Crisis threatens development

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto in his accountability address to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) bemoaned that events of the past few months have exposed internal weaknesses and threatened to undermine the country's hard built development.

In an hour-long speech accounting for his performance as President during the 1993/1998 term, Soeharto stated that until the advent of the economic turmoil the nation's development was proceeding smoothly, with many development targets being achieved or even surpassed.

But this success came under threat in the middle of 1997 from the severe economic crisis affecting Southeast Asia.

"Since the second half of last year, when the monetary turmoil struck, it seems that everything we have built with great difficulty, sometimes with pain and sacrifices, was all of a sudden undermined," he said.

Average economic growth which between 1993 and 1996 stood at 7.1 percent annually, dropped to just 4.7 percent last year.

While maintaining that the country's economic fundamentals were sound, Soeharto admitted that the crisis had exposed major weaknesses in nation.

"Apparently our economic resilience was not strong enough to withstand external blows... Apart from external influences, some of the hardship we are suffering today is also due to our own internal weaknesses," he remarked.

The speech was delivered yesterday to the 1,000-member MPR. The Assembly meets every five years to listen to and then assess the presidential accountability speech, endorse the State Policy Guidelines, and elect the president and vice president.

According to Assembly speaker Harmoko, who opened the session, 997 assembly members attended the proceedings. The absent three -- Latif Muchtar, Nurdin Abdul Rachman and former Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman -- were deceased.

The start of yesterday's proceedings coincided with the historic "Six hours in Yogya" attack led by a young Lt. Col. Soeharto in 1949.

The end of the session on March 11 also coincides with an historic anniversary. On the same day in 1966, the late president Sukarno issued a letter delegating power to Lt. Gen. Soeharto authorizing him to take necessary steps to ensure the integrity of the state.

Since being appointed President in 1968, Soeharto has led the nation from a state of impoverishment to one of the fastest growing and most successful economies in the world.

Many predicted that his sixth-term in office would be crowned by a further strong economic performance this year.

But the tumultuous effects of the monetary crisis were not lost on the 76-year-old President.

"I share the sadness of housewives and low-income families in dealing with the rocketing prices," he remarked adding that "our economic lifeline has begun to be compromised."

But the country, Soeharto said, should not look for scapegoats in this crisis.

Along with various tragedies, accidents and natural catastrophes such as a long drought and forest fires, the President described 1997 as "a year of great concern."

Aside from addressing the crisis, Soeharto devoted a large part of his speech noting highlights of the last five-years, pointing out that many targets set-out in the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (REPELITA VI) of 1994/1999 had been reached, or nearly reached.

Among those outlined by the President were:

- Economic growth rates of 7.3 percent, 7.5 percent, 8.2 percent and 8.0 percent from 1993 to 1996.

- Per-capita income rose from the 1993 level of US$842 to $1,155 in 1996. In denominated in rupiah, the 1997 per capita income of Rp 3.1 million exceeded the REPELITA VI target of Rp 3 million.

- Poverty alleviation programs have reduced the number of poor from 25.9 million in 1993 to 22.5 million in 1996.

- Life expectancy has increased from 62.7 years in 1993 to 64.2 years in 1997. Meanwhile mortality rates have sharply declined. Infant mortality dropped from 58 per 1,000 births in 1993 to 52 in 1997. Maternal mortality has declined from 425 per 100,000 births in 1993 to 390 in 1994. Overall gross mortality has also been reduced 7.9 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1993 to 7.5 in 1997.

* The number of 'simple' and 'very simple' houses constructed is over 550,000, in excess of the REPELITA VI target of 500,000.

* The rising size of the Indonesian workforce, from 81 million in 1993 to 88.2 million in 1996, has been accompanied by a continuing rise in the minimum wage, which in 1997 was judged sufficient to provide 95.3 percent of the minimum physical needs.

* Dependency on exports of oil and gas goods continued to decrease. Non-oil and gas exports rose from $23.3 billion in 1993 to a predicted $34 billion in 1997. This accounts for 65 percent of national exports.

Politics

Soeharto only made a fleeting reference to political developments in the country.

He acknowledged that "the political climate was quite tense" prior to last year's general election, but blamed it on people who were "not yet mature enough to put democracy into practice and misused freedom and openness."

He took a stab at critics of Indonesia's electoral process, saying that nine out of 10 eligible voters exercised their voting right. "Far higher than in other countries which have enjoyed hundreds of years of political tradition," Soeharto said.

Very early on in his speech Soeharto also commended the work and dual function of the Armed Forces, which he said has made a meaningful contribution to national stability and political life.

Soeharto praised the Armed Forces' work in maintaining security despite their limited budget and personnel.

Speaking separately yesterday afternoon at a farewell reception with the outgoing cabinet at Merdeka Palace, Soeharto said it is entirely up to the Assembly to decide on the acceptability of his accountability speech.

"If they accept it we should be thankful (to God), but even if they don't we should still be thankful ... for having given our best we can in the future learn and do better," Soeharto said. (team)