New leader needed

Last Thursday's events showed what happens when policies of greed, extortion, vengeance and disrespect for property, which have been common among the elite in Indonesia, are emulated by a mob of ordinary people unrestrained by feeling of individual responsibility or fear of sanctions. In order to prevent recurrences, it is necessary to introduce more effective policing and to improve the economic and political conditions which have nurtured such deep anger and resentment.

For sure, Jakarta's police will learn much from last week's events and will be ready to do a better job in future, but economic and political factors will be more of a problem. Economic conditions, as they affect the poor, are likely to get worse over the coming months.

Politically, the government will have to cure the mistrust which it has instilled over many years. When the nation needed openness, it gave us the closure of Tempo magazine. When the nation needed political participation, it gave us the ousting of Megawati. When the nation needed a quick response to financial crisis, it gave us six months of failed agreements with the IMF. As a result of these misjudgements, most people do not believe that the development is open to ideas, do not believe that political parties can represent them, do not believe that development policies aim to benefit the poorest people, and do not believe that this government can lead Indonesia back toward prosperity. These consequences were easily foreseeable when the relevant decisions were taken, but it seems that priority was given to reinforcing and perpetuating the power of the President and those close to him.

At present, everyone agrees that what Indonesia most needs is a new leader capable of earning trust. Clearly, he will rely on the support of the Armed Forces and no doubt he will work within the 1945 Constitution and emphasize the importance of the principles of Pancasila. But just importantly, he will need to listen responsively to the aspirations of all Indonesia's people. It would be tragic if, yet again, the Armed Forces, the Constitution and the Pancasila ideology are exploited as instruments to perpetuate the power of the current president's entourage. If this happens, then confidence in all the pillars of constitutional government will be further undermined and a relapse into last Thursday's violence will become inevitable.

JOHN HARGREAVES

Jakarta