Kompas/Siwi Yunita Cahyaningrum

Head for the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center in Central Jakarta for the last day of the ASEAN Literary Festival (ALF). Hopefully it will continue to improve like private endeavors such as the Ubud literary festival in Bali and others in the world.

The ALF is notable for bringing, among other things, a number of writers from Myanmar into the regional spotlight. The participation of these writers in the festival, staged for the second time by the private Muara Foundation, reflect citizens'€™ collaborative efforts to retain and increase freedom to air opinions within Myanmar and also within the region, despite tendencies in a number of member countries to repeal achievements in democracy '€” including in this, the ALF'€™s host nation.

 Ma Thida, formerly jailed for supporting Myanmar'€™s pro- democracy movement, was among those sharing experiences, along with publishers, translators, writers and poets. Participating friends of ASEAN also included those from China, South Korea and Japan. They contributed to the direly needed uplifting of spirits here.

We have achieved much, which is why developments this week were so disheartening '€” not a massive crackdown on dissenters as in the past, but the recklessness of those at the top. For one, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly was suddenly harping about granting remission to graft convicts as long as they return the stolen money and as long as they collaborate with the law, despite corruption here being classified as an extraordinary crime. The minister appeared oblivious to the widespread anxiety over the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which has yet to regain its strength.

 Its commissioners remain suspended, subject to criminal investigation of separate long-past cases. Tensions with the National Police have only subsided because the KPK'€™s temporary leaders have handed over the high-profile case of the former police-chief candidate to the Attorney General'€™s Office, who has signaled he is inclined to toss it back to the police '€” leaving bystanders looking left and right at these appalling attempts to reach '€œharmony'€ between law enforcers.

But the minister'€™s statement was unsurprising given reports compiled by the independent Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) '€” that his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which leads the ruling coalition, was the party most frequently investigated for graft last election year.

Then there were judges who handed down sentences to elderly, poor people, which might have been in line with the law but lacked justice. The detention of Asyani, a grandmother in Situbondo, East Java, for stealing timber, was not the first such verdict, but raised outrage amid the glaring helplessness of the law, it seems, in face of large-scale corruption. The investigation into the suspicious fat accounts of the above former police-chief candidate, Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan and his family, for instance remains unresolved.

The fate of Budi and the new candidate for police chief may depend on the House of Representatives, which resumes its sittings in a few weeks'€™ time. The PDI-P, which leads the ruling coalition will have an important voice and all eyes are also on the second largest party, Golkar '€” which is yet to make its stance clear on the National Police issue.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has shrugged off the dispute among political parties, including Golkar, saying all the '€œnoise'€ should stop as the government was concentrating on the economy.

The President may indeed be focused on the soaring price of rice, demanding explanations and making first-hand probes shortly after his trip to Aceh, where he launched the logo of '€œwork, work, work'€. He also showed little concern about perceptions that law enforcers are enforcing the law as they see fit '€” not a very encouraging environment for citizens to work in without worry.

At least there'€™s hope for cheer in the capital as the City Council and Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama might finally resolve their differences over the budget. Some chided Ahok for failing to quietly settle the dispute '€” but graft watchers have said we should be suspicious about the seemingly smooth budgetary processes in other areas.

The Foreign Ministry and terrorism authorities also seem to be doing all they can to identify and try to have deported from Turkey the Indonesians suspected of aspiring to join the brutal Islamic State movement.

But again, our legal uncertainties will not attract the much needed investors and foreign tourists, despite more visa-free plans. And as Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has said, the ministry often plays merely a '€œfire brigade'€ role in our domestic problems including terrorism and poor protection for migrant workers.

The death of yet another domestic worker, in a '€work accident'€ while on her employer'€™s balcony in Hong Kong, will raise outrage at such '€œcruel'€ or neglectful employers. But our women will continue to seek such work, even in countries where domestic work is much less regulated, as long as we have so little respect for our maids that we pay them far below the minimum wage.

On Friday, again, tens of thousands suffered hours of congestion amid the evening downpours. As politicians fight, people would be happy if merely going from point A to B could involve much less stress.

'€” Ati Nurbaiti

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