Political temperature rises

Political temperature rises

The Minister of Home Affairs, Moch. Yogie SM, has admitted
that the political temperature is rising pending the 1997 general
elections. The minister called the phenomenon natural and even
positive for being a token of animation in our political life.

We agree with the minister that the important thing to note is
not the rising of the political temperature in itself. What
deserves attention is that a rising political temperature could
well lead to a narrowing of interests. For that reason
maintaining order in our political activities is still needed to
bring moderation to the activities and inspire greater political
participation.

The 1997 general elections and the 1998 session of the
People's Consultative Assembly are of the greatest importance. In
that session the assembly will elect a President and a Vice
President, who will lead this nation into the 21st century. In
addition, during the beginning decades of the 21st century we
will be entering an era of liberalization and industrialization,
so that meticulous preparations are dictated.

Also, in the years pending the closing of the 20th century
issues concerning democracy, human rights and the environment
will acquire central importance. We, as a nation, will enter an
era of take-off and our people will be much keener in their
capability to think and use their reasoning powers. They will
also be much more critical and much more capable of evaluating
prevailing conditions.

That is why the 1997 general elections will be of the utmost
importance. We hope that the rising political temperature will
stay within the limits that allows the coming feast of democracy
to be held properly and that nobody will get hurt because of the
differing political aspirations.

-- Suara Pembaruan, Jakarta