Amien sets out his agenda for total reform

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Opposition figure Amien Rais set out yesterday his agenda of political, economic and legal reforms and warned that efforts to conduct these reforms should not be sidetracked by concerns over scarcity of basic commodities.

Amien said that while the provision of basic commodities was important, the nation must not lose the momentum of reform which could be exploited by "old forces" to regain power.

He named forces loyal to former president Soeharto as a continued threat to the nation.

"It is dangerous for us to be preoccupied in discussions about basic needs," he said during a gathering at Juanda University here yesterday.

"If we focus too much on our stomachs then we could begin to lose our perspective of the future. Soeharto and his loyalists will use the opportunity to rise again and take power," he argued.

Amien said that concerns about providing basic necessities should be left primarily to the government which has an obligation to ensure the supply of such necessities.

Speaking of his reform agenda, Amien said there were four political, three economic and one legal targets which should be achieved in the push for long-lasting prosperity.

Heading the political agenda is limiting the number of presidential terms a person can serve.

"There should be an MPR (People's Consultative Assembly) Decree limiting the number of terms, otherwise there will be new Sukarnos or Soehartos," he said referring to Indonesia's first two presidents.

Sukarno ruled the country for 21 years and was even given the title of president for life. Soeharto was elected president seven times before resigning amid strong public pressure on May 21.

The second political agenda item should be a clear ruling covering the recruitment of officials to the executive, legislature and judiciary.

All must be elected based on their skill and capacity to perform their tasks, not because they are politically or economically well connected.

"Presently there are nearly 400 MPR members who were appointed merely through nepotism," Amien claimed.

Third, there must be a decentralization of authority.

Amien insisted that the provinces should be given greater power to manage their own affairs. Furthermore, provincial governments should be allowed greater access to the wealth obtained from their area.

"We don't want to see again what is happening now where the gold, silver and copper of Irian Jaya is being mined daily but the people there still live at a subsistence level," he asserted.

The fourth item on Amien's political agenda is greater political freedom for the people.

"Let's push for the growth of democracy, such as freedom of the press and to form political parties," Amien said.

The economic agenda should entail laws and practices which result in an end to monopolies.

Economic reform should also ensure that a natural free market is allowed to grow in which everyone would have an equal opportunity to compete.

According to Amien, an essential element of these reforms should also include a revitalization and restructuring of the banking system.

On the legal side, Amien stressed the need for equal treatment before the law for all Indonesians, something which he claimed does not currently prevail.

He said president and drivers of becak, three-wheeled pedicabs, should be regarded the same in the eyes of the law. "Presently, the law is only applied to those who are weak," he said. (24)