Inconsistency rife in Mega's government

Inconsistency rife in Mega's government

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Two powerful politicians have joined the bandwagon of rising
criticism against the government of President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, saying that the current administration lacks
consistency.

The two politicians -- Speakers of the People's Consultative
Assembly Amien Rais and the House of Representatives Akbar
Tandjung -- warned on Wednesday that they hoped her government
would improve in the year ahead, otherwise the trust of the
people would diminish.

"The government has shown its inconsistency, doubt and
indecisiveness. All those things are the dominant themes of
Megawati's leadership," Amien said.

"If the government continues this inconsistency, there will be
no progress. We hope the administration will take consistency to
be its basic character," he added.

Amien, however, refused to describe this situation to be a
symptom of friction among members of the Cabinet.

Correspondingly, Akbar suggested that the government of
Megawati should have the courage to outline its priority for the
coming years.

With regard to the prolonged crisis, Akbar, who is also the
Golkar Party chairman, reiterated that the economy should be a
top priority in order for the nation to return to normal.

Those statements from both Amien and Akbar highlighted
criticism launched earlier by several non-governmental
organizations and some student groups as part of a year-end
evaluation.

Many of the critics said that the government of Megawati lacks
the will to combat corruption, collusion and nepotism, popularly
known as KKN.

Megawati was accused just last week of nepotism following the
appointment of her husband Taufik Kiemas to lead a ministerial
delegation to China.

Indecisiveness also appeared to be behind the delayed plan of
the government to raise fuel prices scheduled to be effective as
of Tuesday.

Megawati also drew the ire of Papuans after she canceled her
trip to the province of Papua (the province formerly known as
Irian Jaya) despite high expectations from the local people for
their voice to be heard, especially after the murder of Papuan
leader Theys Hiyo Eluay in November, which is yet to be solved.

The President is also being roundly criticized by huge sectors
of the public for considering an annulment of the corruption case
against former president Soeharto. There has also been much
discussion about whose idea it was.

Amien, who is also chairman of the National Mandate Party
(PAN), added that the government seemed to lack the will to
continue its efforts in law enforcement, specifically against
KKN, citing that no cases have been brought to court during her
tenure.

"The President and the ministers have had some disputes as
well and have tried to avoid their responsibility (of leading the
nation). This is wishy-washy," Amien said.