Why not a dialog?
Why not a dialog?
The current economic crisis, which is becoming worse and worse
by the day, is concerning not only the authorities but also
people of all walks of life. The troubles look more critical
considering the aging national leadership and the absence of a
clear picture of how a change of guard might be effected.
The government has worked hard to try to overcome the crisis
and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has tried to rescue our
economy. But people have seemingly lost confidence in the
government and started to panic.
To expedite a solution to the crisis a scholar has suggested
holding a national dialog. Adi Sasono, secretary-general of the
Moslem Intellectuals' Association (ICMI), who first voiced the
idea, believes the authorities need to sit down with outspoken
politicians, in a formal or informal setting, as part of their
efforts to find the best way to solve the problems.
The government, he said, should be proactive and anticipative
in this respect. Amien Rais, a political observer from Gadjah
Mada University in Yogyakarta, who is also chairman of the
Muhammadiyah Moslem socio-educational organization, supported the
idea. He elaborated on it, saying such a national dialog should
include open-minded government leaders, politicians, and leaders
of religious and nongovernmental organizations.
According to Amien, the dialog should seriously evaluate the
present crisis to determine whether it needs a new national
leadership to solve it, its psychological aspects and its
connections to national and international politics. Amien also
believes the nation should let the People's Consultative
Assembly, which will meet in March to elect the national
president, resolve the situation constitutionally.
The idea of the dialog has won support from many noted
politicians and religious leaders. Some politicians have said it
should take place before the Assembly meets.
Their support is nothing but logical since the crisis is the
most serious challenge this nation has faced in three decades.
Such an idea is not a new agenda here because even during the
turbulent struggle for independence in the 1940s this nation had
enough time and tolerance to organize such a dialog. Why should
it now be taboo?
Dialog is what this nation is badly in need of today because
the current crisis so multidimensional. Thus it would be too
risky to let it be solved by only a few people. We are not of the
opinion that there is a paucity of responsible and qualified
people among our 200 million citizens. Many such people have
emerged as national figures in serious dialogs.
And all parties should also take into consideration that
failure to overcome the current crisis will only lead to chaos on
a scale which will be impossible for the government to contain.
If this really happens the government will need people to talk to
but we are afraid it would, by then, be too late.
Many people share this belief but have said that the
authorities should also see to it that our political system does
not become farcical with a new strong man appearing to stem the
crisis.
It is high time the authorities strived for a greater level of
wisdom and let all people play an active role in resolving the
crisis given the turmoil at hand.