Urgent action needed

Urgent action needed

Notwithstanding the buoyant first reactions to Sunday's
meeting between Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto and a number
of religious, political and community leaders known as the
"Ciganjur-plus" group, one should not be surprised that many
people remain skeptical about that unprecedented encounter.

One could perhaps argue that in Indonesia's current situation,
any effort, however small, to end the recurring violence and
overcome the crisis is better than no effort at all. After all,
most Indonesians, with the possible exception of those who have a
stake in preserving the status quo, agree that a national dialog
toward reconciliation is needed to bring about a peaceful
recovery.

Unfortunately, the question that many Indonesians are asking
themselves is what possible effect such a meeting can have at
this point, now that the country already seems to be teetering on
the brink of civil war. Such a rapprochement, if it had occurred
immediately after the fall of Soeharto and was followed up with
concrete and meaningful steps toward reconciliation, might indeed
have effectively ended the economic and political turmoil. That
chance was wasted. At this stage, much more than words and
promises are needed to achieve the same.

Regarding Sunday's meeting, it is interesting to note the
suggestion made by the chairman of the National Commission on
Human Rights, Marzuki Darusman, as quoted in this newspaper on
Tuesday, that "we are nearing a point where Wiranto will have to
make a break with his past ... and he needs the greatest support
now from these civilian elite figures to be able to distance
himself from that past." Wiranto, according to Marzuki, might
need the support of civilian leaders to counter pressure within
the Armed Forces originating from groups linked to the past
regime of Soeharto. "I think the military has a complete picture
of what is going on in the country in terms of outbreaks of
unrest now, and it is not a question of whether or not they are
going to take action, but rather it is a matter of when they will
be in a position to do so."

Conjectural as it might seem, Marzuki Darusman's assessment of
the situation happens to concur quite nicely with the picture
that many others have expressed. National Mandate Party chairman
Amien Rais phrased this public suspicion quite well when he asked
Gen. Wiranto to arrest all the "intellectual actors" behind the
unrest, pointing out that the recent riots appeared too well
organized, sophisticated and too well financed to have been
either spontaneous outbursts of emotion or instigated by ordinary
street hoodlums.

Such a scenario appears much less far-fetched than skeptics
may imagine when one takes into consideration the huge vested
interests at stake for those who have built their empires over
more than three decades of authoritarian rule. Consider, too,
that most of our bureaucrats and government leaders now still in
power were part and parcel of the old Soeharto regime, and think
of the tentacles of power they must have grown during that
period, and one can see the immensity of the handicap the
reformers face.

Yet, it is the removal of those very handicaps that is the key
to reform. For Indonesians -- and for President Habibie's
Development and Reform government and the Armed Forces leadership
in particular -- there seems to be no other choice but to
exercise their consciences and work with speed and urgency toward
that goal, something they have so far failed to do. At this stage
in our national crisis, words and promises are no longer enough.
Action is needed, and soon, as time is running out. Now more than
ever the nation needs a strong, but also wise, leadership.