Soeharto says critics ignorant of govt system<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said yesterday that his
\nadministration's critics did not seem to understand the basics of
\nIndonesia's political system.<\/p>\n
The President said certain people were eager to propose an
\noverhaul of the system but the alternative they had in mind was
\nforeign and incompatible with Indonesian culture and mores.<\/p>\n
"There are people who analyze our 1945 Constitution using a
\nforeign frame of mind," he said when inaugurating 1,016 senior
\ninstructors of the state ideology Pancasila.<\/p>\n
The instructors, who had completed two-week intensive courses
\non the ideology, are academicians, government officials and
\nsenior journalists.<\/p>\n
On hand were senior government officials, including Vice
\nPresident Try Sutrisno and head of the Agency for Pancasila
\nPropagation Alwi Dahlan.<\/p>\n
According to Soeharto, many of his critics did not seem to
\nunderstand the underlying concept of the Indonesian system in
\nwhich the president is elected by the People's Consultative
\nAssembly.<\/p>\n
"The assembly elects a figure it believes is capable of
\ncarrying out prepared guidelines of state policy. This implies
\nthere should be no opposition to any policy in the guidelines as
\nthey have been approved by representatives of all the people," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The 1,000-strong assembly consists of representatives from all
\nthree political organizations, the Armed Forces, the government
\nand many other sociopolitical groups.<\/p>\n
As many as 600 of the last assembly's members were appointed
\nby the President.<\/p>\n
Opposition, President Soeharto said, was acceptable in other
\ncountries' where people directly elect their head of government.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who has been reelected five times since he became
\npresident in 1968, warned that the globalization of information
\nand economic activity was, in some ways, posing a "tremendous
\nthreat" to the nation's unity.<\/p>\n
"The free flow of global information has brought people in all
\ncountries closer to those in others. This enables people to
\nreceive foreign values that can erode their sense of nationalism.<\/p>\n
"So extreme is the impact of foreign influences in some people
\nthey no longer care about maintaining their nation's unity."<\/p>\n
Soeharto's remarks come amid a continuing crackdown on
\ndissent. More than a dozen political and labor activists are
\ncurrently on trial in Jakarta for subversion for allegedly
\nundermining the government.<\/p>\n
The latest to be detained is the chairman of the unrecognized
\nIndonesian Democratic Union Party, Sri Bintang Pamungkas, and two
\nof the party's activists, Saleh Abdullah and Julius Usman.<\/p>\n
Bintang, who was sacked from the House of Representatives by
\nthe Moslem-oriented United Development Party, has drafted a
\nconstitution to replace the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
He has openly urged people to boycott the May 29 general
\nelection and reject President Soeharto's reelection in 1998.
\n(pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soeharto-says-critics-ignorant-of-govt-system-1447893297",
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