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