Crisis a time bomb for govt, Amien says
BANDUNG (JP): The leader of the 28 million-strong Muhammadiyah Moslem Organization warned yesterday the government is sitting on a time bomb if it fails to quickly resolve the multidimensional crisis facing the country.
"Pak Harto is sitting on top of a political volcano," Amien Rais told journalists in the West Java provincial capital yesterday.
The monetary crisis, Amien said, heightens the possibility of the situation "exploding".
"We do not need sophisticated university theories, common sense would be enough to understand that the possibility (of social disorder) exists if staple goods are becoming more difficult to get," Amien said.
Amien said the government's legitimacy could also be threatened if the nation's economic crisis continued at the end of a general session of the People's Consultative Assembly in March.
The public, Amien said, could lose confidence in the government and this would reduce the government's moral and political legitimacy.
"People may nod and appear to agree when told about a government policy, but in fact, they do not carry out these instructions," Amien remarked.
He said economic reforms should be implemented simultaneously with political reforms.
"Economic reforms must bring about social justice while political reforms should institute a clean and good government," argued Amien, who was recently named a presidential candidate by a branch of the United Development Party.
He said that one of the problems concerning national leadership here was the absence of a noticeable successor to Soeharto who is acceptable to all political circles.
"Naming (Vice President) Try Sutrisno, (Minister of Research and Technology) B.J. Habibie, (Minister of National Development Planning) Ginandjar Kartasamita, or whoever (as members of the presidium) will ignite pros and cons," Amien said.
Amien therefore forwarded the idea of a presidium in which its members should represent all groups and political aspirations in the country.
Armed Forces
Amien said the Armed Forces remained a decisive factor in the country's political future.
"Up till now, the Armed Forces is still a powerful political player," Amien said adding that its loyalty lies in the survival of the state.
In Yogyakarta, Deputy Speaker of the House Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid said the Armed Forces also supported the massive drive toward political reform.
"The Armed Forces also wants this nation to be better, but reforms should be carried out in an orderly manner," Syarwan said.
He said reforms can be carried out through revolution and evolution and quickly asserted the latter was the Armed Forces' choice.
Meanwhile, two small groups went to the House of Representatives in Jakarta separately yesterday urging President Soeharto not to run for a seventh consecutive term.
The first group, calling themselves the Forum of Greater Jakarta Youth, carried posters saying: "The national leader should be physically and mentally healthy" and "People want lower prices not speeches", and distributed a written statement expressing their demands.
A second group of about 20 later arrived. This group called itself Professionals for Democracy. (09/10/23/43)