Shared burdens, shared rights

Shared burdens, shared rights

The readiness of our tycoons to help the government in
maintaining the stability of the rupiah is certainly welcome.
Many of them own large enough reserve funds, in rupiah and
foreign currencies, to make it reasonable for us to expect them
to act in the national interest.

The commitment given by our tycoons demonstrates our
collective readiness to put the larger interest before anything
else. We know how busy our monetary authorities have been in the
past few weeks countering currency speculators who have been
playing their game in a number of ASEAN countries. Whatever the
reasons, their actions have caused currency rates to fall
throughout this region, Indonesia included.

The central point here is that a common understanding is
needed; that development is a responsibility and a burden
belonging to all of us -- not just the government. This, of
course, brings the consequence that the government must be
willing to be open regarding the magnitude of the problems that
are involved and the weighty burdens that we must bear. People
have the right to know, so that they will be able to determine
for themselves what contribution they can make in trying to
surmount those problems.

Clearly, this calls for a willingness to exchange ideas in the
decision making process, so that surprises can be avoided.
Decisions that are uncoordinated tend to confuse people, which is
unfavorable to our efforts to marshal every possible potential
that is at our disposal. Worse, it could very well lead to jolts,
rejection or, at the very least, an attitude of indifference.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta