Experts decry Habibie's call on people to fast

PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): Observers have slammed President B.J. Habibie's call for people to fast to help save rice, stating that concrete policies and political stability, not mere rhetoric, are needed to resolve the crisis.

Economist A. Tony Prasetiantono of the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University and politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas said yesterday that moving forward planned general elections would be better than telling people, many of whom are finding it difficult to make a living, to fast twice a week.

Tony and Bintang spoke in a seminar, which was organized by the Wijaya Kusuma University (UNWIKU)'s student senate, on optimizing the country's economic resources to solve the crisis.

Both argued that Habibie and his Cabinet should be the ones willing to sacrifice by holding earlier polls instead of beseeching the battered public to make more sacrifices.

"Holding a general election will be Habibie and his Cabinet's biggest sacrifice (by risking the possibility that he would not be elected the president)," Tony said.

Bintang agreed, saying that fasting would not improve the situation.

Habibie on Sunday called on the people to join him in fasting twice a week to help save rice.

Many devout Moslems customarily fast on Monday and Thursday.

Tony termed Habibie's call "ironic", especially since the people have borne the brunt of the lingering crisis.

He noted the price of instant noodles had risen 300 percent in the last year.

"It's just not funny to ask for more from the people who are suffering."

Both men brushed aside Habibie's call as a mere populist ploy, and said the core issue remains a lack of trust in the current government.

They pointed out that an election would affirm credibility both at home and abroad.

Habibie has said that the election would be held next year, thus paving the way for a new government to be formed by the start of 2000.

Critics say the time frame is too long as the national economy demands immediate remedies.

"The center of the present predicament is the absence of domestic and foreign confidence in the current government. The key to fix the crisis is to hold the general election as soon as possible. Only after we solve our political problem can we fix our economic one," Tony said. (45)