Opposition figures form anti-Habibie group<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A group of retired generals and former officials
\nyesterday declared the creation of the National Front, a forum
\nintended to serve as a moral force and as an opposition group to
\nPresident B.J. Habibie's administration.<\/p>\n
Former commander of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command, Lt.
\nGen. (ret.) Kemal Idris, was elected the group's chairman, while
\nformer Golkar secretary-general Rachmat Witoelar was named its
\nsecretary-general.<\/p>\n
Former minister of mines and energy and OPEC secretary-general
\nSubroto read the group's statement, which stated that its reason
\nd'etre was to strive to restore the people's sovereignty.<\/p>\n
Kemal said he officially declared himself in opposition to
\nHabibie, questioning the latter's legitimacy as president.
\nHabibie succeeded former president Soeharto on May 21, seconds
\nafter the long-ruling leader stepped down from the presidency.<\/p>\n
Kemal also criticized Habibie's acceptance of an additional
\nUS$7.9 billion in fresh aid pledged by donor countries, saying it
\nwould only burden the country.<\/p>\n
Kemal said the National Front was calling on people to rely on
\ntheir own economic resources to weather the country's worst
\neconomic crisis in decades.<\/p>\n
The declaration was signed yesterday by Kemal and Subroto.<\/p>\n
Kemal asserted that the National Front was not a political
\nparty and that it would not become one.<\/p>\n
\"We will support all political parties seeking total reform,
\n(but) we clearly do not support Golkar,\" Kemal was quoted by
\nAntara as saying.<\/p>\n
Political observer Hermawan Sulistyo has reportedly called the
\nNational Front -- which shot into prominence in May as a loose
\ngroup of Soeharto critics whose statements added to the pressure
\non Soeharto to resign -- a group of people disappointed in
\nGolkar, which elected Minister\/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung as
\nits new chairman over former Armed Forces chief Edi Sudradjat.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the involvement of Golkar's Indra Bambang Utojo
\nand Moestahid Astari in the group, Kemal said: \"Those who join
\nthe National Front share a common vision. We should not worry
\nabout their past.\"<\/p>\n
Present at the announcement held at Gedung Joang yesterday
\nwere former national police chief Hoegeng Iman Santoso, former
\nJakarta governor Ali Sadikin, military analyst Lt. Gen. (ret.)
\nHasnan Habib and former commander of the Udayana Military Command
\nMaj. Gen. (ret.) Theo Syafei.<\/p>\n
Also attending and lending greater credence to the gathering
\nwas Megawati Soekarnoputri, the ousted chairwoman of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
Other figures attending were former minister of environment
\nSarwono Kusumaatmadja, former minister of youth affairs and
\nsports Hayono Isman, lawyer Dimyati Hartono and Golkar's Didit
\nHaryadi.<\/p>\n
Indra and Didit were among a number of people who refused to
\njoin Golkar's executive board last month. Indra was offered the
\nposition of deputy secretary-general, one of 13 such posts on the
\nnew board, and Didit was named as one of the six people in charge
\nof setting up Golkar's strategy for the country's next general
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of local and foreign reporters covered the
\nannouncement yesterday.<\/p>\n
Separately, an expert on Indonesia from the Australian
\nNational University, Marcus Mietzner, said the National Front's
\ncall on the people to oppose Habibie's government was an
\nexpression of \"disappointment\".<\/p>\n
\"It is an expression of disappointment and I am not surprised
\nwith it because I saw it coming a long time ago,\" Mietzner was
\nquoted as saying by Antara yesterday in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Mietzner is a doctoral candidate at the university's Research
\nSchool of Pacific and Asian Studies. He is now carrying out
\nresearch on the relationship between Moslems and ABRI.<\/p>\n
Mietzner said that the retired generals in the group became
\nfurther disappointed with the government when Edi Sudradjat was
\nbeaten by Tandjung in Golkar's leadership race last month.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, they are trying to mobilize the people by calling
\non them to oppose Habibie's administration,\" Mietzner said.<\/p>\n
He also did not rule out the possibility that a power struggle
\nbetween Moslem-based movements and nationalists might return to
\nthe Indonesian political arena. (byg)<\/p>",
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