Bakom-PKB concerned over recent tragedies

JAKARTA (JP): The Coordinating Body for National Unity (Bakom- PKB) has expressed deep concern over the recent tragedies that have increased uncertainty and a feeling of peril among minority groups.

Bakom-PKB deputy chairwoman Rosita Noor told journalists that the shootings at Trisakti University and the riots that rocked several cities in the country were evidence that society's sense of unity and nationalism were deteriorating.

"The Trisakti tragedy, in which four students were killed and many others seriously injured, proves that the military has yet to respect human rights. While riots where hundreds of people died in fires shows that those of Chinese descent have been made targets of looting," she said.

She said that in the riots, certain groups had sowed envy and discrimination against the minority Chinese descents whose department stores, shops and houses were looted and burned.

"With these incidents and the economic hardship, national unity is now at stake and in the end it could lead to disintegration," she said.

Rosita called on the people, especially the political elite, to give clear direction in the nation's political life so people could feel a sense of certainty and safety.

"We need a national consensus to seek a credible, widely accepted leader to lead the country, one with a clear political direction so that we can soon get out of the political and economic crises," she said.

Bachtiar Ali, a deputy chairman of Bakom-PKB, expressed pessimism over the emergence of new political parties, saying that the nation could regress to the political climate of the 1950s.

During that time, a continuous political struggle transpired as the many parties in existence jostled for political control.

Bachtiar acknowledged that the existence of just three political organizations contesting elections had not been perfect, and many felt that the situation had failed to channel people's aspirations.

"But if we now want to go back to the multiparty system, the nation could be divided," he said, with a warning about receding into innate divisive forces and sectarianism.

He argued that Indonesia ideally only needed a very limited number of political parties, citing practices in Germany which has only three main political parties and the United States with two. (rms)