Megawati draws criticism over no-rally appeal

Megawati draws criticism over no-rally appeal

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri in her year-end address
discouraged the use of street democracy, boasting that the
"success" shown in 2001 was a basis to begin solving problems
orderly through established national institutions.

Megawati's message seemed to signal an attempt to consolidate
power by channeling decision-making through a controlled process
and to end the public cacophony which has highlighted democracy
here over the past three years.

In the traditional presidential nationwide broadcast, Megawati
urged the public not to engage in street rallies and instead have
faith in existing representative institutions to resolve
problems.

While underlining the dangers of what she termed "street
democracy" she neglected to appraise whether the performance of
the institutions in question warranted the people's faith, a
faith that many observers believed did not exist.

Critics told The Jakarta Post that her appeal would be ignored
by the public because it was unrealistic as long as legislative
bodies remained unresponsive to people's aspirations.

Some even charged that her address portrayed an obsession with
maintaining order and stability.

Political observer Fachry Ali said her statement, discouraging
demonstrations, exemplified the status quo's instinctual habit of
silencing the public for the sake of their own success.

"Every power holder is always obsessed with the maintenance of
order and stability because only with this can they claim success
in their government," said Fachry, who is executive director of
the Study Institute for Business Ethics Development (LSPEU).

University of Indonesia political scientist Arbi Sanit also
noted that the basic problem with her demand is that street
rallies still fulfill a necessary function, by making legislators
more accountable and responsive to the will of the people.

"Many legislators just use the House (of Representatives) as a
school to study politics," he remarked.

Political observer Syamsuddin Haris echoed previous
commentators saying that the president had little perception of
how the people perceived their much-maligned representatives both
in the House and the People's Consultative Assembly.

"It (the appeal) is not realistic in the current situation,"
he said.

"Demonstrations will always take place if representative
bodies fail to represent their constituents," he added.

Instead of the cynical view Megawati has apparently taken
towards street rallies, Syamsuddin argued that they were still
important, because demonstrations are a strong public reminder
for legislators and government officials to carry out their
duties responsibly and professionally.

He charged that, more often than not, legislators are unable
to rid themselves of their own vested personal or party
interests, resulting in deep frustration among the people.

Street rallies have become an almost daily event since the
dawn of the reform era.

However authorities have often charged that the exploitation
of freedom of expression in the streets often causes extreme
rallies which have undermined public order and terrorized foreign
investors who see the country as a cycle of neverending protests
and turmoil.

The recent anti-American rallies were among the latest to
create uneasiness among Indonesia's foreign partners.

Megawati, in her address, charged that demonstrations are
"almost always prone to be misused" by certain parties who wish
to create chaos.

"Let us not forget that we abide by a system of democratic
representation where differences in aspirations must be
discussed, negotiated and agreed upon through representative
institutions."

"We must not continually rely on what is called 'street
democracy', even though its is every citizen's and every group's
right to demonstrate," she said.

Megawati, in her speech, also warned of looming problems
ahead, but said the country is heading in the right direction
boasting of "early signs of success" in 2001.

"It is not too much to claim that finally we have achieved
political stability...Now we can concentrate on the bigger issues
and save our energy to deal with other problems," the President
said.

She also expressed some concern over her government's lack of
success in combating corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN)
which is a chronic problem in the country.

"I believe that none of us want to go down in history as KKN
practitioners in the era of national reform," she said.

Underlining the top priority for the year to come, Megawati
said that reviving the debt-ridden economy was paramount because
so much depends on solid economic growth.