Comprehensive settling of KKN

Comprehensive settling of KKN

From Rakyat Merdeka

We, who belong to the Alumni Communication Forum of the Catholic Students Association of the Republic of Indonesia, state that along with the rest of the Indonesian people we congratulate KH Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri on their election by the People's Consultative Assembly as respectively Indonesia's President and Vice President for the 1999-2004 tenure.

In connection with the tasks of and responsibility in leading the country and exercising governmental authority, we would like to point out to both of you the following: 1. The new administration should see that running the state and the government be consistent with commitments to the demand of total reform and democracy already echoed by the community, particularly Indonesia's young generation/university students.

Therefore, efforts to comprehensively settle the cases of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) of Soeharto and his cronies and the Bank Bali scandal as well as various other criminal cases that the New Order regime and its proceeding regime perpetrated against humanity must be made right immediately after the new administration begins to operate. 2. Continue with the rearrangement of the political system toward a political order which is really democratic on the basis of people's sovereignty, as one of the main strategies in the political realm. At the same time, the reform of development strategies in the economic sector based on and oriented to the interest of common people should be made the main frame of reference in state operational policies in the economic sector. 3. Scrap the old political morality characterized with the political culture, character and mentality of turning power into an end or as an opportunity to gain material wealth as nakedly demonstrated by the New Order regime/the Soeharto regime for three decades.

At the same time, it is necessary to develop a new political morality with a political culture, character and mentality placing power as a way, a means or an opportunity to serve the people and fight for their maximum welfare and social justice.

To this end, the new government must not include people who have been intensively involved in or been part of various abuses of power during the New Order/Soeharto regime.

Practices of KKN as manifestations of the abuse of power have become their political culture so that involving them in running the state and the government will only harm, obstruct and foil the efforts to achieve total reform and democracy.

Those are our hopes, which may also be construed as a statement of support for the new government. We pray always that you will be successful.

EKO TJOKRODJOJO

Jakarta