June 10, 1999
| | |
| ||
| June 10, 1999 | atimes.com | |
| ||
| Southeast Asia EDITORIAL: A win for Indonesia, and then . . . The Indonesian rupiah and stocks, not only in Jakarta, but also inSingapore and Malaysia, were well up and the IMF released the next trancheof its loan program on the news. No one party had been declared the winnerand none will likely emerge with a clear majority in parliament. But thevery fact that Indonesia had held apparently trouble-free election was thepositive news: a win for the nation no matter who will ultimately garnerthe largest share of the vote. One shudders to think of the social andeconomic consequences for the country and for the region had it beendifferent. The next phase of Indonesia's political evolution - putting together acoalition that can govern and elect a new president in November - won't bea whole lot easier. But if no serious cheating by the currently rulingGolkar party of President B.J. Habibie in the vote count in the provincesis reported and the election outcome is perceived as fair by all or mostconcerned, then it'll be doable. Indonesia's recent history has been compared to that of the Philippines inthe mid-1980s - with a good deal of justification. Each featured a popular uprising overthrowing military-backed dictatorial rule, discovery of massivelooting of national wealth by the ruling family and its political andbusiness cronies and, finally, the emergence of a politically inexperienced leader onthe strength of her husband's/father's popularity. We fervently hope, however, that Indonesia will be spared the consequencesthe Philippines had to endure as the result of the third of those items ofcomparison. The Philippines' President Marcos was a villain and in his final years inpower a sickly tyrant who ran his country's economy into the ground. Butfar from picking it up and turning it around, successor Corazon Aquino,advised by a motley crew of incompetent ''revolutionaries'', ran it into theground even further, blaming every economic setback and failed policy onaftereffects of her predecessor's actions. The most outstanding failureson the economic side were an abortive land reform (that would have deprivedher family of its hacienda); massive increase in public indebtedness andforeign debt, with no positive results to speak of; and the trulyastonishing fact that during her six-year rule not a single megawatt ofelectric power was added to the country's grid. After her first year of rule by revolutionary decree without an electedlegislature or elected local officials, Aquino presided over a functioningdemocracy; but that's about all she can be credited with. The Philippinesstill suffers from the public debt run-up of the Aquino years; and while thecountry was spared the worst of the Asian crisis, it remains far behind thedevelopment level of comparable Southeast Asian economies - her successorFidel Ramos's laudable efforts notwithstanding. Now in Indonesia it appears quite possible that the party of Megawati Sukarnoputriwill win the most seats in parliament and hence that she will become a leading candidatefor the presidency. But close observers of the Indonesian political sceneover the past few years have voiced serious doubts that, aside from thestill magical Sukarno name, she has much going for her - in political savvy,let alone economic policy competence. It will be necessary and important to uncover fully the Suharto family'slooting and squandering of Indonesian wealth. But it must not become anall-absorbing obsession. Economic reform legislation already enacted by theold legislature and President Habibie's government - if competently andhonestly enforced - can lay the basis for the country's economic recovery.One must hope that a coalition arrangement will lead to the election ofa more capable president than Megawati would likely turn out to be - or atleast will surround her with competent advisers to move Indonesia forward. | |||||||||
 |
|
Front | China | Southeast Asia | Japan | Koreas | India/Pakistan | Central Asia/Russia | Oceania Business Briefs | Global Economy | Asian Crisis | Media/IT | Editorials | Letters | Search/Archive |
back to the top ©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd. |
