"It is no good to try to stop knowledge from going forward. Ignorance is never better than knowledge," said Enrico Fermi.
This quote from the renowned Italian physicist - particularly remembered for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor and his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, as well as statistical mechanics - is perhaps the most suited expression representing the wish of probably the majority of the Indonesian people who want truth, nothing but the truth, from all the mysteries surrounding the country's political affairs.
As the House of Representatives kicked off this week the inquiry into the Bank Century bailout, the general public - represented by anticorruption activists, economic observers as well as common people - have repeatedly expressed their expectation for transparency and independence on the part of the House inquiry team, despite the heterogeneous environment of the team, with each member's different political inclination and motives in accordance with the standpoint of the political party they represent.
The House inquiry team has since the beginning announced that it will focus its attention on the background and existing conditions prior to the issuance of the government's decision to bail out the then ailing bank. It does not mention the possibility of expanding the inquiry into the outflow of funds from the bank, as many have suggested.
Financial Transactions Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) chairman Yunus Husein said late last month there at least 17 recipients who benefited illegally from the Century bailout fund, including institutions and individuals. The NGO Bendera, also late last month, published a list of recipients of the Century bailout fund, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's relatives and members of his inner circle.
The inquiry team held a meeting with the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) on Wednesday and with the PPATK the following day. While the meeting with the BPK ended inconclusively, with the team failing to reach an agreement on the possibility of the BPK revealing the taped minutes of a November 2008 meeting that led to the decision to bail out the bank, Thursday's meeting with the PPATK ended with the center handing over the data on the flows of funds from the bank.
Up to this point, the House inquiry team is divided into two camps: One camp is demanding a thorough inquiry into the bank scandal, with calls for the BPK and PPATK to make public all their findings, while the other insists the inquiry be limited to the political decision surrounding the move to bail out the bank.
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Apart from the political battle in parliament, on the ground - in Papua - the police announced Wednesday that Kelly Kwalik, the most wanted leader of the Free Papua Organization (OPM), was shot dead during a raid in the early hours of Wednesday. Kelly had been blamed for a series of attacks on US-based gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika, Papua.
To some extent, Kelly's death was a considerable relief, not just for the Papuans and the mining company as it would mean security and order are improving in the country's easternmost province, but also for the country's fight against separatism. But the fact that Kelly had previously denied responsibility for the Freeport attacks during his meeting with the Papua Police earlier this year should not have been the reason for raiding his residence and killing him.
Perhaps the security forces had logical and lawful reasons to pursue and kill Kelly -very likely because of his separatist activities - but the fact that he had been in hiding for years and was then willing to meet the police earlier this year for talks was clear evidence that he was not completely a separatist fighter with only the armed struggle as his core method of achieving his target, but also a figure who was willing to negotiate through dialogue.
The OPM currently remains the only organization seeking independence from the Unitary State of Indonesia, after rebels in Aceh quit their call for independence following the successful Aug. 15, 2005, truce in Helsinki, which officially ended the Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) separatist campaign.
Still on the ground - this time in the sporting arena - the 25th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos, which ended Saturday, have left Indonesia still unable to beat Thailand and Vietnam in order to finish in the top two at the biennial regional sporting event. Numerous discussions have been held and a lot of efforts have been made in order to return Indonesia to its former status as a sporting powerhouse in the region, yet our athletes were still unable to make it a reality.
There is something wrong with our sports development programs. However, we as a nation still haven't found the correct formula.
The search for the truth is like swallowing a bitter pill for all of us. We may be unable or unwilling to take it, but in most cases that's the only way for us to recover from what ails us. So finding the truth or the correct formula for all those political mysteries and state problems might in the initial stage have a serious impact on or shake the country's political and economic stability, but at the end of the day, it will prove to be a remedy for all the acute state problems that we've never been able to resolve so far.
- Imanuddin Razak
