Moerdiono for more openness<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister\/State Secretary Moerdiono, while
\ndefending the record of President Soeharto's New Order
\ngovernment, agreed yesterday that the time has come for Indonesia
\nto adopt a more open political system.<\/p>\n
Any political system must be dynamic and open to change in
\naccordance with the demands of the situation and the conditions
\nof the time, Moerdiono said in a seminar to review the
\nperformance of the New Order government.<\/p>\n
\"It is a fact that the global political trend demands greater
\npolitical openness and greater respect for human rights. These
\nclearly must be taken into consideration,\" he said at the seminar
\norganized by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).<\/p>\n
\"We already have laid the basis for a more open political
\nformat that also gives more respect to human rights,\" he said,
\nreferring to the 1993-98 State Policy Guidelines endorsed by the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly last year.<\/p>\n
During the ensuing discussion, Moerdiono said he was concerned
\nthat the political openness now being pursued by the government
\nhad been misinterpreted by some people.<\/p>\n
The government, he said, is advocating transparency, which is
\nnot the same as being completely open.<\/p>\n
The main difficulty in the move towards greater openness is in
\nensuring that it does not lead to anarchy, he said, stressing
\nthat all parties must treat the issue with responsibility.<\/p>\n
Moerdiono was the last speaker of the two-day LIPI seminar
\nthat was held in memory of the late Alfian, a political thinker
\nwho analyzed the New Order administration extensively during his
\nlifetime.<\/p>\n
The phrase New Order describes the successive administrations
\nof President Soeharto, who has ruled the nation since 1966. The
\nperiod between independence in 1945 and 1965 under president
\nSukarno is described as the Old Order.<\/p>\n
Moerdiono said it was during the New Order era that the
\ncountry for the first time managed to establish the frame of
\nreference upon which the political system is built. This is based
\non Pancasila, the state ideology, and the Constitution.<\/p>\n
During Sukarno's time the nation went from one upheaval to
\nanother as it experienced various political systems which were
\nalien to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
'Dual-function'<\/p>\n
Moerdiono posed the question whether he thought the political
\nformat of the New Order government has been successful and
\nwhether it was consistent with the 1945 Constitution. \"Without
\ndoubt, I will answer yes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The minister also said that some of the credit, but not all,
\nfor the political concepts developed during the New Order should
\ngo to the Armed Forces (ABRI) for playing its political role
\nthrough its \"Dual-Function\" doctrine in defense and politics.<\/p>\n
\"It cannot be denied that these concepts had military
\nconnotations,\" said Moerdiono, a retired Army lieutenant general
\nwho has spent most of his public career in civilian clothes.<\/p>\n
He said ABRI would be the first to acknowledge that it is only
\na part of the national power, and that it sees its task as
\nhelping to develop the other potentials. \"Through this point of
\nview, it is natural that the military is directly or indirectly
\nconcerned with the national development.\"<\/p>\n
Moerdiono said the military never claimed all the credit for
\nthe achievements of the New Order. \"A phenomenon which will be
\npolitically interesting to analyze is that despite its major
\npolitical role, ABRI's budget is one of the smallest. It is even
\nmore interesting that ABRI's leadership have calmly accepted
\nthis.\"<\/p>\n
The military's dominant role in politics has been questioned
\nby some scholars and politicians lately.<\/p>\n
Harold Crouch of the Australian National University in his
\npresentation at the seminar on Tuesday said that he believed the
\nmajority of ABRI officers want to retain their political role,
\nbut they differ on the extent of ABRI's involvement. (par)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/moerdiono-for-more-openness-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}