The Jakarta Post’s front page headline on Dec. 21 was: “SBY blasted for characteristic indecision”. The three “expert” commentators quoted, all blamed SBY for the lack of progress last week at the Copenhagen Global Warming Conference.
Why him? He was just one of the 119 presidents and premiers there. Their verdicts were based on the commonly held perception that Indonesia is a major country which should have a major influence on world events and decisions. What a delusion.
Indonesia is the fourth largest population in the world, the top five nations for carbon emissions, particularly due to the forest destruction.
Because of such huge population we rank a respectable 19th for GDP, but this translates to a lowly 107th for per capita income. Where are we on the lists for corruption; human rights; investments; infrastructure; justice; education; health? Are we in the top 100 for any of them?
Why would the world want to listen to or be influenced by the leader of such a nation? They also know quite well that every effort he makes to improve matters here at home is resisted and opposed by parliament, the bureaucracy and the judicial system, aided, abetted and financed by some of our major corruptors?
There is no doubt that Indonesia with its massive population and immense natural resources should be among the top five nations of the world. But it is nowhere near that yet. We cannot blame the President, or the people who elected him, for this reality. It is of course quite obvious who is to blame.
What can be done to remedy this distressing situation? While there may be 10,000 major corruptors feeding off the rest of us, our total of around 240 million vastly outnumbers them.
We know about “people power” and how well it works. It got rid of former president Soeharto after he was in power for 32 years. Just this year people power organized through Internet social networks very quickly and successfully defended Prita Mulyasari and the two KPK deputies.
Having flexed their muscles in two important but fairly small cases, maybe the Indonesian Internet community is ready for the really big one. How about a “Campaign for a better Indonesia”? It is certainly worth trying isn’t it?
If anyone is interested, I have some suggestions for a step by step strategy designed to achieve success.
Luthfi
Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan
