Legislators, observers hail Mega's speech
Legislators, observers hail Mega's speech
JAKARTA (JP): Observers and legislators showered President
Megawati Soekarnoputri's state-of-the-nation address with praise
on Thursday which they said shed a ray of hope for good
governance.
However, some cast doubts on whether Megawati's law
enforcement team in the Cabinet were competent enough to help her
live up to her commitment to combat corruption and abuse of human
rights.
"Megawati showed that she is confident to take responsibility
for all these complex jobs from combating corruption to
maintaining the nation's integrity," said political observer J.B.
Kristiadi of the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS).
The state-of-the nation address, the first that Megawati has
given since she was appointed President on July 23, was seen as a
sign that she had a clear agenda and set priorities that her
coalition government would pursue.
The speech disproved many people's skepticism about Megawati's
ability to communicate her vision and leadership, Kristiadi said.
Kristiadi was impressed by the President's modesty as
reflected in her call for support from all quarters and that
there was nothing overly ambitious in setting goals.
Political observer Fachry Ali sees that President Megawati's
speech clearly showed her vision as she articulated goals the
government wanted to achieve.
"Generally, the speech was good as it was prepared by
competent experts, but at the core of her speech was her
intention to keep herself and her family free from being tainted
by unlawful practices. Such a statement has never been expressed
by any of our presidents in the past," he said.
Megawati realizes that the main problem faced by her
government is credibility as it is public knowledge that the
majority of government officials are corrupt.
"She wants to show to the public that the effort to fight
corruption should start from herself and the impact is expected
to be felt on her Cabinet members and other government
officials."
Fachry said that Megawati is a law-abiding leader.
Megawati's speech had particularly impressed Jusuf Syakir,
chief of the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN). He
said, "It erased many people's doubts about Megawati... It was
powerful and straight using the language of housewives, which is
unsophisticated but easy to understand."
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung also praised the President's
speech concerning her vision toward the numerous major problems
the nation was facing and the programs she wanted to implement up
until 2004.
"Generally, we are satisfied with the President's speech and
the House of Representatives will fully support the government's
programs to uphold the supremacy of law, overcome the crisis and
create political and social stability," he said.
Commendations also came from Todung Mulya Lubis, a lawyer and
human rights activist and Mochtar Pabottingi, a political
observer of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
They said that Megawati's commitment and vision as head of
state was very well expressed in her speech and that the next
step was to bring them into reality.
"With the new good Cabinet and first speech, Megawati has made
a flying start and everybody is watching to see whether she will
do well in the future," Todung said.
Skepticism
Todung and Mochtar, however, expressed their skepticism of
the new government's ability to fight against the prevalent
corruption and human rights abuses.
Todung warned that Megawati's establishment of a coalition
Cabinet could kill the process of checks-and-balances because of
the absence of opposition parties in the legislature.
He argued that Megawati, Vice President Hamzah Haz, People's
Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House Speaker Akbar
Tandjung should quit their position in their respective political
parties to ensure their integrity in implementing their state
duties.
Todung was skeptical whether Minister of Justice and Human
Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Attorney General M.A. Rachman
would have the guts to deal with cases of corruption and human
rights abuses involving powerful personalities, such as the East
Timor and Tanjung Priok massacres.
"It's impossible to solve the problems of Aceh and Irian Jaya
unless the government investigates human rights violations in the
two provinces," he added.
Mochtar pointed out that Yusril did nothing under former
president Abdurrahman Wahid's Cabinet and that he was very close
to former president Soeharto while the new attorney general had
no convincing track record in the prosecution of corruptors and
human rights abusers. (rms/02/pan)
JAKARTA (JP): Observers and legislators showered President
Megawati Soekarnoputri's state-of-the-nation address with praise
on Thursday which they said shed a ray of hope for good
governance.
However, some cast doubts on whether Megawati's law
enforcement team in the Cabinet were competent enough to help her
live up to her commitment to combat corruption and abuse of human
rights.
"Megawati showed that she is confident to take responsibility
for all these complex jobs from combating corruption to
maintaining the nation's integrity," said political observer J.B.
Kristiadi of the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS).
The state-of-the nation address, the first that Megawati has
given since she was appointed President on July 23, was seen as a
sign that she had a clear agenda and set priorities that her
coalition government would pursue.
The speech disproved many people's skepticism about Megawati's
ability to communicate her vision and leadership, Kristiadi said.
Kristiadi was impressed by the President's modesty as
reflected in her call for support from all quarters and that
there was nothing overly ambitious in setting goals.
Political observer Fachry Ali sees that President Megawati's
speech clearly showed her vision as she articulated goals the
government wanted to achieve.
"Generally, the speech was good as it was prepared by
competent experts, but at the core of her speech was her
intention to keep herself and her family free from being tainted
by unlawful practices. Such a statement has never been expressed
by any of our presidents in the past," he said.
Megawati realizes that the main problem faced by her
government is credibility as it is public knowledge that the
majority of government officials are corrupt.
"She wants to show to the public that the effort to fight
corruption should start from herself and the impact is expected
to be felt on her Cabinet members and other government
officials."
Fachry said that Megawati is a law-abiding leader.
Megawati's speech had particularly impressed Jusuf Syakir,
chief of the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN). He
said, "It erased many people's doubts about Megawati... It was
powerful and straight using the language of housewives, which is
unsophisticated but easy to understand."
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung also praised the President's
speech concerning her vision toward the numerous major problems
the nation was facing and the programs she wanted to implement up
until 2004.
"Generally, we are satisfied with the President's speech and
the House of Representatives will fully support the government's
programs to uphold the supremacy of law, overcome the crisis and
create political and social stability," he said.
Commendations also came from Todung Mulya Lubis, a lawyer and
human rights activist and Mochtar Pabottingi, a political
observer of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
They said that Megawati's commitment and vision as head of
state was very well expressed in her speech and that the next
step was to bring them into reality.
"With the new good Cabinet and first speech, Megawati has made
a flying start and everybody is watching to see whether she will
do well in the future," Todung said.
Skepticism
Todung and Mochtar, however, expressed their skepticism of
the new government's ability to fight against the prevalent
corruption and human rights abuses.
Todung warned that Megawati's establishment of a coalition
Cabinet could kill the process of checks-and-balances because of
the absence of opposition parties in the legislature.
He argued that Megawati, Vice President Hamzah Haz, People's
Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House Speaker Akbar
Tandjung should quit their position in their respective political
parties to ensure their integrity in implementing their state
duties.
Todung was skeptical whether Minister of Justice and Human
Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Attorney General M.A. Rachman
would have the guts to deal with cases of corruption and human
rights abuses involving powerful personalities, such as the East
Timor and Tanjung Priok massacres.
"It's impossible to solve the problems of Aceh and Irian Jaya
unless the government investigates human rights violations in the
two provinces," he added.
Mochtar pointed out that Yusril did nothing under former
president Abdurrahman Wahid's Cabinet and that he was very close
to former president Soeharto while the new attorney general had
no convincing track record in the prosecution of corruptors and
human rights abusers. (rms/02/pan)