Wahono warns of hypocrisy

JAKARTA (JP): House Speaker Wahono warned the nation yesterday against "a culture of hypocrisy" which he said was affecting much of Indonesian society, including its elite.

"We have seen lately the signs of the culture of hypocrisy which is sweeping across the Indonesian community, including its leaders who say one thing and then do another," he told the House of Representatives' plenary session which marked the end of its fourth sitting for 1995-1996.

The fourth sitting began on May 6. The House goes into recess today to give legislators time to visit their constituents. The recess will end on Aug. 15. President Soeharto is expected to open the next sitting with his state of the nation speech on Aug. 16.

The house speaker is famous for his critical speeches whenever he opens or closes the House's sittings. In his speech yesterday, he berated the government's policies on social, political and economic development. In other parts of his speech, he criticized other groups including the House.

He expressed concern about what he described as narrowing intellectualism, marked by a decline in objectiveness and social awareness; something he called a "primordialism of intellect".

"This is a saddening development," he said.

Wahono said he was also saddened by the "moral decadence" affecting all layers of society, including "the state's administrators". He cited a number of incidents which he said proved the moral decay of society.

He said that during the last sitting, the House had watched various alarming affairs which showed how mentally unprepared the state apparatus was for dealing with "uncontrollable social and political situations".

Wahono did not only criticize the elite power brokers. He also chided his colleagues, expressing regret that the House was too slow to respond to these saddening developments.

He pointed out that House members were also leaders who were responsible for voicing people's aspirations; legislators should not let people think they have no say.

"Even if some people believe it's already too late, we still have to make that strong moral call to awake us all," he said.

Wahono yesterday reminded the House that Indonesia's national leadership was collective: "This is why during crises we should hold on to the spirit of collectivism, brotherhood and mutual responsibility."

"The mechanism of musyawarah untuk mufakat (deliberation in order to reach consensus) is a noble cultural tradition...based on the belief that everybody has good intentions," he said. "The process of reaching consensus shouldn't happen hastily, lest it offends certain parties."

"We should try as hard as possible to deliberate, in a wise and intelligent manner, so that we can avoid traumatizing other people," he said.

Approaches to problems which violate the principles of broad- based democratic leadership would undermine the nation's ability to survive a crisis, he said.

"We have learned from our history that social engineering does not survive crises," he said.

In his statement, Wahono also mentioned the alleged collusion at the Supreme Court, which is the nation's last bastion of justice.

"The House of Representatives believes that the question of alleged collusion at the Supreme Court will be settled appropriately," he said. Otherwise the Court would run the risk of undermining its own credibility. (imn)