Social, political changes have to be managed

Social, political changes have to be managed

JAKARTA (JP): The social and political rigidity which results from a long-term stable administration needs to be diffused, but the resulting changes have to be managed properly to prevent chaos, guests on a TV chat show concluded yesterday.

The panel discussion was held by the private television station SCTV to celebrate the first anniversary of the Perspektif program. The discussion was led by the show's host, Wimar Witoelar.

Former finance minister Frans Seda, now a noted businessman; cinematographer and editor, Eros Djarot; and journalist Bambang Harimurti explored the prospects for political development in Indonesia in the discussion. They were in fundamental agreement about the need for change; for the correction of flaws in the existing system.

"This (current) government is really extraordinary ... because in the last fifty years (since national independence in 1945) this country has only had two presidents," Seda said. "But there's a down side to this condition, which is a resistance to change."

"We have to advance, we have to courageously make and manage changes," he said, adding that a great task that lay ahead was how to manage those changes so that negative effects could be limited.

Eros and Bambang said various changes were needed in society. Seda's response was that the public and everyone else needed a perspective with which to see the kind of changes necessary.

"The perspective is that the changes should give the people...the freedom to assemble and express ideas ...these are among their human rights," he said. In addition, all parties must strive to establish a society which respects democracy and the law."

Bambang said that Indonesia had a long way to go in its political development because of a chronic problem of "misrepresentation" in society.

This situation, which he said was the legacy of the colonial administration, was one in which minority groups colluded with the power holder to form a social elite, robbing the minority of their rightful representation, he said.

"We need to normalize this condition, because it represents a time bomb," Bambang said, citing armed conflicts and bloodbaths in a number of countries which, he said, were the result of misrepresentation in power.

Bambang believed that Indonesia, too, was already facing "signs" of a potential explosion of the time bomb. He believed that the key to averting that happening was to exercise self- restraint.

"The members of the majority who want to gain (their rightful place in the power representation) should not be in too great a hurry," he said.

Eros stressed the need for greater political participation for the public, accompanied by greater efforts to establish a more mature "political culture".

"We need enlightenment, and this is the responsibility of our intellectuals," he said. "We can't leave the process to experts only, or the leaders of the three political groups."

Yesterday's event also featured prominent economists Christianto Wibisono, Prabowo and Hartojo Wignjowijoto, and social experts Julia Suryakusuma and Riga Adiwoso.

Christianto said that, from an economic point of view, there was no need to overhaul the system. Instead, "we need better control of the allocation of resources to facilitate growth," he said.

He said "misallocation" of the available resources was the main cause of the various economic problems here. (swe)