So, what else is new?

So, what else is new?

JAKARTA (JP): Gus Dur and my wife share the same priority in
facing the new year. The priority is, shaping up their respective
Cabinet! My wife with her kitchen cabinet, and Gus Dur, as
President Abdurrahman Wahid is popularly known, with his
government Cabinet.

In our home, it has been mutually agreed since day one that
the mother of my children has full authority over the kitchen
cabinet. Nobody is to put anything in it without her approval.
"And just what is this disgusting thing doing in my cabinet?" she
would rattle every time she finds an unidentified object in her
area of authority, the way Gus Dur would complain about a
minister he didn't want in his Cabinet (but had to accept
anyway).

Unfortunately, the rest of the family does not have a good
sense of privacy. My youngest son, for instance, is very fond of
throwing non-kitchen-related things into the cabinet, the way
political parties squeeze names into Gus Dur's administration.

By the end of 1999, my wife vowed to get rid of unnecessary
things in her cabinet, so that it would look good. "Please remove
your personal belonging from my cabinet before I dump them into
the garbage bin," she announced sternly.

Her announcement was similar to Gus Dur's appeal, hinting that
if any of his ministers are involved in corruption, collusion and
nepotism (KKN), he/she should resign before being fired. One of
his ministers did resign, but denied that his resignation had
anything to do with KKN allegations. The other ministers rumored
to have conducted racketeering are staying put, insisting they
have done "nothing illegal".

From the beginning, the Cabinet has been criticized bitterly.
Some ministers are said to have been installed for the purpose of
compromise, regardless of their qualifications. And Gus Dur
admitted that originally he wanted a slim Cabinet with much less
ministers, which means much less Volvos, much less housing and
much less money the taxpayers would have to pay. But he had to
accommodate suggestions (or pressure?) from certain political
leaders to hire certain candidates.

What happened to professionalism?

That was the biggest question I (and many others) had in mind.
upon seeing the "colorful" list of people assigned as ministers.
Some of them do not have any idea of what they should do. "This
job is new to me," that was the general comment of the newly
appointed ministers (some pretended they hadn't expected the
job). "I'll have to learn before I can do it."

Now, after 100 days, it turns out that very little has been
done by the government. Some ministers have not even opened their
mouths about their programs in solving this country's problems.
Apparently, they are still learning.

How long are we, the people of this riot-torn country,
expected to wait until something is done to restore the economy
and stability? (I wonder if Adam Schwarz will come up with a new
book titled A Nation In Waiting Eternally).

A friend of mine said, "It looks like we are getting back to
normal."

What he meant by "normal" was the old-style government in
which small people are taken for granted; the interests of
friends and cronies are put on top priority; law enforcement is
only done on paper; and the people at top levels enjoy all the
government privileges while looking at the misery of small people
from the tinted windows of their luxury cars.

Restoring the economy to empower small people? Sure they will.
But, first things first, they need to "empower" themselves. And
they do this by coming up with a proposal to sharply increase the
salary of the top government officials. That seems to be the
first priority amid the everlasting economic crisis. What an
insensitive gesture! And, listen to their excuse: The salary of
government officials and other top people must be raised so that
they will not be tempted to conduct KKN!

Who are they kidding?

Any idiot knows that KKN does not exist merely due to lack of
income. It is a matter of moral disorder. One who earns 100 times
his or her normal spending would still be tempted to rake in more
money through any possible way.

One of the ministers reasoned that the salary increase was due
to an improper salary scale. "My salary is only Rp 10 million,
and that is less than the salary of a director in a BUMN (state-
owned company) under my ministry. That's not fair. He is my
subordinate, isn't he?" he complained, forgetting that the value
of the fringe benefits he enjoys is a lot more than the salary of
the said subordinate. Not to mention dana taktis (extra fund on
top of the budget) that he can tango with.

Next, how about law enforcement?

Hope was previously rested on the shoulder of the brand new
attorney general who used to be a decent, courageous person. In
the beginning, it looked like everything would be different from
the way it used to be. The attorney general made strong and stern
statements, vowing to investigate anybody accused of a crime. But
now the institution under his control has gone back to "normal".
Of course, some cases of fraud have been probed, suspects have
been questioned, and, finito! The attorney general has not gone
anywhere with his vows. (How about another chicken, sir?). Those
alleged perpetrators of fraud are still at large and the old
cases remain untouched.

After a series of protests and criticism, Gus Dur, who will
soon be en route to Europe, denied the rumors about the massive
pay hike, a coup d'etat, and a Cabinet reshuffle. And the press,
again, is blamed for incorrect reports. On the ministers said to
have conducted KKN, "They will be sacked if they are proven, in
court, to be guilty," was his only explanation. So, what else is
new?

This nation may still have to wait until God knows when.
Meanwhile, bon voyage, Mr. President.

-- Carl Chairul