New Cabinet

News have spread that the new Cabinet will have 36 ministerial positions. Compared to the last Cabinet, this is an increase of 10 positions.

If this is true, this is will be the first mistake of President Megawati and I believe it is because her considerations weigh more on the stability of her presidency than efforts to end the crisis.

If there are more ministerial positions but with no revision of the government's budget, the government will be forced to reduce expenditure somewhere and hopefully it will not be the allocation for the poor. On the other hand, if the government's budget is increased, the budget deficit will become larger.

To me, a "fat" Cabinet contradicts the principal of regional autonomy where local governments are given more authority to run their administrations. If the new government insists on forming a large Cabinet, it clearly indicates that it doesn't have a sense of crisis. As a result, the public will become apathetic about the new national leadership and the government trapped in horse trading.

The other matter of concern is the plan to reestablish the information and social ministries. As is still fresh in people's mind, the information ministry was the most effective government tool in screening information and fooling simple-minded people in rural areas. With the advanced and sophisticated communications equipment in Indonesia today, it is naive if the government thinks it can still manipulate and monopolizing information.

The social ministry, which was supposed to manage the welfare of the poor, ended up serving the welfare of the employees in the ministry. I am very sure that without the social ministry, the risks of funds for the poor being siphoned off will be reduced.

Finally, as a citizen I would like to say to Ibu Megawati that when making crucial decisions, she should listen to her heart of hearts. If her heart is full of honesty and integrity, "she will be on the right track."

M SULHAN ASKANDAR

Jakarta