PPP finally accepts Soeharto's speech<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) accepted
\nPresident Soeharto's leadership accountability speech yesterday
\nbut denied it had buckled under pressure from the two most
\npowerful factions to do so.<\/p>\n
\"The PPP faction in the Assembly can accept the President's
\nspeech of accountability,\" party spokesman Chosin Chumaidy said
\nin a plenary session.<\/p>\n
PPP leaders said they announced their stand three days earlier
\nthan promised because the Assembly's internal rules require every
\nfaction to state their stand at the preliminary meeting.<\/p>\n
\"There was no pressure from any outside party,\" said Jusuf
\nSyakir, PPP faction chief in the 1,000-strong Assembly, after the
\nmeeting.<\/p>\n
He denied accusations that the Moslem-oriented party, which
\nhas 134 Assembly members, had broken its promise to maintain its
\ntough stance on the President's leadership accountability speech.<\/p>\n
PPP enjoyed flattering publicity after it was the only faction
\nin the People's Consultative Assembly which dared to withhold its
\napproval of the speech Soeharto delivered Sunday.<\/p>\n
But the decision provoked sharp reactions from the dominant
\ngovernment-backed Golkar and the powerful ABRI factions.<\/p>\n
These included charges that PPP had been inconsistent with its
\ndecision to renominate Soeharto. The two government factions said
\nthe minority party could not renominate the President but not
\naccept his speech.<\/p>\n
Politicians from the two government factions also said that
\nPPP was deliberately viewing the President's 2,000-page report
\nfrom a negative point of view.<\/p>\n
The other four factions, Golkar, the Armed Forces (ABRI), the
\nregional representatives and the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) all reaffirmed their acceptance yesterday.<\/p>\n
Unlike other factions, PPP did not include the word wholly
\nafter the word accept.<\/p>\n
But PPP, the second largest political organization after
\nGolkar, remained critical of the speech, saying that Soeharto
\nfailed to clearly account for countless failures and
\ndiscrepancies that led to the current crisis.<\/p>\n
Usamah Hisyam, a PPP legislator, said his party was only
\ntrying to be honest when it launched its criticism of the New
\nOrder government's failures that the President did not mention.<\/p>\n
\"President Soeharto has often said he has no objection to
\nbeing criticized as long as it is constructive. I don't
\nunderstand why people made so much fuss about it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Observers say that the PPP's delayed acceptance of the
\nPresident's speech was only a trick to steal some publicity
\nbecause the party had decided long ago to renominate Soeharto.<\/p>\n
In its views presented to yesterday's plenary session, PPP
\npraised Soeharto for his ability to carry out his constitutional
\nduties.<\/p>\n
\"The President has proven his loyalty to the Constitution and
\ngiven his leadership accountability before the Assembly, the
\nrespected highest law-making body,\" Chozin said.<\/p>\n
Among Soeharto's successes PPP highlighted was his success in
\nreducing the number of Indonesians living in absolute poverty to
\n22.5 million in 1996 from 70 million in 1970.<\/p>\n
In the current sixth Five-Year Development Plan, that ends
\nthis month, the PPP noted that under the Soeharto government, the
\neconomy grew by an average of 7.1 percent a year, the population
\nby 1.5 percent, per capita income exceeded $1,000 and annual
\ninflation was 5.2 percent before the economic crisis started last
\nJuly.<\/p>\n
But the party noted the widening economic disparity, worsening
\ncorruption in the bureaucracy and the concentration of corporate
\nwealth in the hands of a privileged few.<\/p>\n
The party warned that the economic crisis was a turning point
\nin the country's efforts to build a strong economic base.<\/p>\n
It repeated its demand for political reforms and a bigger
\nbudget for education, which now stands at 3.2 percent of the
\ncountry's Gross Domestic Product compared to Malaysia's 5.3
\npercent and Singapore's 4.8 percent. (pan\/imn)<\/p>",
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