Time to stand up and demand peace
Finally, we're going to have a new president! Hats off to all for what looks like the peaceful succession of the country's sixth president, the first to be directly elected.
It means each of the nearly 150 million voters who were entitled to cast their votes thought long and hard about the candidate who would most likely work the hardest for their hopes (although some just enjoyed the long holiday and skipped their constitutional right).
One of those simple hopes is to live in freedom from fear.
With three major bombings in three consecutive years, and several earlier smaller scale incidents which were a mere taste of things to come, none of the presidential candidates was in a position to deliver such an assurance beyond rhetoric.
As the new CEO of over 215 million people, he (it's very unlikely to be a "she" this time, even if we do have to wait until Oct. 5) will have at his disposal all the resources and authority needed to resolve the problems which have contributed to the continued threats to citizens' safety.
Reluctance on the part of the nation's leadership to name the main suspected party responsible for the bombings, the shadowy Jamaah Islamiyah network or its affiliates, has been widely cited as one problem in combating terrorism.
Wide disbelief is one cause, even of the existence of such a network; the other, main reason is the politicians' fear of offending vocal Muslims whose support is crucial for anyone aiming for a piece of the power pie.
Both reasons were mirrored in the relatively scant attention paid to the issue of terrorism during the presidential candidates' campaigns.
But citizens, Muslims or not, are seeing more and more of this violence on their soil; the phone calls, faxes and letters swamping the media following the last bombing showed how fed up they were with such crimes, regardless of who the perpetrators were and their motives.
"For God's sake, just go and get them" is the message of these sickened citizens.
Muslim groups have condemned the bombings, a gesture which should sufficiently boost the authorities' confidence to swiftly go about their business while continuing to emphasize that it is suspected terrorists they are after, regardless of their creed.
Not that they haven't tried. But they could take a cue from Goh Chok Tong, Singapore's former prime minister. Ahead of more arrests of suspected terrorists in the country, in early 2002 Goh told a gathering of religious and community leaders about his Malay friend's complaints that police were only stopping Malay- looking motorists.
As quoted by CNN's Maria Ressa in her book on terrorist networks in Southeast Asia, Goh said that maybe the suspect was Malay, so there was no need to arrest Indians or Chinese. Further, he said if police were looking for a Honda, they wouldn't be stopping the BMWs or cars of other makes.
Efforts to strengthen the antiterror law, as suggested by intelligence chief AM Hendropriyono, will face a fierce debate; some overzealous cop might arrest our own pious-looking friends and relatives.
But to the lay citizen, not even sharing intelligence with fellow officials from different institutions (as unofficial investigation results have suggested) is a major crime of neglect, reflecting a revolting obsession with guarding one's treasures when that information is crucial to our well-being. It's not unlike the bureaucrats who resist the streamlining of their services so that their source of revenue from levies remains intact.
What studies of terrorist acts in Indonesia are trying to show, among other aims, is that while once hard line groups were continually used by the regime and the military for their interests, rivalry within the corridors of power, and consequent lack of effective action, can provide enough space for more or less solid groups with a lethal agenda to slip through the cracks.
It's then that they gain easier access to resources: Recruits, explosives and cash.
It has been hard to believe for Indonesians who grew up under the New Order that anyone other than the military could wield enough influence to ratchet up violence.
While waiting impatiently for results of the police investigation, many of us are now open minded enough to acknowledge the possibilities of a wicked foreign conspiracy, the involvement of wretched security people as well as that of evil followers of any faith, no matter how noble their intentions are; or any other evil power seekers in our midst.
Sure, we are also urged to address the roots of terrorism. But there is little empathy left for aspiring martyrs when trudging through dense traffic, wondering whether the children are safe, not loitering at malls or thinking twice about taking a bus passing an embassy.
So just stop the violence, Mr. (or Mrs., pending a miracle) President: The people are waiting.
-- Ati Nurbaiti