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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