ABRI may hold dialog with students today

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) chief and 18 cabinet ministers will finally sit together with intellectuals, students and university rectors today to seek solutions to the economic crisis following weeks of controversy over ABRI's plan to hold dialogs with groups critical of the government.

Most of those invited from 30 universities have confirmed they will attend the discussion, said ABRI spokesman Brig. Gen. A. Wahab Mokodongan yesterday. "Most of the people that we contacted responded favorably," Wahab told The Jakarta Post and the Merdeka dailies.

The dialog, initiated by the Armed Forces Headquarters, will be held at the Jakarta Fair Grounds in Central Jakarta.

Wahab said Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono, Minister of Defense /Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto and Minister of Social Services Siti Hardijanti Rukmana were among the ministers who had confirmed their attendance.

Also scheduled to attend are retired military generals Rudini, Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo and Z.A. Maulani, economists Didik J. Rachbini and Sjahrir, and constitutional law expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra.

One of the moderators of the dialog is Ryaas Rasyid, rector of the State Institute for Public Administration.

A previously planned meeting between students and Gen. Wiranto organized by a group of former student leaders of the 1966 generation fell through last month after university students rejected the invitation. Meanwhile, on-campus rallies demanding economic and political reforms at various universities nationwide continued.

The Armed Forces held a dialog with leaders of 32 youth organizations last week.

Rejection

As of yesterday, several student bodies voiced their rejection of ABRI's offer for a dialog. Chairman of the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University student senate, Ridaya La Ode Ngkowe, said yesterday they would not send a representative to the dialog.

He believed the dialog would fail to produce recommendations on how to overcome the crisis.

"The government has not indicated any commitment for total reforms. It took a defensive stance when responding to our calls for changes," he added.

Ridaya said the Gadjah Mada students preferred to hold a dialog with fellow students from other state universities, including Jakarta-based University of Indonesia and the State Teacher's Training Institute, the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, the Bandung Institute of Technology, Surabaya's Airlangga University and the Surabaya Institute of Technology.

A similar rejection came from the Yogyakarta-based Sunan Kalijaga State Institute of Islamic Studies.

"With regret, we cannot accept the invitation yet," chairman of the Institute's student senate, Anis Nurul Muna, said. He did not state a reason for the rejection.

A positive response came from the presidium of the Indonesian Nationalist Students Movement (GMNI), which confirmed through a statement yesterday that it would send representatives to the meeting.

However, they demanded transparency and concrete plans on how to address various issues to be addressed in the talks.

"The dialog should be understood as being a medium toward a solution, but not a solution to the existing problems," said the activists in a statement co-signed by presidium chairman Ayi Vivananda and chairman of the organizing committee Arif Wibowo.

Home affairs minister R. Hartono, who has confirmed his presence in today's dialog, appealed to the students not to bring the state leadership issue into the meeting's agenda.

"They should not force the state leadership issue into the dialog if they still love the country's 200 million Indonesians," he told reporters at his office yesterday.

He said the students were not representatives of the Indonesian population. "The people of Indonesia are represented by members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), who reelected President Soeharto in last month's election," he said.

Anas Urbaningrum, chairman of the Association of Islamic Students (HMI), said after a meeting with State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Agung Laksono yesterday that the students' demand for a dialog with the President was a common need in a democratic country.

"The presidency is not a sacred institution. Anybody has an equal opportunity to meet and talk with him, including students," he said.

Anas, however, said the students should not be reluctant to meet with the President's aides.

"It's supposed to be a preliminary dialog, aimed at accommodating aspirations of the nation," he said. (imn/23/44/emf)