Taking responsibility
Taking responsibility
It is not often that one hears President Megawati
Soekarnoputri speak openly and with candor about her 16-month-old
presidency -- or, indeed, about anything at all. That, more than
anything else, is probably the reason why the remarks that she
made on Thursday, off the cuff, before participants at the
Muhammadiyah annual conference in Bali got the appreciative
public attention that they did.
Conceding that the country was currently in desperate straits,
the president said that "almost none" of the options that were
available to the nation to lift itself out of its present
difficulties were easy to take -- much less pleasant. "This is
the reality that we must face," the president said. "With all the
shortcomings on my part, of which I am convinced the public is
well aware, I will bear the responsibility."
The president said she was well aware of the impatience that
existed among the public with the slow progress of the reform
movement in the wake of the fall of the previous authoritarian
and oppressive regime. However, she said, many people were
getting more than impatient and were starting to lose their
bearings. "Hence," Megawati said, "criticism often takes on the
appearance of a threat and loses its character of advice that is
normally given by friends and comrades in arms."
Whether or not she is aware of the fact, Megawati's speech in
Bali on Thursday represents one of the few efforts she is seen to
be making to reach out to the public and explain, factually and
straightforwardly, in terms that the people can understand, not
only the current state of affairs of the nation, but also her own
position in it all and the efforts her government is making to
overcome the difficulties.
We are confident that the Indonesian people will be ready to
bear the hardships of the present and support the government,
provided that their top leader can persuade them to swallow the
bitter medicine that is, after all, as the president implied in
her speech, the only cure for the nation's current illness.
Having heard some of Megawati's speeches before she became
president, we are also confident that she can do it. After all,
it was her personal charisma that made her party, the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), the mass-based popular party
that it now is.
As for the criticism against her handling of state affairs, we
for our part remain convinced that there is no malicious intent
on the part of the president's critics. On the contrary, most are
trying to help. However, in Indonesia, one of the most diverse
nations on the face of the earth, differences in forms of
civility must be taken into account.
Democracy implies a system of checks and balances that is
designed not only to control the government and keep it on the
right track, but also to help it find solutions to the nation's
problems. What people are waiting for is to see and be told what
is being done to solve the nation's problems. In any case, we
hope that the president's open and candid remarks on Thursday
signal a turn for the better in the near future.
It is not often that one hears President Megawati
Soekarnoputri speak openly and with candor about her 16-month-old
presidency -- or, indeed, about anything at all. That, more than
anything else, is probably the reason why the remarks that she
made on Thursday, off the cuff, before participants at the
Muhammadiyah annual conference in Bali got the appreciative
public attention that they did.
Conceding that the country was currently in desperate straits,
the president said that "almost none" of the options that were
available to the nation to lift itself out of its present
difficulties were easy to take -- much less pleasant. "This is
the reality that we must face," the president said. "With all the
shortcomings on my part, of which I am convinced the public is
well aware, I will bear the responsibility."
The president said she was well aware of the impatience that
existed among the public with the slow progress of the reform
movement in the wake of the fall of the previous authoritarian
and oppressive regime. However, she said, many people were
getting more than impatient and were starting to lose their
bearings. "Hence," Megawati said, "criticism often takes on the
appearance of a threat and loses its character of advice that is
normally given by friends and comrades in arms."
Whether or not she is aware of the fact, Megawati's speech in
Bali on Thursday represents one of the few efforts she is seen to
be making to reach out to the public and explain, factually and
straightforwardly, in terms that the people can understand, not
only the current state of affairs of the nation, but also her own
position in it all and the efforts her government is making to
overcome the difficulties.
We are confident that the Indonesian people will be ready to
bear the hardships of the present and support the government,
provided that their top leader can persuade them to swallow the
bitter medicine that is, after all, as the president implied in
her speech, the only cure for the nation's current illness.
Having heard some of Megawati's speeches before she became
president, we are also confident that she can do it. After all,
it was her personal charisma that made her party, the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), the mass-based popular party
that it now is.
As for the criticism against her handling of state affairs, we
for our part remain convinced that there is no malicious intent
on the part of the president's critics. On the contrary, most are
trying to help. However, in Indonesia, one of the most diverse
nations on the face of the earth, differences in forms of
civility must be taken into account.
Democracy implies a system of checks and balances that is
designed not only to control the government and keep it on the
right track, but also to help it find solutions to the nation's
problems. What people are waiting for is to see and be told what
is being done to solve the nation's problems. In any case, we
hope that the president's open and candid remarks on Thursday
signal a turn for the better in the near future.