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