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.