People's burden unbearable

People's burden unbearable

From Pikiran Rakyat

The nation of Indonesia should thank All-merciful God for His blessings bestowed on us, by granting the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly the wisdom to elect, respectively, Megawati Soekarnoputri and Hamzah Haz as President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, democratically and constitutionally.

This new duo is facing a heavy task ahead, to be dealt with promptly, as the population can no longer bear the mounting burdens of life for much longer. The failure and blunder of the past government must never recur.

As we are now at the dawn of a brighter future, let's hope the nation will rediscover its lost tranquility and peacefulness, to again live a peaceful and normal life.

Of course, we should all foster strong determination and join hands in the effort to achieve a new life in Indonesia we deserve after over half a century of freedom, instead of merely relying on the performance of Mega and Hamzah.

Meanwhile, we must no longer be involved in unnecessary conflicts, as they will only hamper reconciliation. Our predecessors took an oath in 1928 that we are one nation, belong to one land and speak one language, so let's carry out this pledge.

Now that former president Abdurrahman Wahid is having medical treatment in the U.S., we should all pray together for his recovery and good health, in order to enable him to reunite with us all and join our pursuit of a promising life.

YUSUF ISKANDAR

Bandung