Who's leading the nation's war terror?

Kurniawan Hari and Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As President Megawati Soekarnoputri heads for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Mexico, the nation is left questioning who is really leading the country in the fight against terrorism.

People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais on Wednesday accused Megawati of failing to unite the people in the fight against terrorism because of the government's poor handling of the Bali bombing.

"Because of a lack of unity in handling, the momentum to unite the nation is lost," Amien said in Surabaya, East Java.

He said unity was needed to show the world that Indonesia was against terrorism.

Megawati remained silent on the eve of her departure on how the nation should confront terrorism, and instead delegated the duty of coordinating the fight to her top security minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, through a presidential instruction.

The move, analysts said, confirmed that she was incapable of acting firmly even after the nation had been shocked by a horrific bomb blast that killed more than 180 people.

"The current situation is different. Megawati should not remain silent. There must be prolific action taken to fight terrorism," Daniel Sparingga of Surabaya's Airlangga University said by phone on Tuesday.

Daniel added that Megawati should speak out about government's policies in the war against terrorism. Otherwise, her silence would send misleading signals to the international community that Indonesia was ignoring the increasing threat from terrorism.

"Megawati should explain the strategic steps that may be taken in fighting terrorism. The absence of such explanations will lead to the false impression that we are halfhearted in the effort," Daniel added.

He called on Megawati to speak out against terrorism and spell out the country's measures to fight terrorism during the APEC summit so that the world would know that Indonesia was indeed fighting terrorism.

It is a must for Megawati to do something to prove to the world that Indonesia is doing its bit in the war on terrorism, according to analyst Shobirin Nadj of the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education, and Information (LP3ES).

She should learn from her fellow presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia in taking action against suspected terrorists, Shobirin said.

In addition, according to fellow analyst Hamid Awaluddin of the Makassar-based Hasanuddin University, Megawati should also show her people that she was in command of the war on terrorism.

She had the obligation to tell the people what the government had done to reveal those who were behind the Bali bombing that killed at least 190 people, mostly foreigners, and injured more than 300 others.

Meanwhile, a recent poll showed that less than 50 percent of Indonesians were confident that the government would be able to uncover the plot behind the terrorist bomb attack on Bali.

A survey conducted by the New Indonesian Alliance revealed that 46.1 percent of 800 respondents in eleven big cities in the country believed the government would be able to solve the case, while 38.5 percent did not. Another 15 percent said they had no opinion.

"The answers indicate that the respondents are hesitant about the government's action in dealing with the bomb attack as previous bomb cases have not yet been resolved," said the summary of the poll, carried out by the alliance on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20.

According to the survey, optimistic respondents said that the current cooperation with developed countries in dealing with terrorism would help the government to solve the case.