Uncovering the root of evil in the society

President Soeharto's call to his new cabinet to donate their first year's wages to the poor chimed well with widespread public demands for a clean government. Political scientist J. Soedjati Djiwandono looks for the meaning of a good and clean government.

JAKARTA (JP): Since the campaign period for last year's general election, all three of the country's political groups have repeatedly called for an end to corruption, collusion and nepotism which they say have permeated Indonesia's political system.

Calls for clean governance echoed throughout the country again during the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) earlier this month.

On university campuses, students have held a series of mass demonstrations calling for the abolishment of such evils and for the establishment of a clean government. Sporadic demonstrations staged by all sorts of people carried similar messages.

It seems that those in power have decided to jump on the bandwagon. President Soeharto's proposal for the new cabinet to donate their first year's salaries to the poor "has been calculated to give ministers no reason to tolerate sloppy performance or corruption in their respective offices," according to the new home affairs minister.

We should welcome such good intentions. The meager donation, however, especially in light of millions of people suffering from the economic crisis, looks more like a public relations gimmick or a symbol in a country with too many symbols already.

Observers have pointed out that ministers receive allowances and fringe benefits amounting to more than their basic salaries. One wonders what kind of allowances and benefits they receive and how much?

Good governance and a clean government do not depend primarily on the conscience, moral values and principles of those in power. These are of course essential.

Democracy, on the other hand, is no guarantee for moral and intellectual quality. In a sound and properly functioning democracy, good governance and clean government are very much determined by a proper working of the political system in general, particularly in its control mechanisms.

Goodwill alone is never enough. Democracy is not about goodwill and good intentions.

Indeed, for some time, the phenomenon of people and organizations calling for a clean government was encouraging. It indicated widespread concern over the serious problems facing the country. People began to have the courage to express their concerns openly.

Now, however, I find it mind-boggling. The calls seem to be on everybody's lips. They are printed almost daily in the mass media and can be heard on the radio and television. They have tended to become banal and hackneyed.

This begs a nagging question: If everybody is against corruption, collusion and nepotism, who, then, are the culprits? Former ministers and other high-ranking government officials who no longer share the glory and grandeur of power?

Or ghosts and evil spirits? It seems that people are saying that it is anybody but me.

Do people who feel they are enjoying comfortable lives, living in large and beautiful houses, eating regularly at fancy and expensive restaurants, wearing fashionable clothes and driving flashy cars look at themselves? Do they think about those good things in life they have been privileged and fortunate enough to enjoy and understand that so many more people are denied such luxuries.

Are these luxuries earned properly and by just means?

Young people, particularly university students, mostly have strong views on such issues. Their boisterous attacks against such evils in society and their insistent demands for change through sweeping political and economic reforms often represent the conscience of the silent majority.

Do they ask themselves those same questions? Some undoubtedly feel they are also privileged and fortunate enough to enjoy such comfortable lives with all the good things in life, including expensive equipment to facilitate their studies.

Do they often wonder about these same questions concerning their family? Do they dare ask their parents those questions?

Or do they take such things for granted?

They dare challenge the government and the older generation, but have they got the guts to challenge themselves and their own parents?