No need for another riot<\/p>\n
From Republika<\/p>\n
Having observed the country's present economic and political
\nturmoil, we, in the spirit of reform, would like to call on the
\ntransitional government under B.J. Habibie to reform the laws on
\npolitics and organize a general election as soon as possible and
\nimmediately undertake a national economic rescue program,
\nparticularly with respect to food supplies at prices affordable
\nby the majority of the people. We also hope that the present
\ngovernment and the government to be formed after the next general
\nelection continue implementing total reforms and not allow any
\nform of mismanagement and abuse of power.<\/p>\n
Then, in order to prevent a recurrence of riots characterized
\nby discrimination and SARA (tribal affiliations, religion, race,
\nsocietal groups) -- which quantitatively and qualitatively
\nreached the highest level of intensity in the New Order era --
\nand to avoid national disintegration, we earnestly hope that the
\ngovernment, the House of Representatives and all forces of the
\nnational reform drive -- including university students -- to
\nfight for the issuance of an anti-SARA\/antidiscrimination law.
\nThis in addition to striving for the drafting of an antimonopoly
\nlaw, an anticollusion law, an antinepotism law and an
\nanticorruption law.<\/p>\n
An anti-SARA\/antidiscrimination law is important to ensure
\nthat there will be legal protection to every Indonesian citizen
\nin terms of law enforcement and human rights. It is true that our
\npenal code stipulates articles which may be used to protect the
\ncommunity from any anarchic\/discriminative\/SARA-smacking acts.
\nHowever, these articles have been used only with respect to the
\ncriminal elements of these acts, such as looting, arson, murder
\nand rape, and have never been successfully used to bring the
\nmastermind of any anarchic\/discriminatory riot to court.<\/p>\n
To prevent the recurrence of similar riots in future, our
\nstate, which is pursuant to the 1945 Constitution, is a law-
\nabiding state, must have a legal instrument which cannot only be
\nfairly and firmly used against the perpetrators of
\nanarchic\/discriminative riots but also provide legal handling to
\nthe victims of such riots.<\/p>\n
We also appreciate and support the statement President Habibie
\nmade recently when inspecting the burned buildings in Glodok and
\nKlender, to the effect that anything smacking of
\nSARA\/discrimination cannot be tolerated.<\/p>\n
Amien Rais himself has given his word that the recent riots
\nwill never recur and appealed to Indonesians of foreign origin
\nnow seeking safety abroad to return to this beloved country.<\/p>\n
It is our hope that all this is not mere propaganda or an
\nartificial statement made to draw sympathy from all ethnic groups
\nin this plural nation, but something to be followed up with
\nconcrete measures on the basis of written laws.<\/p>\n
Let us set aside some time to contemplate on what KH Zainuddin
\nMZ has said: \"How would I feel if that set on fire or looted were
\nmine?\"<\/p>\n
We hope that in this era of reform there will be no recurrence
\nof any incidents which may hurt our fellow countrymen. We are all
\npart of one nation -- the Indonesian nation. God willing, as a
\nnation, we will make progress if we strongly uphold the spirit of
\nbrotherhood and see to it that stability is well maintained.<\/p>\n
ANTON HADIWARSA<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-need-for-another-riot-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }