ABRI warns against radical reform methods
JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) warned yesterday that it would not permit political reforms to be pursued through radical means.
The spokesman of the ABRI faction in the People's Consultative Assembly, Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, told a plenary session yesterday that history had proven that revolutionary means of political reform only ended in ruin.
"This is not the choice of reform that fits Indonesia, a very plural nation which is now in an endless process of change and progress," Susilo said.
The remarks were made in reaction to mounting demands for total reforms of the political, legal and economic systems. The cries for reform have been sparked by the deepening financial crisis gripping the country.
In addition to past riots over food prices, students have been holding rallies to protest corruption, collusion and nepotism. Some of them have urged the Assembly to choose a new president as the basic requirement for political reform.
Susilo said political, legal and economic reforms were already part of the country's comprehensive development agenda.
"We must be fair and admit that we have made many reforms over the past 30 years. In the political field, openness and recognition of human rights have been vastly improved," said Susilo, who will hold an Armed Forces sociopolitical affairs post after the General Session.
"Just to cite an example, compare the content of news, editorials and reader letters in our media from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and now."
Susilo said political development had generated increasing mass participation in the country's decision-making process.
"For a nation which is less than a century old, the improvement gives an image and reality that brings us hope, doesn't it?" he said, adding that the government was on the right track with political development.
The United Development Party (PPP) faction agreed with the concept of gradual political reform, but urged fellow factions in the Assembly to make sure their promises of democratization become a reality.
PPP spokesman Tosari Wijaya told the same plenary session that the Assembly had initiated a significant move toward a more democratic way of life with its adoption of his faction's proposed electoral rule changes to the 1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines.
"The next political reform should deal with a review of the five politically related laws," said Tosari, who is also PPP secretary-general.
Tosari was referring to the 1985 laws on elections, political organizations and Golkar, assembly, the House of Representatives and local legislative bodies, local governments and village administration.
The PPP and fellow minority party the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) have repeatedly called for the revocation of the five laws which they claim have restricted mass participation in politics. (amd)