Honesty, silliness and the system
Honesty, silliness and the system
Despite some progress being made, the continuation of making
dishonest and silly policies by Habibie's government will extend
and worsen the people's suffering during this multidimensional
crisis that will probably provoke more riots in the near future.
Many statements which have confused the people have been made
since Soeharto was still in power, and in the midst of this
uncertainty, have caused a lack of confidence in the government
on the part of the people.
In his recent interview with the Washington Post, President
B.J. Habibie said the country's economy would survive even if
ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs did not return to Indonesia because
their role would be filled by other Indonesians. This statement
showed a boasting, irresponsible and unwise attitude. As a
President, he should be responsible for the reasons why they fled
their own country. My interpretation to the statement is that we
don't care what we have done even if it means sacrificing lives
for political purposes that abused human rights.
Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung, prior to his election
as Golkar chairman, stated that if he won the chairmanship, he
was willing to resign as minister of state. But after Golkar
elected him, he did not relinquish his ministerial post but
instead proposed appointing a state secretary deputy. His
decision not to resign but hire a deputy, will increase the
government's expenses and possibly create conflicts of interest.
State Minister of Food and Agriculture A.M. Saefuddin was
quoted by Media Indonesia daily as saying he could tolerate
looters if they did it only to satisfy their hunger. Even though
he denied the report, claiming his remarks on looting were taken
out of context by the reporter, people would have in mind that
the minister should exercise thought in making statements.
Regarding press freedom, other controversial issues have been
made. The press no longer needs a license to operate but
journalists must have a license, which is valid for a limited
time. If the journalist is deemed unqualified, his license could
be revoked. In implementing this new regulation, the government
will, again, have control over the press, creating a 50-year
setback for freedom of the press.
Our nation needs a people and a government that can work
together to overcome this crisis. The people won't support the
government if corruption, collusion and nepotism are still
practiced. In the Reform Cabinet's first three months of work,
not a single minister came out with transparency, only dishonest
and silly statements, as Soeharto's regime had in the past.
PARLINDUNGAN SIBARANI
Jakarta