THE AUTHORITARIAN RULE of Suharto in Indonesia ended with his forced resignation in May 1998, after which he was forbidden to leave the country and in effect put under house arrest.
In January of this year, president Joseph Estrada of the Philippines was jailed for leading a debauched and corrupt life. Public support for the National Awakening Party created by Abdurrahman Wahid is extremely weak today -- it only received 12 percent of the vote in the 1999 general elections, and because he didn't change the political scheming and internal fighting, the first popularly elected president of Indonesia was dismissed from office -- unemployment among the region's presidents certainly is high.
Turning our gaze toward Taiwan and Japan, we see that their leaders are better off. After the Liberal Democrats' Junichiro Koizumi was elected Prime Minister in Japan in April of this year he charmed the female part of Japan, showing that acting is an everyday part of politics.
Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian (
The presidential profession needs the abilities and breadth of mind to make changes in accordance with public opinion. With the ending of the strong leadership of the two Chiangs, the quiet revolution of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), and president Chen's transition of power, one can say that the democratic development process has been a smooth revolution without bloodshed. Looking at others and thinking about ourselves without crying recession or singing with praise, there are still some areas in Taiwan's future where we need to be on our guard: we cannot discount the persistent need for democracy, the development of the economy, or harmony between ethnic groups.
Our knowledge of Indonesia may be limited, but the domestic political situation in Indonesia is actually very difficult. The pain of the post-Suharto era may not go away so easily. Added to this, the leadership abilities of the new president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, are not rated highly. Complicated ethnic relations, religious fanaticism, concentration of power in Jakarta, the separatist movements in Aceh and Irian Jaya, economic and social chaos: it all shows that Indonesia's problems are still increasing after the disintegration of Suharto's New Order. This means that the vicious behavior of the Suharto era has not been completely cleaned out, and that national development is still held prisoner by the political infighting of a small minority of people.
Taiwan's situation cannot be compared to Southeast Asia, Japan or the US, but looking at the needs for national development, all Asian leaders are being put to the same test. It is not easy to eliminate difficulties between political parties with different interests without a strong number of seats in the legislature, and even more difficult to display and implement proper government. The president is out of a job, maybe he stepped down, maybe he was dismissed. The future of the nation, however, must not be lost. Intense political fighting, ethnic mobilization, religious fanaticism, a politically active military and authoritarian leadership can only lead to hardship for the population, and lead to a regression in civilization.
Chang Hsin-chi is the director of the Central Taiwan Society.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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