Women activists face challenge with President Megawati
Women activists face challenge with President Megawati
For the first time Indonesian girls now have a role model in a
president -- but women activists are not hailing Megawati
Soekarnoputri. The Jakarta Post contributor Prapti Widinugraheni
asked chief editor of the Jurnal Perempuan feminist publication
Gadis Arivia to share her views. She was among founders of the
Voice of Concerned Mothers (Suara Ibu Peduli) group and produces
the Radio Jurnal Perempuan program.
2. 5Iran --
Irreconcilable differences in Iran overshadow Khatami's second
term
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Divisions: Khatami's big hurdle
TEHERAN (DPA): For the first time in Iran's post-revolution
history, a presidential term has started with heated internal
tensions stemming from what observers regard as irreconcilable
differences between the reformists close to President Mohammad
Khatami and hardliners within the conservative opposition.
3. 5Industry --
New industrial policy
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S.Korea may lose out to China
SEOUL: Monthly drops in exports were mere aberrations to the
Korean government and corporations, which had grown accustomed to
watching overseas shipments continuing to increase with few
disruptions. But their complacence began to ebb a short while
ago, and finally their confidence waned completely when it was
announced early this month that exports had declined for the
fifth consecutive month in July, this time plunging by as much as
20 percent.
4. 5Sayyaf -- Mindanao poser
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Will Philippines agreement
end the Mindanao terror?
SINGAPORE: Abu Sayyaf kidnaps, beheadings and million-dollar
Libyan pay-offs have been staple news out of the southern
Philippines in the past two years. It will take monumental will
and good security organization to change the region's image from
one of endemic brigandage to one of hope and repair.
5. 5Koizumi -- Koizumi must perform alchemy
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Can Koizumi break away
from vested interests?
TOKYO: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is expected to be
reelected to the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
on Friday.
Koizumi approaches the election uncontested, given the early
support expressed for him by each faction and the party's strong
showing in the House of Councillors election held late last
month.
In a recent Yomiuri Shimbun opinion poll, about 65 percent of
voters cited "high expectations for Koizumi" as a reason for the
LDP victory.
Now the Koizumi Cabinet's main task is to transform
"expectations" into "kudos" through the alchemy of fruitful
results of various policies, including ones aimed at structural
reform.
An important ingredient in the alchemy will be the support of
the three ruling parties, especially that of the LDP, for the
realization of the Koizumi Cabinet's policies.
The Cabinet has basically been leading the process of
compiling request guidelines for the fiscal 2002 budget.
Nonetheless, certain voices of discontent have emerged from
within the LDP. Forces of resistance to structural reform are
highly likely to open fire on specific details of the reforms
such as the review of public works projects and public
corporations, after the compilation of the fiscal 2002 budget
goes into full swing in the autumn.
About 55 percent of the voters who responded to the survey
were guarded about Koizumi's ability to realize his reforms,
saying the prime minister could make a "small amount of progress
on reform" in an indication of public concern about resistance
from within the LDP as well as the bureaucracy, industry and
other organizations.
Koizumi has the extremely urgent task of building a solid
party mechanism before implementing structural reforms and other
important policies.
Inevitably, he will need a vision of party reform.
In the case of the LDP, lawmakers with close connections to
business circles and organizations with vested interests have
used their power to influence the policymaking process, acting as
representatives of such organizations.
The LDP has a tradition of protecting the vested interests of
specific groups and has not been flexible in dealing with major
economic and social changes. The result has been lingering
economic and social stagnation since the 1990s and a prolonged
decline in the fortunes of the LDP itself.
The structural reforms advocated by Koizumi themselves include
a rejection of vested interests. Nonetheless, unless the current
political structure is reformed, the threat of resistance to
structural reforms will remain.
The tradition of requiring the prior approval of a ruling
party when a bill is submitted to the Diet should be scrapped.
Indeed, a cabinet should coordinate with a ruling party, but
inflexible customs restrict opportunities to display cabinet
leadership and spoil chances to implement policies swiftly. Such
customs are unacceptable in these turbulent times.
Antireformists in the LDP have made no bones about their
intention to strongly oppose reforms when they appear in the form
of legislation. Their boldness in doing so rides on the
tradition.
The public expects the highly popular Koizumi to live up to
his promise to "break the LDP."
If he does not want to disappoint, Koizumi cannot avoid
transforming his party so that it becomes a party whose politics
serve the interests of the nation and all its people.
If a Koizumi intoxicated on a victory riding on a one-shot
popularity bandwagon neglects reforming the LDP, the party may
well relive the bitter past in the next House of Representatives
election.
6. 5EU --
Light years from the EU
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Light years from the European Union
FRANKFURT (DPA): The European Union (EU)'s two most ambitious
projects -- an independent security and defense policy and
eastward enlargement -- are threatened with fiasco. The historic,
two-pronged assault to nicely round off the political union while
surmounting the continental divide could well elevate the EU to
the ranks of a world power.