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