Obstacles to reform

Obstacles to reform

From Kompas

Father Mangunwijaya wrote again (May 22). He seemed to have lost his patience. I subscribe to his opinion that basically this nation has lost its system of values.

The words of leadership figures cannot be trusted, their promises are liable to denial afterward and their nature is treacherous. How can reform take place if it is led by a person whose words and stance just the week before were clearly an obstacle to real reform (not reform that is mere rhetoric)?

How can people trust a person who said that he had checked and rechecked and reported that the whole Indonesian nation supported Soeharto as president, and not long afterward stated that the people's aspirations demanded Soeharto's resignation? Contradictory statements were made by the same person in a very short time span.

I am perplexed. Is this the character of the nation's leaders? Dignity seems to be absent in the dictionary of many people occupying leading positions. The change of the national leadership is in its initial stages and is a small part of a bigger struggle, i.e. to redefine the political system and values.

A student made the following interesting comment in an interview: Bringing down a regime and replacing it with an equally despotic regime should not become a habit in this beloved country.

HADISUDJONO S.

Jakarta