Sat, 18 Aug 2001

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.