Suggestions for Megawati

Suggestions for Megawati

From Pikiran Rakyat

Congratulations to Megawati Soekarnoputri on her appointment as Indonesia's fifth president.

It is no longer necessary to further complicate matters and make new problems over who becomes the president of our beloved country.

What is more important is that any newly appointed president should be clear on his or her mission, vision and concept in building the government.

I would suggest that the new president should learn from the mistakes, shortcomings and weak points of previous governments. Clean government should not remain a mere slogan, while behind such rhetoric lies rampant corruption, collusion, nepotism and manipulation.

By forming a professional and credible cabinet, disregarding ethnic, racial and religious background, as well as cronyism, with God's blessings, this country should see rapid development within the next decade or two. I hope Megawati will be able to form such a cabinet and not on the basis of so-called power-sharing and political compromises, so that all aspirations of the people can be accommodated.

Given our history of 56 years of independence, including the various Five Year Development Plans (Pelita), surely after a thorough analysis we can derive numerous lessons for improvements in the near future.

In this case just compare our fate with the neighboring ASEAN countries, who are already running way far ahead.

We must immediately discard unsuitable old traditions, like the aristocratic culture from the feudalistic days, whereby we have to please and appease the leaders and superiors at any cost. I see two areas which require upgrading: the quality of human resources for a better control of the wheels of government, and the country's infrastructure for an improved economy.

The cabinet should not only contain ministers from political parties, but also qualified and prospective non-party candidates, which should not be too difficult to find out of over 200 million people. However, each should pass some sort of "fit and proper" test beforehand.

We know that the past government's regulations and policies do not reflect the people's requirements and aspirations, and are often far removed from reality. For example, the recent discrimination in the electricity tariff and the price of fuel, setting different rates for the industrial and non-industrial sectors. This opened up various "opportunities" for many who made use of fuel shortages to make a killing.

The current smart talking politicians, who only create further confusion, would be well reminded that basically the people (of any nation) need peace and prosperity.

SUHENDRY

Bandung