Open letter to the President

Open letter to the President

From Warta Kota

To President Megawati Soekarnoputri: Please accept belated
congratulations for your appointment as Indonesia's fifth
president from an avid supporter and admirer.

As a member of the public, I hold high hopes of your
performance and efforts to alleviate public suffering and getting
us out of the economic crisis.

The rupiah has started to gain strength since your swearing in
and now the names of the ministers announced on Aug. 9 have also
received a positive response from the market.

As a common person, I would only like to underline one of your
promises as Chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which was concerned with eradicating
corruption.

As corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) is unfortunately
believed to be embedded in our culture, top-down eradication
would be most effective, starting with the president, followed by
firm and undiscriminating action against those involved in such
divisive behavior.

Your statement claiming that your family would never be
allowed to be involved in KKN would be supported by many.

Besides general KKN campaigns, I hope that anti-corruption
laws could be immediately put into effect. In the rules and
regulations of administrative bodies there should be a built-in
disciplinary system so as to minimize any possible corruption.

Development on islands outside Java should also be considered,
because these islands are rich in natural resources but poor in
infrastructure. Rather than migrating to Java, the people on
these outer islands should be given an equal opportunity for
their own betterment.

Finally, I hope the government you are leading, along with
Hamzah Haz, will fulfill the aspirations of the Indonesian
people.

ROBERT

Karawaci, Banten