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 1 X 24 36pt NCSB
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 1 x 30 36pt Optima Bold
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 2 x 21 36pt NCSB
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 2 x 21 36pt NCSB
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 1 X 32 36pt Optima Bold
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.