Indonesia in danger?

Indonesia in danger?

Some rectors of state and private universities have publicly declared that Indonesia is entering a dangerous stage.

Similar statements have also been made by observers and politicians. They jokingly ask daily if Indonesia will exist next year. In reality, the joke contains the message that the current situation is really chaotic.

The chaotic situation is reflected by, among other things, the issuance of the regulation on terrorism in law of law (Perpu).

Soon after the Bali blast, all fingers pointed at our intelligence system, which was found to be very weak. Intelligence agencies responded by saying that there was no legal coordinating board to make their performance more effective. As the Criminal Code (KUHP) lacks the "teeth" to curb terror-related cases, and as there is no antiterrorism law, the Perpu was proposed. Ironically, many oppose and criticize the Perpu, while those in favor of the Perpu just keep silent.

Criticism to the police's performance in connection to solving Bali bombing is also a good example. Almost all people say that the police are unprofessional. However, when the police worked hard and announced the results (of the investigation), most people cynically expressed their lack of confidence in the police's findings. They even accused the police of orchestrating things.

From the two examples we could conclude that the rectors' statements are not wrong. The statements are underlined by the fact that our leaders have their own political agenda, instead of the spirit of togetherness to work for the nation.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta