Jumping on the reform bandwagon<\/p>\n
The current reform drive appears to have been given
\nconsiderable added momentum yesterday (Monday) by the House of
\nRepresentatives. Amid the cheers of students and leading critics
\nthe chairman and vice chairmen of the House, who have thus far
\nbeen accused of dragging their feet and unresponsiveness, issued
\na formidable statement.<\/p>\n
Flanked by his four deputies -- Syarwan Hamid, Ismail Hasan
\nMetareum, Fatimah Achmad and Abdul Gafur -- House of
\nRepresentatives(DPR)\/People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker
\nHarmoko beat the reform drum with force. For the sake of
\npreserving the nation's unity and cohesion, Harmoko said,
\nPresident Soeharto was requested to exert his wisdom and resign.
\nStudents cheered. Syarwan Hamid held up a thumb for Harmoko.<\/p>\n
Pak Harto (President Soeharto) has repeatedly stated that if
\nthe people no longer want him as a leader, he would have no
\nproblem being replaced. He would not use the force of arms to
\nstay in power. The survival and the well-being of the nation was
\nmore important than anything else. Besides those ethical
\nconsiderations, however, Pak Harto also put forth one absolute
\ncondition. Any change, or resignation, or whatever step was to be
\ntaken, had to be accomplished according to the rules as
\nprescribed by the Constitution.<\/p>\n
All kinds of people professing to be proponents of reform are
\nnow vying with each other to be first in acting on the signal
\ngiven by President Soeharto. Institutions and government
\nofficials who have thus far been known as antireformist, now
\ncompete with each other to be first to grab the opportunity and
\nwin the legitimacy of being a hero of reform.<\/p>\n
For the three terms that he was in office as minister of
\ninformation, Harmoko was known as antireformist. He so
\ntenaciously defended Ministerial Decree No. 01\/1984, under which
\nso many media publications were banned, that the decree has
\nmanaged to endure to this day.<\/p>\n
As a child of the nation, however, Harmoko obviously has a
\nright to try to rehabilitate himself. Harmoko wants to have a
\ndegree of significance in this reform tide, although he is now
\nconsidered to have transgressed the proper procedures.<\/p>\n
-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jumping-on-the-reform-bandwagon-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }