Federal status more likely

Federal status more likely

If many provinces of Indonesia are now rebelling, it's not
their fault. They have been treated very badly in the past and
now it's time for justice. But does that mean justice shall be
rendered under the form of a referendum to separate from the main
body?

B.J. Habibie is the one who came up with this idea of
referendum in the first place. He is the one who has launched the
processes of (possible) disintegration of Indonesia. It was good
to have given the referendum to East Timor, but not in the way he
decided in January 1999. It appeared a very emotional and
unconcerted decision. Everybody in Indonesia and abroad was
surprised at the decision. As a result, East Timor became a mess
and the world blamed Indonesia.

Second, the Indonesian people in remote provinces,
dissatisfied under the rule of Sukarno and Soeharto, wish also to
have access to such a referendum which they automatically assume
to be synonymous with independence as is the case with East
Timor.

Indonesia should envisage within its Constitution a new form
of state, a federal state. In this case every member state can
obtain a special autonomous status without holding a referendum.
The best system to sustain Indonesia's unity in diversity is one
central government with its own prerogatives governing all over
the country and the regional governments with their own
prerogatives, like in Belgium.

Unlike East Timor, no foreign countries have expressed support
for any of the other proindependence movements. That is not the
business of the international community. This is an internal
problem of Indonesia. But in this globalization era, the Western
democracies and the Asian countries certainly are of the opinion
that Indonesia shall stay one, because the disintegration of that
marvelous archipelago would create lots of instability in the
region.

It is also saddening to see how suspects in many cases remain
in the House of Representatives. I hope justice will eventually
prevail. The first test given to Attorney General Marzuki
Darusman by President Abdurrahman Wahid is to handle the case of
three ministers of his Cabinet who are supposedly involved in
corruption, collusion and nepotism. He also did so based on the
input from the press with whom he had a dinner meeting to insist
on their important role as opposition and watchers following his
election as president. President Abdurrahman knows there is no
real political opposition, so he gave that role to the local
press. I wish the President and his ministers the best of luck
and much courage in an enormous task they will never be able to
handle in 100 days (even if they had magical powers), and with or
without a Volvo.

YVAN MAGAIN

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