Megawati's solemn vow

Megawati's solemn vow

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has demonstrated to the
people that she is sensitive toward the most immediate aspiration
of the people to have clean governance. In her first
state-of-the-nation address on Thursday, besides discussing
various important issues such as the economic crisis and the
danger of national disintegration, the President sincerely vowed
to establish a clean administration. This solemn desire has
understandably touched the very heart of the populace who now
live amid worsening economic conditions and who are victims of
the widening disparity in social justice.

The President also seems to fully understand that corruption
is not only an immoral breach of the people's faith but also a
dangerous destabilizer of the political climate. There are plenty
of examples demonstrating that fact, especially in developing
countries. Some of the authorities in such countries are
seriously fighting corruption, while others do nothing about it
until it finally becomes the reason for their ouster.

Indonesia is a developing country where corruption has long
been a way of life. Here corrupt officials -- and the plutocrats
they enriched through questionable business practices -- are
making little effort to hide their ill-gotten gains, but actually
flaunt them. They believe that they are but a small segment of
the vicious cycle, which has eventually become a part of the
national culture. What they are unaware of is that for the common
people, frustration has reached an intolerable level.

In the past, government after government has collapsed due to
the corrupt mindset. The corrupt regime of president Soeharto,
which once claimed to be striving for political stability,
collapsed due to its failure to learn that there is no stability
without social justice. The government of his successor, BJ
Habibie, was toppled by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR),
the country's highest constitutional body for, among other
reasons, his impotence to investigate the devastating corruption
committed by Soeharto, his former mentor, as ordered by the
Assembly. Abdurrahman Wahid, who replaced Habibie, was kicked out
because of trouble of his own making after only a brief
"honeymoon" period. The MPR accused him of involvement in two
corruption scandals, dubbed Buloggate and Bruneigate.

Megawati, despite her pacifist approach to governing, seems to
want very much to eliminate such a fatal hurdle. As if she had
just attended a class on religious morality, on Thursday she
surprisingly announced that in the government's antigraft
campaign she wanted to start with herself and her family.

"Let me tell you, honorable legislators, I have personally
called upon all members of my family to support my campaign to
avoid any scandals involving corruption, collusion and nepotism.
And they have sincerely agreed to help me." On Wednesday evening
her businessman husband, Taufik Kiemas, told the media that she
would personally find at fault any minister found awarding
projects to or bestowing unlawful benefits on her children and
family members.

In this context and for the sake of the whole nation the
President really needs our support. Members of the House of
Representatives and mass media should capitalize on their
influence over Megawati's government to prevent her from being
seduced into tasting the forbidden fruit.

If that happened this country would regress into a wild and
lawless condition, representing a setback of four decades.