Younger leaders to wait until 2003: Feisal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung hinted
\nyesterday that the \"young generation\" would have to wait until
\n2003 to take over the national leadership.<\/p>\n
While opening the organization of retired Armed Forces members
\nchildren (FKPPI) executive board meeting in Bandung, West Java,
\nFeisal said Indonesia's new leaders would emerge probably within
\nthe next six years.<\/p>\n
He said an immediate transfer of leadership to the country's
\nprodigies could be risky because the nation was now at a critical
\njunction heading into the new century.<\/p>\n
\"In such changing conditions, transitional risks will occur
\nand they can adversely affect the continuation of our development
\nprogram,\" Feisal was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's present leaders are from the 1945 and 1966
\ngenerations and they are in their late 70s and late 50s
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto is one of a few surviving figures from the
\n1945 generation.<\/p>\n
Feisal said the Armed Forces would ensure next year's People's
\nConsultative Assembly general assembly went ahead safely.<\/p>\n
The assembly will convene in March next year to draw up the
\nState Policy Guidelines and elect a president and a vice
\npresident for the 1998-2003 term.<\/p>\n
\"The Armed Forces is keen to make the coming general session a
\nsuccess so Indonesia can avoid the detrimental effects of the
\ntransitional period,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who took office in 1968, has so far found no real
\nchallengers in the race for presidency.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, FKPPI chairman Asep Sudjana said the two-day
\nmeeting was a warmup for its annual congress at the end of the
\nyear.<\/p>\n
One hundred and twenty-seven FKPPI representatives from the
\ncountry's 27 provinces are attending the meeting.<\/p>\n
Criticism<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo
\nadded to the debate on national leadership by criticizing long-
\nserving leaders for hampering people's aspirations.<\/p>\n
Siswono said a group of political elites that held power for a
\nlong time would end up denying the public a say in running the
\ncountry and become an authoritarian regime. He referred to the
\ncommunist party's reign in the former Soviet Union.<\/p>\n
\"If the state exercises power for too long, it will prevent
\nits people from making progress. They will only add to the
\nstate's burdens in the long run,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He was addressing students of Gadjah Mada University's school
\nof law.<\/p>\n
Siswono said he was not suggesting changing the constitution,
\nbut he said the nation should approved a convention that limited
\nhow many terms a president could serve.<\/p>\n
He said the Americans agreed to such a convention at
\nindependence even though they did not adopt it formally until
\n1943. (23\/amd)<\/p>",
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