Mega, NGOs and campus students

Mega, NGOs and campus students

From Sinar Pagi

In the days to come, it is unlikely that President Megawati
will be embroiled in conflicts with political parties or
legislators of the House of Representatives and the People's
Consultative Assembly. It is more likely that she will have to
deal with non-governmental organizations and university students.
It is advisable, therefore, that she deals with them as prudently
and wisely as possible.

The themes that NGOs and campus students will put forward will
be around unsettled cases related to corruption, collusion and
nepotism (KKN), the existence of the Golkar Party and the fact
that many people live under the poverty line.

One thing that President Megawati must be aware of is that the
public has placed little trust in their representatives in the
People's Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives
because these legislators have demonstrated their obvious
preference to fight for their own interests rather than those of
the public.

Generally void of any vested interest, NGOs and university
students, when they are united, will become a big force that can
help the government resolve cases connected with KKN and disband
Golkar, which is believed to be the culprit for most of the
problems the nation is facing today.

Now that Golkar has again shown its power -- one obvious
example is its key role in making Megawati president -- and that
the military and the police have asserted their position as
defenders of the state and, therefore, can no longer be made a
mere instrument to crush one's political foes, the only way left
for Megawati to rally wide support from the public is to show her
resoluteness in and capability of thoroughly resolving long-
standing problems, including, first and foremost, the disbanding
of the Golkar Party.

FAHMI HARAHAP

Jakarta