Emil asks Habibie to set poll date<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Opposition leader Emil Salim challenged
\nPresident B.J. Habibie yesterday to commit himself to a definite
\ndate for a new poll.<\/p>\n
Habibie should spell out what he meant by \"as soon as
\npossible\", the respected economist told reporters after meeting
\nwith the President at Bina Graha presidential office.<\/p>\n
\"His pledge should not be like an elastic band, which can be
\nstretched,\" Emil, one of six proreform campaigners who call
\nthemselves opposition leaders, said.<\/p>\n
\"There must be a clear signal (from him) that the government
\nis serious about changing the political laws as soon as
\npossible.\"<\/p>\n
Habibie has pledged to organize a general election and,
\nsubsequently, a presidential election as soon as the government,
\nthrough the House of Representatives (DPR), enacts a new set of
\npolitical laws including an electoral law.<\/p>\n
Separately, House Speaker Harmoko said the government must
\ndiscuss its plan to call for an early general election with the
\nlegislature.<\/p>\n
The House's leadership has written to Habibie asking that he
\nconsulted the House's leaders and political faction leaders about
\nthe election plans, he said.<\/p>\n
The next general election is not scheduled until 2002, with
\nthe presidential election the following year.<\/p>\n
But Habibie, who rose from vice president to the number one
\nslot after former president Soeharto resigned last Thursday, has
\ncome under strong pressure to call for an early election.<\/p>\n
Minister\/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung told reporters after
\nthe meeting between Habibie and the opposition leaders that the
\ngovernment had no intention of delaying the general election and
\nthe entire reform program longer than it had to.<\/p>\n
\"But the head of state cannot commit himself to a fixed date,\"
\nAkbar said.<\/p>\n
The government could speed up the technical preparations for
\nholding a general election, such as printing ballot papers, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"It cannot accelerate nontechnical factors, like matters
\nrelated to politics and substance. You cannot rush them.\"<\/p>\n
The government must respect the constitutional process and
\nthis means that the legislative aspects of reform must be
\ndiscussed with the House of Representatives, he said.<\/p>\n
Working group<\/p>\n
Habibie will establish a working group comprising public
\nfigures and three members of his cabinet -- Minister of Home
\nAffairs Syarwan Hamid, Minister of Justice Muladi and State
\nMinister for National Development Planning Boediono -- to help
\nthe group draw up concepts for reform.<\/p>\n
The public will be given the chance to study these concepts
\nregardless of whether or not they meet their expectations before
\nthey are presented to the House of Representatives, Akbar said.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's meeting was the second time Habibie has met with
\nthe opposition figures.<\/p>\n
In the past, \"opposition\" was considered a dirty word. The
\nterm \"partner\" was preferred.<\/p>\n
The first meeting was held at Habibie's residence, while
\nyesterday it moved to a more formal setting: the presidential
\noffice.<\/p>\n
Taking part besides Emil were Moslem intellectual Nurcholish
\nMadjid, lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, former home minister Gen.
\n(ret.) Rudini and Prof. Sudjana Syafei, a former rector of
\nBandung Institute of Technology. Amien Rais failed to turn up as
\nhe was apparently in East Java.<\/p>\n
Nurcholish said that since the public was still not accustomed
\nto the term \"opposition\", he and his colleagues decided to call
\nthemselves the Forum of Communication for Counterbalance Group,
\nor FKKP for short.<\/p>\n
The group has agreed to meet regularly with Habibie, with the
\nnext meeting scheduled for Thursday.<\/p>\n
Buyung said the group had decided to add five more members to
\naccommodate calls for broader representation.<\/p>\n
Two activists, Emmy Hafild of the Indonesian Environmental
\nForum and women's rights activist Nursyahbani Katjasungkana will
\njoin the next meeting. The other three will be drawn from
\nChristian and Roman Catholic communities and one from the ethnic
\nChinese community, Buyung said.<\/p>\n
Nurcholish said each of the group's members was independent
\nand had no pretension for representing any one group in society.<\/p>\n
He dismissed charges that they had been \"coopted\" by the
\ngovernment, pointing out that participants remained critical of
\nHabibie during the meeting yesterday.<\/p>\n
Emil said he urged Habibie to go beyond mere slogans in wiping
\nout corruption, nepotism and collusive practices in the
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
The new government should be more \"proactive\" in eliminating
\ntensions between Moslems and non-Moslems, and between indigenous
\nand nonindigenous people, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Nonindigenous and non-Moslems should feel that they are
\nprotected by the law of this country.\"<\/p>\n
Buyung said the President had agreed to the proposal that
\nIndonesia look at the way the Philippines, South Korea and
\nThailand managed to organize democratic elections in their
\ncountry after ending repressive governments.<\/p>\n
\"We're thinking of inviting friends from those countries, and
\neven experts from the United States who helped them organize
\ntheir elections.\"<\/p>\n
Rudini said that based on his experience as home minister
\nbetween 1988 and 1993, an election was not likely in six months
\nwithout a trade off in the substance of the election.<\/p>\n
He suggested 12 months was a more reasonable period.<\/p>\n
Emil begged to differ, saying that Thailand and South Korea
\norganized their polls within a shorter period of time.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot maintain this business-as-usual attitude. We have
\nto find alternatives. We shouldn't use the past as our
\nreference,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Buyung said he believed that initially the government should
\nallow as many political parties as possible.<\/p>\n
Their numbers could be reduced through a natural selection
\nprocess by imposing a minimum number of votes each party must
\nobtain in a poll to remain in existence, he said. (prb\/byg\/emb)<\/p>",
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