Investors, where are you?

Investors, where are you?

From Pelita

When President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid went on successive tours of many countries, many people, including Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly Amien Rais, voiced sharp criticism. They said Gus Dur should focus on the situation at home instead of traveling abroad.

Gus Dur replied nonchalantly that the visits were in the context of evaluating the chaotic conditions in the country. The understanding was that the visits would immediately result in businesspeople flocking to Indonesia to invest.

We accepted the explanation, and we even acquiesced to Gus Dur's promises. While abroad, he said that then coordinating minister for politics and security Wiranto should resign to save himself and also to encourage the investors to return.

It was said that Indonesia was being put under duress. Wiranto was suspected of human rights violations, and thus investors would not be willing to come to Indonesia.

Despite Gus Dur's many foreign visits, and the fact that Wiranto is no longer minister, there are no signs of foreign investors coming to our shores. Where are they? Apparently there is no certainty on that score. Unemployment remains on the increase, crime abounds and killings and torture go unabated everywhere.

What can we get now? Well, apparently Gus Dur is busy with his own job. He is worried that his presidency will be scuttled by the military. The proof? Instead of opening up fields of work and showing evidence of the flow of investors, he continues to talk only about politics, such as a military district commander who is supposedly threatening to undermine his power.

DIDI DARMADI

Jakarta