Political ethics

Political ethics

From Rakyat Merdeka

Cases are piling up in our country. Policies have been issued
by the Habibie administration one after another, but the people
consider them all to be wrong. Some of these policies may in fact
be correct, while some others are indeed wrong, like his decision
on East Timor:

1. President B.J. Habibie said in a very relaxed manner that
700,000 East Timorese were meaningless compared to the total
population of 200 million Indonesians. To Indonesia, losing the
East Timorese is just like losing Kebayoran in South Jakarta, he
said.

2. According to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, as quoted
by CNN, Habibie once told the international community that if the
Indonesian government failed to maintain security in East Timor,
it would leave the matter up to the United Nations Security
Council.

3. At the State Place, Habibie, in one of his addresses, said the
Indonesian Military and police performed their duties in East
Timor to the best of their abilities, although security in the
territory was nonexistent and had to be handed over to the United
Nations through its peacekeeping force.

These three items demonstrate that there is something wrong
with the leadership of this country, including its inability to
maintain the nation's pride and the state's sovereignty. Who is
to bear the responsibility for this failure? It is all
Indonesians who must bear the brunt. If Habibie had some
understanding of political ethics, he would agree that giving up
his presidency now would be the noblest action.

HERU LELONO

Jakarta