Political deregulation

Political deregulation

A logical consequence of trade liberalization is the growing
importance of political deregulation. This is important because
so far many unhealthy business practices are being conducted
under the cover of government policy.

These were the views expressed by the economist Edy Suandi
Hamid M. Ec. during a discussion at the Center for Strategic and
Policy Studies of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta on
Thursday.

Actually such a view is not new. Years ago in his popular book
Ersatz Capitalism in Southeast Asia, Yosihara Kunio wrote that
what was happening in Southeast Asia -- Indonesia included --
was the growth of a pseudo capitalism. It was artificial because
the entrepreneurs did not develop from the bottom up, but grew
because they were given facilities by the government. Without
government support they would not be able to compete.

It is gratifying that lately the intent to eradicate the
practices of collusion and corruption have been repeatedly stated
by the government. However, that intent would be easier to turn
into reality if supported by a strong public control. And to be
able to adequately perform such a control function the most
important thing that must be assured first is political
deregulation, or political openness.

The most difficult problem now is to equalize our perceptions
about openness. Therefore, our hardest task now is to find a
point of convergence where all those different perceptions could
meet. For that purpose a climate that is conducive for dialogue
is needed.

-- Republika, Jakarta