ABRI may hold dialog with students today

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)