On vice presidency In this global era, rigid partitions that formerly kept nations' affairs of state separate and distinct have ceased to exist and the concept of sovereignty is becoming increasingly vague and diluted. Weakening of state power can even be seen in what the Indonesian political elite refer to as "the existing mechanism". Usually guaranteed to render certainty to an equivocal political situation, the existing mechanism is now itself lacking certitude.

Special team set up to supervise expats JAKARTA (JP): The city administration set up a special joint team yesterday to control and supervise the presence and activities of foreigners in Jakarta, an official said. The team leader, Iman Santoso, from the city immigration office, said the Foreigners Control Coordination (Sipora) team, which integrates 14 institutions involved in the control and supervision of expatriates, would create a central information network.

Court drops Bintang's suit against minister JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta State Administrative Court threw out yesterday a lawsuit filed by politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas against Minister of Education Wardiman Djojonegoro for dismissing him from employment last year. Presiding judge Is Daryono said the minister's decision to dismiss Bintang from his lectureship in the University of Indonesia's faculty of engineering in August last year was legal.

Small businessmen to sue tycoons for breach of promise YOGYAKARTA (JP): Almost 200 local small-scale entrepreneurs are planning to sue the Jimbaran Group of business tycoons for breach of promise. They are demanding compensation of Rp 100 billion (US$10.5 million). Organized by the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute, the entrepreneurs accused the major businesses of failing to keep their promise on June 17, 1997, to provide them with capital.

30% of minivans, buses stop operation JAKARTA (JP): Owners of the city's public transportation fleets have been forced to take about 30 percent of their vehicles off the roads as they can no longer afford to buy spare parts, an executive said yesterday. Priyatmedi, from the local Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), said the small public transportation companies were worst hit by the soaring prices of spare parts.

Circumventing reform The government has repeatedly claimed, in defense of its plan to introduce a currency board system, that the IMF-brokered rescue package signed by President Soeharto on Jan. 15, has failed to stabilize the rupiah-U.S. dollar exchange rate. But has the government executed the reforms to which it is now committed in a firm and consistent manner? The answer, after scrutinizing the 50 points of reform contained in the IMF agreement, is a resounding no.