'People's leadership team' to push demands for reform<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Vocal government critic Amien Rais warned
\nyesterday that a coalition of leading public figures, or a
\n\"people's leadership team\", would be formed by the end of the
\nmonth to push demands for reform.<\/p>\n
\"Just you wait and see sometime around May 20 and afterward,\"
\nhe told an enthusiastic crowd of over 1,000 at Jami Attaqwa
\nMosque in Bintaro Jaya, South Jakarta, yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"There will be about 30 or 40 public figures from various
\nelements of society who will be demanding numerous improvements
\nin the economic and political life of Indonesia,\" he said as
\nquoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Amien did not mention who would be included on the team nor
\nlist the concrete measures it would take.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the 28-million-strong Muhammadiyah Moslem
\norganization is known as a strong critic of the government and
\nhas even named himself as a presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
He has said several times that he is ready to lead the nation
\nif it wished to assume a new leadership.<\/p>\n
Amien expressed some doubt yesterday that the current
\ngovernment could successfully move forward.<\/p>\n
He metaphorically said the government was \"stagnant\" just like
\nwater in a drainage pipe.<\/p>\n
\"Just water stagnates in a sewer, that's how we are now. Being
\nstagnant like that, the water only collects disease. That's why
\nit has to flow,\" he said to an emphatic crowd which immediately
\nshouted approval.<\/p>\n
Amien promised to approach and \"knock on the hearts\" of
\ngovernment leaders so they would truly appreciate the hardships
\nfelt by the people.<\/p>\n
Speaking of the wave of student demonstrations which recently
\nclaimed their first victims, Amien pleaded for security forces
\nnot to employ harsh measures against the students.<\/p>\n
Amien displayed some compassion for the enlisted men assigned
\nto deal with demonstrators on a daily basis, saying he understood
\nthat they were only following orders.<\/p>\n
\"But if you ask them on a personal basis, the soldiers in the
\nfield are also having a difficult time just like the people,\" he
\nremarked, adding that students too must not resort to violence in
\ngetting their demands heard.<\/p>\n
Separately, some 45 government critics, grouped in the
\nKelompok 28 Oktober (October 28 group), also called for the
\nestablishment of a national committee to coordinate all forces in
\nimplementing comprehensive reform.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Supeni, representing the critics, told journalists here
\nyesterday that the committee should comprise all factions in
\nsociety and that \"the national committee is also expected to
\nconduct a dialog with the President on the reform agenda\".<\/p>\n
Mrs. Supeni, also chairwomen of the New Indonesian Nationalist
\nParty (PNI Baru), said the key for the reform was in Soeharto's
\nhands.<\/p>\n
\"It is not relevant now whether the People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPR) holds an extraordinary session or not, but if
\nSoeharto bows to the students' demands there will be no more
\nproblem. And the reform agenda will go on,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The critics, who signed a declaration in the meeting
\nyesterday, rejected the accountability speech delivered by
\nSoeharto at the MPR General Session in March and MPR's decision
\nto reappoint Soeharto to a seventh term of office and to appoint
\nBJ Habibie as vise president.<\/p>\n
\"The two decisions were not valid since the MPR members do not
\ntruly represent the people. Only a small number of the MPR
\nmembers elected through the general election last year are
\nvalid,\" said Ali Sadikin, the staunchest government critic of the
\nPetisi 50 Group.<\/p>\n
Among critics signing the declaration were Mrs Supeni, former
\nJakarta governor Ali Sadikin, former secretary for development
\noperations Solichin GP, Sabam Sirait, former industry minister
\nMashuri, Abdul Madjid, Chris Key Timu, the latter two of the
\nPetisi 50 Group.<\/p>\n
Sadikin, a retired marine corps lieutenant general, said the
\ngroup supported the students' movement for reform, including new
\nnational leadership, because the New Order administration had too
\nlong abused the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945
\nConstitution.<\/p>\n
\"In 1967, Soeharto launched a total correction against the Old
\nOrder government under late president Sukarno, and now students
\ndemand total political reform toward violations against the
\nconstitution,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Solichin, also a retired Army lieutenant general, said he
\njoined the government critics group because the government and
\nits political system had failed to achieve the national
\ndevelopment's objectives.<\/p>\n
\"We have carried out the development program for 32 years and
\nall natural resources have been exploited for it, but many people
\nare still living below the poverty line and many others are still
\npoor,\" he said. (rms\/mds)<\/p>",
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