THE discussion on Friday last week was full of laughter. Participants attending “The Democracy Dialectic” debate had a field day with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s cabinet reshuffle, announced on Monday.

The reshuffle, said political observer Eep Saefulloh Fatah, “is like scratching your forehead, when it’s your knee that itches. No matter how hard you scratch, it will never bring relief.” The hundreds of participants in a