Impeachment seminar not until 1998<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A controversial seminar on the impeachment of
\nIndonesia's first president Sukarno will not be held until after
\nnext year's presidential election.<\/p>\n
Minister\/State Secretary Moerdiono told reporters yesterday
\nthe decision was made in view of the public reaction to the
\nplanned seminar.<\/p>\n
Moerdiono said the rescheduling was deemed necessary because
\nIndonesia faced two major political events in the next 12 months:
\nthe May general election and the People's Consultative Assembly
\nsession to elect the president in March next year. \"They are very
\ncrucial events and should top our priorities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
While there was no urgency, Moerdiono defended the plan to
\nhold the seminar, \"to explain to the young generation the
\npolitical processes that decided this nation's fate\".<\/p>\n
The seminar, to discuss president Sukarno's last public
\nspeech, was originally planned for this month, before it drew
\nsharp reactions.<\/p>\n
In the speech, titled Nawaksara (nine points) and read before
\nan emergency session of the Provisional People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPRS) in June 1966, Sukarno defended his administration
\nand did not condemn the communist uprising in 1965. The MPRS
\nrejected the speech and moved to impeach him.<\/p>\n
Armed Forces chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Slamet Supriadi said
\nthe military supported the seminar to inform the public about
\nwhat really happened during and after the affair.<\/p>\n
He noted that President Soeharto has approved the plan.<\/p>\n
Businessman Sofyan Wanandi, a former student leader who took
\npart in the massive anti-Sukarno street protests in 1966, said
\nthe seminar should not proceed.<\/p>\n
There is nothing more to discuss about the speech, Sofyan
\nsaid. The seminar would only lead to polemics, he added.<\/p>\n
\"For me, it's already over, because the leadership change was
\nconstitutional. We have held five elections since then and nobody
\nhas questioned the New Order's legitimacy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Rather than holding a seminar, historians and witnesses should
\nwrite a book if the intention is to give accurate information on
\nwhat happened, he said.<\/p>\n
Amien Rais, chairman of the Muhammadiyah Moslem organization,
\nsaid the country should not waste time rebutting \"a few people\"
\nwho doubted the truth of the Nawaksara, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
\"We have to be careful when speaking about Sukarno as an
\nindividual and a former president,\" he said. \"If necessary, the
\nplan should be dropped.\"<\/p>\n
\"I fear that the seminar will only cause disunity among us,\"
\nhe said in Surakarta, Central Java. \"Let the historic event
\nbelong to the past,\" he added. (amd\/imn)<\/p>",
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