'Be independent', Yogie tells mass organizations
'Be independent', Yogie tells mass organizations
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. has
said mass organizations should be independent but should also
"adhere to the rules."
"All the government wants from mass organizations is their
independence in defining and carrying on their activities," Yogie
told participants in a week-long congress of the influential
cooperative Kosgoro yesterday.
"However, they still have to adhere to the rules and
regulations," he added. "We don't want any mass organizations
which blindly oppose the government's policies."
He said that the rules and regulations should not be seen as
restrictions on their activities, saying that the purpose of
these was to "prevent any clashes of interest with other
organizations or with greater interests."
Yogie said that allowing any mass organization to become
dependent on other bodies, including the government, would be
tantamount a time bomb.
"A dependent mass organization will reduce the government's
energy and ideas and lower the quality of the government's
policies," he said.
He said that the government would not let a mass organization
be dependent on it.
Opening the congress on Saturday, Vice President Try Sutrisno
told mass and political organizations to be wary of possible
conflicts of interest and ideologies in the country's
democratization campaign.
"We don't want our nation to be divided into political
compartments and separated by conflicts of interest and ideology,
as has happened in the past," Try said when opening the congress.
Speaking before a number of cabinet ministers and more than
1,000 thousand members of Kosgoro, Try warned organizations
against liberal interpretations of the concepts of freedom of
speech and freedom of expression.
"We have made every effort to increase the quality of our
democracy so that the people can channel their aspirations in a
normal way," he said.
Try said Indonesia is committed to democratization, a
proposition he said had been demonstrated by the growth of
openness in every aspect of life over the past several years.
He said that article 28 of the 1945 Constitution guarantees
the right of every citizen to freedom of speech and expression.
"However, we have to realize that all we want is ... a
democracy based on the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945
Constitution, not a liberal democracy, nor a centralized one," he
said.
He said democracy here should be developed from Indonesia's
own culture and identity. The nation's commitment to Pancasila
and the Constitution is non-negotiable, he added.
In another part of his speech, Try called on Kosgoro members
to become pioneers of the development of people's economics.
"Kosgoro, which was originally established as a cooperative
movement, should be able to instill in its businessmen members a
'spirit of cooperation," he said.
The meeting yesterday was also used as a platform for Kosgoro
to express its political aspirations.
The outgoing chairman of Kosgoro, Soeprapto, said the
organization would suggest that its parent organization Golkar
nominate incumbent President Soeharto for the 1998 presidential
election.
"On this occasion, I would like to say that there is no other
choice but Soeharto for the next president," he said.
The congress, to conclude on Wednesday, is expected to elect a
new chairman.
Five names have been circulating widely as potential chairmen
if the organization. They are Soeprapto; Hayono Isman, state
minister of youth affairs and sports; Sarwono Kusumaatmadja,
state minister of environment; Siswono Yudohusodo, minister of
transmigration; and Agung Laksono, a deputy chairman of
Golkar.(imn)