Govt berated for poor teamwork in fighting against terrorism

Govt berated for poor teamwork in fighting against terrorism

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Political analysts lashed out at President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's government on Friday for what they said was its
"poor coordination" in efforts to handle the deadly Bali bombings
and combat global terrorism.

The lack of coordination among the Cabinet and government
agencies was further proof of Megawati's poor leadership in
running the crisis-battered country, the analysts told The
Jakarta Post separately.

"The administration's leadership has collapsed. In such a
current situation, how could Cabinet members battle against one
another? It's crazy. They should be united to deal with the
nation's problems," said J. Kristiadi from the Centre for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

He was commenting on Thursday's statement by foreign affairs
ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa that the government had
joined many other countries in supporting the inclusion of Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI) on the United Nations list of terrorist groups.

However, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono apparently adopted a cautious
stance on Thursday in branding JI as a terrorist group, while
Vice President Hamzah Haz declined to confirm the decision,
surprisingly saying he knew nothing about it.

"I don't have information about this. Ask the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs," Hamzah told journalists during his visit to
Yogyakarta on Friday.

The poor coordination was also blatantly displayed by the
security authorities investigating the Bali terrorist attack on
Oct. 12, 2002, which killed at least 190 mostly foreign tourists.

The military intelligence team, led by Maj. Gen. Muhdi of the
Army Special Force (Kopassus), has claimed to have identified
those responsible for the debacle, but at the same time the
separate joint police team maintains it is still in the dark over
the bombing.

Kristiadi said all these disparities showed internal bickering
among top government leaders despite the fact the country badly
needed a united effort to root out terrorism.

"As the vice president, Hamzah Haz should not have made such a
statement. What he should have told the public was that Indonesia
has never listed JI. But if the group or its members could be
detected here, it is not part of our Muslim culture. This would
be wise for him as a statesman," he said.

Kristiadi also said rivalry between military, police and
intelligence leaders was increasingly evident in their separate
investigations to find the Bali bombers.

"The unhealthy competition between security forces should not
have happened. If intelligence knows about the identity of the
attackers, they have to share information with others to build
mutual coordination," he added.

Socio-political analyst Fachry Ali concurred and said: "There
is no coordination at all between government officials. It is a
fundamental weakness of the current government's leadership".

It means that the country was maintaining a "disorganized
government" in dealing with one of the most crucial problems, he
added.

Before leaving on Tuesday for Mexico to attend the APEC
meeting, Megawati appointed Susilo to coordinate efforts to fight
terrorism.

Fachry said even though Susilo was appointed to take charge of
the national drive against terrorism, the coordination remained
poor.

Kristiadi, nevertheless, said Megawati as the top government
leader must bear the brunt of most of the blame.

"She should not have gone abroad but should instead have been
on full alert for 24 hours to coordinate efforts at home to
resolve the Bali blasts and the anti-terrorism campaign.

"Megawati has to visit ulemas for talks and speak to
journalists every day in order to convince the public that
terrorism is not a part of the Muslim way of life. She has to do
this perpetually," he said.

Similarly, noted military analyst Kusnanto Anggoro of the CSIS
also blamed the lack of coordination for the current messy
situation.

"We probably have to give them (the government) some time. But
certainly, they cannot blame it on the lack of a legal basis
anymore," he said.

Kusnanto and Kristiadi attributed the poor coordination to the
vested political interests on the part of all senior government
officials.

The current government is comprised of leaders of political
parties that helped Megawati rise to power in July last year,
after toppling blind Muslim cleric Abdurrahman Wahid for alleged
graft and incompetence.