President set to explain 'Black Friday'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie spent his weekend meeting
\nwith community leaders to convince them that his administration
\nwas taking measures to restore order to Indonesia's social and
\npolitical life.<\/p>\n
During a Sunday morning meeting with members of the National
\nCommission on Human Rights at his Kuningan residence in South
\nJakarta, Habibie promised to issue an account of the unrest that
\nmarred the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly
\nlast week. He said he would address the nation after receiving
\nreports from the security authorities and members of the public.<\/p>\n
\"The government has yet to decide whether to set up a team to
\ninvestigate the incident,\" Minister\/State Secretary Akbar
\nTandjung said after the meeting with Baharuddin Lopa, Miriam
\nBudiardjo, Marzuki Darusman, Albert Hasibuan, Dos Reis Amaral,
\nKusparmono Irsan and Syamsuddin.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said the commission members had urged Habibie to
\nexplain the clashes between security personnel and demonstrators
\nin which at least 15 people died.<\/p>\n
Marzuki criticized the confusing and contradictory statements
\nso far issued by the authorities. Before the MPR session
\ncommenced, he said, officials had vowed they were ready to go to
\ngreat lengths to avoid clashes, but this had proved to be untrue
\nand the government was unable to handle the demonstrations
\neffectively.<\/p>\n
\"The commission will not make any judgment because that would
\nbe unfair, given that we do not have all the facts,\" Baharuddin
\nLopa, the commission's secretary-general, added.<\/p>\n
During a meeting with Amien Rais on Saturday, Habibie conceded
\nthat provided the nation was ready, the MPR could convene in a
\nGeneral Session and establish a new government two weeks after
\nthe general election scheduled for next May.<\/p>\n
Amien, who is chairman of the National Mandate Party and a
\nleader of the reform movement, said in Surakarta, Central Java,
\nthat Habibie had yielded and agreed there was no need for the
\nnation to wait six months for a new administration to be put in
\nplace.<\/p>\n
Amien, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Abdurrahman Wahid and Sri
\nSultan Hamengkubuwono X declared last week that a new government
\nmust be in place within three months of the general election.<\/p>\n
Habibie had scheduled the presidential election for December
\n1999, six months after the proposed date for the general
\nelection.<\/p>\n
The declaration, which has become known as the Ciganjur
\nDeclaration because it was drafted and issued at Abdurrahman's
\nresidence in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, also delineated a plan that
\nwould remove the military from the country's legislatures within
\nsix years.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Habibie told me three months would be too short, (make
\nit) six months,\" Amien was quoted by Antara as saying. \"I met
\nwith Pak Habibie last night (Saturday) we (agreed not to) bang
\nour heads together.<\/p>\n
\"We (the Ciganjur group and the public) will not be obstinate
\n(in our demand) for three months, but Pak Habibie must not be
\nobstinate (and insist on) six months,\" Amien said.<\/p>\n
\"If the election is over and the new MPR is ready to convene
\nwithin three months, why not? Finally, Pak Habibie said 'all
\nright then, if things are ready within two weeks, go ahead, the
\nMPR can establish a new government',\" he said.<\/p>\n
Amien then called on the nation to join in efforts to maintain
\nsecurity until a new government has been established. \"There
\nshouldn't be any more political earthquakes like (last week in
\nJakarta,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Everyone must show restraint and the Armed Forces should side
\nwith the people, rather than serving the elite,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He also said that if Habibie's administration proved unable to
\ncarry out the Assembly's mandate, his party would withdraw their
\nsupport for him.<\/p>\n
However Amien said that he would not convene an alternative
\n\"assembly session\", saying that would be irresponsible.<\/p>\n
\"(For some people) it would probably be satisfying if they
\ncould say they had toppled Habibie or disrupted Jakarta ... but
\nthat would cause great damage to Indonesia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Separately, two organizations have demanded that the
\ngovernment begin an investigation of the unrest in Jakarta last
\nweek and take action against those found to be responsible for
\nit.<\/p>\n
The United Development Party (PPP) said in a statement that it
\nsupported the legitimate government and called on the security
\nauthorities exercise prudence when facing situations that pose a
\npotential threat to national unity.<\/p>\n
The party also warned \"political brokers\" against dividing the
\npeople for the sake of furthering their own political ambitions.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Moslem Forum said in a statement
\nhere on Monday that it rejected anarchy and subversion and would
\nsupport the government's campaign to implement the decrees issued
\nby the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
\"We reject all forms of violence and anarchy which,
\nconsciously or otherwise, have become the modus operandi of
\nradical groups seeking to topple the legitimate government,\" the
\nforum was quoted as saying by Antara.<\/p>\n
The forum groups a number of Islamic organizations including
\nthe Council for Islamic Propagation, Muhammadiyah Youth and the
\nMoslem Youth Movement.<\/p>\n
In a statement, another group of figures denounced certain
\nparties' use and manipulation of \"religious symbols\" to stir up
\ntrouble and spark unrest.<\/p>\n
Among signatories to the statement were politician Sri Bintang
\nPamungkas, rights activist Munir and student activist Andi Arief.
\n(swe\/prb\/aan)<\/p>",
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