Amien Rais backs NU call for reform

Amien Rais backs NU call for reform

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Moslem leader Amien Rais backed yesterday the
recent call of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Moslem
organization, for the Armed Forces to support the people's and
students' demands for reform.

"The NU stance was a clear signal," he said here yesterday.

Amien, who chairs Muhammadiyah -- which with 28 million
followers constitutes the country's second largest Islamic
organization -- said here that it was now time for the Armed
Forces (ABRI) to prove that its loyalty was really toward the
nation and the people.

Amien said the increasingly loud calls for reform were
actually a test of ABRI's claim that it was the vanguard of the
national interest. "ABRI is the backbone of the community. Now,
the people are demanding the fulfillment of its promise that its
loyalty is toward the nation and the people, not the
administration."

He said that if ABRI found that the administration was
reneging on its mandate, it should withdraw its support for the
government. ABRI should then, together with the community, create
a new, legitimate administration.

"The problem is, it now seems that ABRI has lost its sense of
direction," he said, adding that in his view, ABRI's actions
hinged only on the words of one individual, namely President
Soeharto.

"It's not right if, as an institution, ABRI is run by one
individual," he said. "It is now time that ABRI, as an
institution, takes the right step (and chooses) whether to
protect the interests of Soeharto and his family or to protect
the interests of the nation.

"ABRI always says that what's best for ABRI is best for the
people ... now the people are waiting (for ABRI) to make its
choice," he said.

When asked whether ABRI would present a unified stance, Amien
said that the "stance of ABRI will be decided by the common
perception among the ABRI commander, Army chief of staff, chief
of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command, commandant-general of
the Army's special force, Armed Forces chief of sociopolitical
affairs and Armed Forces chief of general affairs."

If the top brass are united, the regional military commanders
would surely follow suit, he asserted.

When asked whether Muhammadiyah would also issue a formal
statement in support of reform, Amien pointed out that he had
always been voicing the organization's stance. He said he started
speaking out about the need for reform in 1993.

Succession

"Muhammadiyah is of the stance that succession has to take
place," he said, adding how his previous calls for "national
dialogs" and "national repentance" were belittled by many. "Now
people realize that we do need national dialogs, national
repentance."

"Should a people's power movement take place, Muhammadiyah
members, who number millions of people, would surely support it,"
said Amien, who is also a staff lecturer at Gadjah Mada
University's School of Social and Political Sciences.

Another political observer, Mahfud M.D. of the Indonesian
Islamic University, agreed that ABRI should come forward and
respond to the growing calls for reform, especially those voiced
by students in their demonstrations.

He believed there were officers in the Armed Forces who wanted
to see reform too.

"Meeting students' demands for reform would not by any means
endanger the nation. Some people think that by accommodating
student demands the nation will plunge into chaos.

"It doesn't have to be that way. Let people assert themselves
in a peaceful and constitutional manner," he said. "If blocked,
the campaign for reform might instead have to resort to
unconstitutional means."

Amien pointed out that if all conventional avenues to further
democratization were blocked, people would have to find
"unconventional solutions."

"There's no other way but peaceful, nonviolent people's power
for reform," he said, citing how both the government and the
people, as represented by the students, were bent on maintaining
their own stance and demands.

"The government is adamant that anything the People's
Consultative Assembly has decided should not be reviewed, and
Soeharto has to be given a chance until 2003 (when the current
five-year term of office expires).

"Meanwhile, people (facing) insufferable suffering want to
limit his term.

"If, within one semester, Soeharto fails to overcome the
(economic) crisis, it'd be better if his mandate was revoked. If,
within these six months, his performance improves, it's an
indication he is able to handle the crisis ... if not, a people's
power movement could take place," he said.

Right

Gen. (ret) Abdul Haris Nasution said it was students' right
and duty to voice people's demands for reforms. Indonesia's most
senior military figure told reporters in Jakarta yesterday that
no one should try to hinder the students' actions.

He noted that some individuals or groups might be unhappy with
the students' push for reform. He stressed, however, that
students should not compare their actions today with those of
their counterparts in the past.

"The substance of current students' aspirations is different
from their seniors of the 1966 generation, who together with the
Armed Forces fought against members of the outlawed Indonesian
Communist Party," he said.

He said that today ABRI and the students had different
interests.

"The students want reform, while ABRI wants them to stay
inside their campuses and not to go onto the streets in order to
voice their aspirations," he said. (swe/imn)