Wolfensohn is no Pronk

Wolfensohn is no Pronk

World Bank president James Wolfensohn held a special meeting
yesterday (Wednesday) with a number of prominent opposition
figures. The enthusiasm for the meeting, on the part of the
Indonesians, was considerable.

Wednesday's forum at the Regent Hotel, Jakarta, was
reminiscent of a similar meeting opposition members held with
Holland's minister of economic cooperation, Pronk, several years
ago.

Pronk, as chairman of the inter-governmental group on
Indonesia (IGGI), was greeted as a leader with a genuine concern
for Indonesia. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other
activists, saw in him a figure who would listen. However, Pronk's
name was eclipsed following the demise of the IGGI amid a row
over the entanglement of aid and politics.

Wolfensohn appeared to have learned from Pronk's mistake when
he appeared at Wednesday's forum to account for the World Bank
stance on Indonesia. Although admitting to initially
underestimating the situation in Indonesia, which had changed
drastically over the past year, he deftly refused to become a
repository for complaints and avoided making political
statements.

Wolfensohn ended the meeting, before any awkward questioning,
by remarking that the solution to the problem lay in Indonesia's
hands, since the origins of the problem were to be found in a
collective lack of confidence, both in the future and the
national currency.

Wolfensohn's remarks suggest there is little hope of outsiders
solving our problems. Complaining to others will only make the
eventual solution more complicated.

Indonesians, all of us, opposition, activists, loyalists,
must, as members of the nation, learn to engage in open and
friendly dialog. Only by doing so can we overcome our problems in
a satisfactory manner.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta