Calls for replacement of current government continue

Calls for replacement of current government continue

JAKARTA (JP): Pressures are mounting on the government, with
fresh calls for people in the strife-torn provinces of Aceh and
Irian Jaya to join hands with other provinces in a nationwide
scheme to replace the current administration.

Political scientist Andi Alfian Mallarangeng said here on
Friday that the incumbent government was responsible for ongoing
violence and injustice in the two provinces.

"To my brothers and sisters in Aceh and Irian Jaya, this
stupid central government is our enemy, so please do not divorce
us. Let us change this stupid government...let us divorce the
central government," he said in a two-day seminar on Indonesia
Next, organized by the firm, Van Zorge Heffernan Political
Economic Consultancy.

Andi, a member of a team of experts who are formulating the
law on regional autonomy, expressed his belief that people in the
two provinces were still strongly committed to remain united with
Indonesia.

"The ruling government has just pursued militaristic measures,
as taken by previous governments, in responding to regional
resistance," he said.

Andi said Indonesia might disappear if the ongoing
disintegration process could not be stopped.

"Indonesia could disappear from the world map if the
government continues to carry out the same foolish practices of
the past. We must stop these idiotic policies," he said.

He pointed out that only a new government would be capable of
ending the nation's instability.

Andi also criticized Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto for
defending the oppressive acts taken by the Indonesian Military
(TNI) in cracking down on separatist movements, saying that
political problems should be resolved by political means, not
military ones.

"Problems in Aceh and Irian are political and not military,"
said Andi.

In his address to the seminar, Prabowo, former chief of the
Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), admitted that
military operations in crushing separatist movements were often
excessive, but defended the military claiming it had been
assigned to maintain the country's unity.

Prabowo said the duty of the military is to safeguard the
existence of the state and therefore it often has to take harsh
action to achieve its objectives.

"This is not a dilemma for the Indonesian military, but also
for the military of other countries," said Prabowo, who spoke in
a session along with East Timor leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana"
Gusmao.

Meanwhile, former state minister of human rights Hasballah M.
Saad noted that the government had just given empty promises to
people in Aceh and Irian.

"The situation in these areas is worsening," the former
minister said, citing that only very few of the 7,000 cases of
human rights abuse in Aceh would be settled by the government.

"Similar conditions can also be found in Irian Jaya," he
added.

Willy Mandowen, a rights activist from Irian Jaya, blasted the
government for its failure to end exploitation of the natural
resource-rich province.

Political scientist Dewi Fortuna Anwar, however, disputed
Willy's claim that the United Nations-led integration of Irian
Jaya into Indonesia was illegal because the public had not been
fairly involved in the legal process.

"As a historian, I must tell you the historical facts," said
Dewi. (prb)