President's travel expenses

President's travel expenses

From Media Indonesia

It has been widely reported in the mass media that President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, is making a state visit to Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines between June 24 and 30, 2001. Previously, the President made a series of state visits to some American, European and Asian (including ASEAN) countries, purportedly in an attempt to seek help to lift Indonesia out of its deep economic crisis. Despite these visits, Indonesia's economy is still in a poor state, if not worsening, simply because of Gus Dur's own deeds and behavior.

The hesitation of foreign investors to invest in Indonesia is largely attributable to Gus Dur's own political maneuvering. What reason can Gus Dur cook up now for his visits to Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines? Is he not satisfied yet with his previous trips abroad or is he just tapping the opportunity before his impeachment in the upcoming special session of the People's Consultative Assembly this year?

Gus Dur is really a big spender and he has squandered billions of rupiah of state funds, which are actually the people's money, on making trips abroad, providing assistance to the political party supporting him. Clearly, the president's overseas trips have done very little to raise the standard of living of the people. In reality, ordinary people are finding their lives increasingly more difficult, what with the hikes in fuel prices, power and telephone rates, factors that will be responsible for the rise in the price of daily necessities.

Does Gus Dur really intend to turn a blind eye to this reality? Or, perhaps, price increases in the fuel, power and telephone sectors are deliberately intended to cover the deficit in the state coffers because of Gus Dur's extravagance. If this suspicion is correct, how does Gus Dur, as the bearer of the people's message, have the heart to bring more suffering to the ordinary people? It's understandable, therefore, why Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono once said that in the last two years, the government under Gus Dur's leadership had failed to implement anything of significance for the people.

Susilo must have observed things carefully before making this statement. Clearly, his statement is not the manifestation of his personal grudge. Unfortunately, again Gus Dur seems to have turned a deaf ear to this assessment. And worse still, it seems that his penchant for overseas trips has returned to him. Was this desire ever proper in the first place?

SITI AMINAH

Tangerang, Banten