April 7, 2015 edition

TO dispel any notion of over-expectations, the critics of the 2015 National Mid-Term Development Plan should take a second look at how the Nawa Cita agenda came into being. This work program containing the nine priorities of the Jokowi-Kalla government is the product of the recent presidential election campaign. Understandably, therefore, the Nawa Cita goals tend to be seen as little more than campaign promises, too high a target to achieve.
To those who hold sacred anything labeled as a Sukarno heritagegiven how the name Nawa Cita resembles Sukarno's speech titled 'Nawaksara'the overly-ambitious features is clear to see. At the risk of sounding exaggerating, some of their objectives are unrealistic, given current economic, social and political factors. For example, how can we 'build Indonesia from the sidelines' with the current development orientation, particularly with the state's financial incapacity to develop much-needed infrastructure.

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More Opinion articles in other editions

January 1, 1970 edition

IT'S not easy to stem the flow of Indonesians sneaking into Syria and Iraq. The number of people enlisting with the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) militias and related groups in those two countries continues to grow. In August last year, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) counted 56 persons leaving to join ISIS, but today the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) disclosed a far bigger number of departures last March: 514 Indonesians.

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January 1, 1970 edition

CRIMES involving banks are becoming ever crazier. It's no longer the lowly bank tellers who are suspected of colluding with white-collar bank thieves, but also the senior-most officials of the banks themselves.
Then there's the other kind of thievery, which makes it possible because of the lack of an effective oversight system in analyzing the capacity of debtors to repay loans.

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January 1, 1970 edition

THE job of stamping out the murky oil mafia is not for the faint of heart. President Joko Widodo, during his election campaign last year, promised he would abolish the existence of an ominous oil trading syndicate in the country. Today, four months into the presidency, it's business as usual for the oil traders who for a long time have enjoyed a good run for their money. It is therefore imperative to remind the president that the lie of the oil-trading land has changed little since he took over the government. In short, very few reforms in this area have been sufficiently implemented to evoke any hope of change for the better.

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January 1, 1970 edition

THE main reason behind the establishment of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was to address the incapacity of both the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the police in handling corruption cases. These two agencies not only failed to meet expectations in eradicating corruption, they also became the problem. In the course of its mandate, the KPK has had to deal with graft and bribery involving members of the AGO and the police.
So, it is strange that the KPK is now ceding a major corruption case to the AGO. The recent conflict that befell the anti-graft commission is probably its worst chapter ever, although it has received plenty of public sympathy and support and become the model of clean governance. But it has demeaned itself by ceding the corruption case of Police Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan to the attorney general. This is particularly the case following Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo's statement that the case would most probably be sent back to the police. The reason he gave was that the AGO had never handled the case, while the police had. Its Crime Investigation Division has, in fact, examined him and cleared him of all criminal charges. This means that in the hands of the police, the Budi Gunawan case initiated by the KPK, will be duly closed.

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March 3, 2015 edition

ATTACKS against Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders and investigators and their supporters are no longer confined to criminalization. In addition to being indicted, they are now in danger of being victims of character assassination.

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February 24, 2015 edition

AGRARIAN minister and chairman of the National Land Agency (BPN) Ferry Mursyidan Baldan should be more careful in launching 'green' ideas. His concept of doing away with land and building taxation (PBB) has caused an uproar. Now, the idea has gone flat, like a tire without air.
At first, Ferry proposed getting rid of the PBB. After local governments loudly protested, he relented. Instead, he proposed that the PBB separate the land from the building. Landowners would only pay tax when they first acquired it and tax would only be imposed on buildings used for commercial purposes. Private homes and buildings used for social purposes would be tax-exempted. At the end, however, Ferry's idea came down to only one change. Only people unable to pay would be exempted from the PBB.

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