Let change flow naturally

The widespread discussion of the establishment of a federal state for the Republic of Indonesia is reasonable, provided the discourse is meant as an endeavor to solve the threat of a national disintegration that is already on its threshold. However,closer observation shows that the discourse on a federal state is directed more toward disintegration of the nation than toward its unification.

The reasons are:

First, the matter of priority. The real problem of the Indonesian nation is not the form of government, but the solution to grave problems of the sins left from the New Order regime. The balance in financial breakdown between the regional and the central governments reveals a deep gap where the central government shows rapid progress while the people in the regions just stay in place. The situation is worsened by human rights violations committed by armed forces members in the context of the interests of the central government. The highly dominant central power has marginalized the regions from their own environment and the central government itself.

Second, the matter of substance. Objectively speaking, the map of regional capacity shows there are at least three categories: highly potential regions, regions with average capacity and regions requiring outside help. From the three categories, the regions with a surplus in potential are limited (Aceh, Riau, East Kalimantan and Irian Jaya). However, not all regencies (level two) in the regions have equal capacity while the regions who barely survive are greater in number. In these conditions, it is apparently difficult to choose the alternative of a federal state for the Republic of Indonesia because it will enrich the potential of conflicts among regions, thus creating instability in security.

Third, a historical approach. Various sociopolitical references on the state indicate that a basic change in form like the state never takes place in a short time, because the change is connected to the system of values, information dissemination, etc. It can hardly be hoped that in a short time we will be able to obtain better results from the current objective conditions.

With the three points of consideration above, it is urgent for our attention to be directed toward the problems that require immediate handling. Let the changes take place in a natural way, which is, perhaps, easier to accept than something that is imposed.

KRISHARY ADI TATALU

Bekasi, West Java