Farmers planning to form political party

Farmers planning to form political party

JAKARTA (JP): Leaders of the Indonesian Farmers Association
(HKTI) announced yesterday a plan to form their own political
party, claiming 72 million potential votes if they contest next
year's general election.

HKTI Chairman H.M. Ismail told Antara in Semarang that the
establishment of Patani, the acronym of the Indonesian Farmers
and Fishermen Party, would be declared during the association's
congress in Jakarta from Oct. 10 to Oct. 13.

"With Patani, farmers and fishermen will have their own
political party. They will no longer be mere pawns or servants of
other political parties," said Ismail, who is a former governor
of Central Java.

HKTI was previously affiliated to Golkar, the ruling political
group which helped keep Soeharto in power for 32 years until May.

The new party will represent the interests of around 72
million people in the country, Ismail said, adding that the
October congress would decide on the leadership line up.

Farmers, especially landless farmers, and fishermen are among
the poorest members of society. During the years of rapid
economic growth, their conditions rarely improved as they faced
reversing terms of trade for their produce vis-a-vis manufactured
products.

Patani, which in Indonesian means Mr. Farmer, is the latest in
the proliferation of political parties since B.J. Habibie was
pushed into the presidency by the sweeping demand for reform. At
least 45 parties have been formed in the last nine weeks based on
various platforms, such as religion, ethnicnity, labor, and
women.

The government is currently drafting a new set of political
laws which will include regulating the political parties and the
election mechanism. Under Soeharto, only three political parties
were permitted to contest general elections.

Ismail said that since independence in 1945, farmers and
fishermen had worked tirelessly to make the most of their
independence, without complaining too much

But they had never been given the respect or treatment they
deserved by the political elite, nor did they possess the
bargaining power commensurate with their contribution to the
nation's economic development, he said.

Farmers and fishermen should no longer stay silent and wait
for their fate to change. They should not allow themselves to be
exploited by the political and economic elite, he said.

"They should be more proactive. They should come up with their
own initiatives to fight for better respect and treatment," he
said.

It was high time the farming and fishing communities united
and organized themselves to improve their lot, he said. (emb)