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