A welcome move
A welcome move
Much to the amazement of many, a most sensible proposal has
just been issued from one of the most unlikely and unexpected
quarters. Din Sjamsuddin, deputy leader of the Golkar faction in
the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the nation's highest
legislative assembly, told reporters that his faction was
proposing that President B.J. Habibie appoint three of the
government's most outspoken critics -- Amien Rais, Megawati
Soekarnoputri and Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) -- as members of
the MPR before the Assembly convenes in a special session between
Nov. 10 and Nov. 13.
"The MPR special session must be given the function of a forum
of national reconciliation in which all the various parties can
meet. To that end, I am proposing that several public
personalities who enjoy the real support of the people, such as
Amien Rais, Megawati Soekarnoputri and Gus Dur, be involved and
invited and even appointed as members of the MPR," Sjamsuddin
said. He even went on to propose that "three to five" student
leaders should also be appointed to the Assembly in recognition
of the vanguard role played by students in setting the wheels of
reform in motion. The proposal apparently has the support of the
United Development Party (PPP) faction in the Assembly.
This show of statesmanship, however small its effect may prove
to be, could not have come at a better time. With the special
session only one week away, tension in Jakarta is becoming
palpable, even though on the face of it business is continuing as
usual. The possibility of unrest appears to be a real danger and
even the respected former minister of home affairs Rudini,
renowned for his restrained opinions, has joined other observers
in warning that political antagonism could lead to public unrest
and cripple the state unless concrete steps are taken to head off
the threat immediately.
Massive public unrest may not be as far-fetched a notion as
many of us think, given the security measures which the
government has put in place. Apparently determined not to leave
anything to chance, the government has announced that 30,000
security personnel, assisted by citizens groups, will be put on
standby from before the Assembly convenes until after its
business has been concluded.
Dug in on the other side of no-man's land are reformist youth
leaders who from their ranks have stated they are willing to risk
bloodshed in order to ensure the country's agenda of political
and economic reform is adhered to.
Reformists suspect the government, the ruling Golkar party and
the military of hatching a conspiracy to preserve the status quo
and remain in power, possibly until 2002, when the electoral
cycle begun with the May 1997 general election was originally due
to come to an end. To justify their suspicions, critics have
pointed to the recent replacement of key pro-reform Golkar
members of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the MPR, and
the various incomplete and sluggish enquiries and investigations
into numerous bloody and shocking revelations.
Political analysts have said that although three additional
members may not mean much in terms of votes, regardless of how
vocal and articulate they are in their criticism, their presence
in the Assembly should have a positive effect on the course of
debate and discussion. Their presence could also go a long way to
appeasing hostile sentiment toward the session and thereby
circumvent the possibility of violent confrontations outside the
MPR building.
In the final analysis, the future well-being of more than 200
million Indonesians is at stake. Hopefully we have all learned
the lesson of the recent past and now realize that despite its
flaws, democracy is the system that can best guarantee genuine
stability and make development with justice a feasible
proposition. To last, democratic change must be accomplished
through peaceful means and a true consensus. Let us hope this
most recent move by Golkar and the PPP helps to make this
possible.