Seeking victory for the nation

Seeking victory for the nation

The way how to end our cooperation with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) has been debated over the last few days.

Even the People's Consultative Assembly has decided that the
cooperation should come to an end by December this year.

Now is the right time for Indonesia to 'graduate' from IMF
after having been under the mercy of the organization for five
years.

Our need to graduate from IMF is good for our maturity as a
nation because we have to learn how to manage and how to
discipline ourselves toward independence.

Leaving behind our cooperation with IMF is deemed to be the
best way to measure our economic recovery, to know whether the
improvement in our macro-economy is the result of external factor
or internal one.

Some people said our macro-ecomonic recovery is because of
external factor such as the IMF, while some other said it is
because of our good economic management.

However, such a controversy will become obvious when we stop
our cooperation with IMF.

But in fact, ending the cooperation does not mean that we have
to get out of IMF. We will remain member of the IMF but we do not
want to be under a special supervision from that organization.

It is natural that every nation has its own right to be
independent in managing its own economy and in upholding its
sovereignty.

Thus, whatever the way to end our cooperation with IMF,
whether it is the 'post program monitoring' or the payment of the
loan in cash, it won't be a loss or victory of certain group or
individual.

We just want to warn that we have to go hand-in-hand in
seeking the victory for the whole nation, instead of making our
business with IMF an endless issue.

-- Kompas, Jakarta