Indonesia being watched

Indonesia being watched

With reference to an article by Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo in
The Jakata Post, Feb. 20, 1998. I agree with the author's
assertion that certain nations, particularly the U.S., do not
want to see "an unacceptably stronger Indonesia among nations".

It is natural for a strong nation to want to remain an
unrivaled power in this global era. It is also likely that the
international community are wary of Indonesia because of our
country's past threats to western hegemony when guided by the
late president Sukarno. Believe me, the West do not want this
nation to rise as a world power.

However, Sayidiman oversimplifies the issue of presidential
and vice presidential successions. In saying objections to a
Soeharto-Habibie ticket boils down to religion, with Moslem
supportive and non-Moslem in opposition, is incorrect. While it
might be true from a foreign perspective, I would like to remind
the author that the strongest domestic opposition to reelecting
Soeharto has come from a prominent Moslem scholar and from
political analysts and students, most of whom practice Islam.

I myself am a Moslem. I do not want to see Soeharto reelected,
even though he is useful to Islam. Friends of mine, also Moslem,
agree with this sentiment.

Habibie, on the other hand, has caused concern among
economists with his long-term mega-projects and once made a
blundering statement on the relationship between interest rates
and inflation. A further blunder of this nature will not be
tolerable in our present economic difficulty. So it is natural to
question Habibie's suitability for the position now.

CASTANEA A. SYLVA

Bandung, West Java