Govt credibility in the balance

Govt credibility in the balance

The continuing problems in Aceh and Ambon are beginning to
negatively affect the climate of hope and confidence that arose
after Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, and Megawati
Soekarnoputri came to power as President and Vice President,
respectively. All the trust and goodwill which Gus Dur has won on
his trips abroad will not be able to withstand the erosive tide
that will certainly come unless the problems in Aceh and Maluku
are resolved.

There was a time when problems could be easily localized
because transportation, communication, telecommunications as well
as social-political systems were limited in scope. But times have
changed. Mobility of people is high and transportation and
communications are fast. In line with the demands for
democratization, this is a time of openness. It has become
practically impossible to localize problems or events. This was
what we experienced in the case of East Timor, and now the same
is happening with Aceh and Ambon.

We do appreciate the President's hard work. However, so his
efforts are not in vain, we do hope that Gus Dur, Megawati and
the Cabinet ministers concerned will give top priority to finding
solutions to the problems in Aceh and Ambon. These two cases are
testing the leadership of the President and Vice President.

-- Kompas, Jakarta