Public debate

Public debate

From Tiras

Ginandjar Kartasasmita's call for more public debate has
motivated me to make some comments. His capacity as Minister of
National Development Planning/Chairman of the National
Development Planning Board lends further importance to this idea
of public debate serving as self-criticism.

What is meant by the minister is that every government policy
concerning the people at large should be made through the process
of public debate; only after a subject has been thoroughly
discussed should it be enacted and implemented. By so doing,
people will get the impression that a sense of belonging has been
developed and encouraged.

It is only common for an idea or statement to bring about pro
and con attitudes, particularly in this era of openness. Here, I
would like to limit my comment to the cons, or at least to the
opinion that disagrees with the concept.

I refer to a statement made by Loekman Sutrisno, the Head of
the Center of Research for Village and Regional Development at
Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. He said: "The time is not
ripe yet for establishing such a forum as public debate, as
voiced by Ginandjar Kartasasmita. A distortion will arise if we
are forced to carry out the idea."

Sutrisno's statement is, to my mind, not entirely wrong. But
because the future of the nation is in the hands of the younger
generation, who are part of an era of more openness, the merits
of public debate should be strongly considered and further
implemented in daily practice.

PARTOGI ELAM SIMANJUNTAK

Depok, West Java