President warns of looming national disintegration threat<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie called on seminar
\nparticipants on Tuesday to help the government ward off the
\nlooming threat of national disintegration.<\/p>\n
The President said the country's economic chaos had weakened
\npeople's patriotism and damaged their trust in the government.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that national unity was in danger of
\nunraveling if the government failed to quickly strengthen the
\neconomy.<\/p>\n
\"What must be studied is how to maintain ... the spirit of
\nunity and cohesion among people in facing destructive and
\ndisintegrative thoughts and actions,\" Habibie said while opening
\na three-day seminar on \"nationalism toward a New Indonesia\" at
\nthe State Palace.<\/p>\n
Before delivering a four-page official speech, the President
\nmade a 75-minute off-the-cuff speech, which he described as an
\nintroduction.<\/p>\n
\"I want to draw your attention to the fact that we are racing
\nagainst time,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
Habibie said the government should readjust its stance over
\npeople's demands in economic and political issues.<\/p>\n
National unity and integrity are the country's strengths that
\ncould bring it out of crisis, he said.<\/p>\n
Striving to create a \"new Indonesia\" is not in any way a
\ncampaign to negate the ideals and national objectives stipulated
\nin the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
\"A new Indonesia would be a civil society in which people's
\nsovereignty is reflected in many aspects of the nation's life,
\nwhere the supremacy of the legal system and regulations are the
\nonly legitimate power, not individual leaders.\"<\/p>\n
The government and the people are now racing against time to
\nfight the crisis, Habibie said.<\/p>\n
\"The number of our people losing jobs and sinking below the
\npoverty line is increasing.<\/p>\n
\"Meanwhile, crime rates in many regions are increasing, some
\n(criminal acts) even are targeted at potential means of
\nproduction and distribution,\" he said.<\/p>\n
After the opening, the seminar moved to the National
\nResilience Institute (Lemhanas).<\/p>\n
One of the speakers, National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman
\nMatori Abdul Djalil, suggested that a balanced and fair
\ndistribution of power, authority and economic control between the
\ncentral government and regional administrations should top the
\ngovernment's development priorities.<\/p>\n
\"Otherwise, it's very possible that demands for the
\nestablishment of separate federal states will increase,\" Matori
\ntold the seminar.<\/p>\n
\"The fall of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European
\ncountries, as well as unsolved ethnic conflicts in African
\ncountries, India and Sri Lanka are evidence of how difficult it
\nis to maintain a united nation,\" he said. (imn\/prb)<\/p>",
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