Let change flow naturally

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