Govt told flexibility best long-term security policy
Govt told flexibility best long-term security policy
JAKARTA (JP): The government must be more accommodating and
receptive to people's demands according to Vedi Hadiz.
Vedi Hadiz, director of the Society for Political and Economic
Studies, told a seminar on Wednesday that the government would be
better off avoiding the emergence of any people's movements which
can destabilize the nation once they start rolling.
Ignoring the aspirations of the people in this era of social
transformation will only invoke greater disappointment, Vedi
said.
"The present political system must be more flexible in
accommodating people's demands," he said during a one-day seminar
on "The People's Movement in Indonesia" which was jointly
organized by the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals
and the Republika daily.
Noted historian Onghokham, the other speaker in the
discussion, gave a historical perspective of people's movements
in Indonesia which date back to the national movements of the
early 20th century that later grew to lead the struggle for
independence from the Dutch.
In his presentation, Onghokham said history has shown that
movements were initiated when governments implemented an iron
fisted policy.
Vedi warned the government against imposing restrictions on
people who want to air their views because it would simply add to
their disappointment.
Popular movements emerge because the administration fails to
accommodate their demands which leads to frustration.
"People's movement usually are organized by people who feel
they have been neglected," he said, citing the workers' protests
in Medan, North Sumatra, last April which turned into a full
scale riot as an example.
The riot was a climax to the workers' disappointment because
they feel they have been ignored for quite a long time by the
authorities, he said.
The government should reconsider its stance on implementing a
policy of discouraging people from being involved in politics.
Vedi said that creating such distance would stop the people
from channeling their aspirations, which would have undesirable
consequences. "The people will explode if they don't have a
channel for their aspirations," he said.
He suggested that the movements be organized to have a social
impact. (par)