Golkar most probably means that it has now added the word "Party" after it, i.e. Golkar Party. Unfortunately, the leaders are the same old people, namely the New Order breed of leaders, the kind of people always speaking of the law. In this country, the law belongs to government officials and their cronies and is a means to protect themselves.

Are civil servants neutral? Not yet, I dare say, because when Golkar was declared a political party in Senayan some time ago, the civil servants were forced to attend by one of the ministers, and government officials of echelon I from all ministries also attended.

And what about the neutrality that the Armed Forces (ABRI) claims as its stance? In fact, there is no such neutrality because Golkar claims that ABRI's commander-in-chief is its candidate or best cadre!

In view of the above, the upcoming general election must be held on a public holiday or on a day specially turned into a holiday to ensure that there will be no intervention from the minister in charge of civil servants' affairs and that department heads can no longer influence their subordinates on election day. Therefore, the problem pertaining to the civil servants' matter in the general election must not concern political parties only because government officials, from ministers down to subdistrict and village heads, all civil servants, are not neutral yet because of their concurrent positions in the government and in Golkar. These are the people who are concerned only with their position and power. Golkar can still gather votes from organizations of the wives of government officials and members of ABRI, such as Dharma Wanita and Pertiwi, and from private circles close to subdistrict and village heads.

Now for Mr. Akbar Tandjung. Mr. Tandjung, you are a minister but you are involved in election campaigning. You know people are leading a hard life and the country is in deep economic trouble. If ministers join the campaigning, who will take care of the state and the people? Mr. Tandjung, you'd better think more about the people's plight due to the economic recession and their lack of nutrition and food. Unemployment is rising, as are the prices of daily necessities. Riots break out in many places across the country. What has the government done in this respect, Mr. Tandjung?

Now to all. Do not blame Mr. Habibie. We must bear in mind that he is a technocrat and a former state minister for research and technology. He is not an expert in political and economic affairs. Therefore, leave the country's political and economic problems to ministers who are qualified in these matters.

Mark my words: If we all realize that we live only once and for but a relatively short period, we will live in peace, free from any avarice for position, power and wealth.

EKO ARDIYANTO

Jakarta