The delayed budget speech

Submitting the draft state budget each year (to the House of Representatives) is a routine task of the incumbent government. Preparing the draft is, therefore, a routine task of the members of the outgoing Abdurrahman Cabinet.

Consequently, despite changes at the top of the administration, all the ministers responsible for preparing the draft should be working as usual. Apart from the fact that this is not a substantial policy decision, the job could be done by bureaucrats under the coordination of the caretaker ministers responsible.

The delay, therefore, is an indication of the lack of coordination among the officials -- from ministers down -- responsible for preparing the draft. Or it could indicate a declining concern among those officials after the departure of their "boss", President Abdurrahman.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta