A challenge for Habibie

Haji Muhammad Soeharto's resignation, or departure, as president of the Republic of Indonesia culminated in the current reform drive. With his public statement of resignation on Thursday, May 21, the purpose of the campaign is as good as achieved. However, more than merely the replacement of Soeharto as president, the real objective of the campaign goes substantially deeper and aims at ensuring that the law and the Constitution are upheld, and that democracy as a civil manifestation of the people's sovereignty can grow.

We would like to emphasize this point because, in essence, the reform movement was prompted by our failure to consistently sustain the renewal process that began with the birth of the New Order era. Indeed, there were indications that this process of renewal -- which essentially is nothing but reform -- had slowed down, or had even stagnated.

For this reason we would like to underscore the Armed Forces' political stand as made public by the minister of defense/Armed Forces commander. To proceed with the reform campaign by methods prone to manipulation by destructive elements would injure us all.

For this reason the new cabinet under President B.J. Habibie should, aside from ensuring the consistent continuation of the reform drive, heed the people's aspirations to eliminate corruption, collusion and nepotism

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta