Free trade to have serious impacts: Soerjadi
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's commitment to free trade in the Asia-Pacific region by 2020 came under harsh criticism yesterday as Deputy House Speaker Soerjadi warned of its serious possible consequences.
He said the free trade envisioned by the 18 leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bogor this month runs afoul of the Constitution and the spirit of Pancasila, the official state ideology.
"Trade liberalization leads to free fight liberalism in the economy, which runs counter to Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution," he said when meeting with members of the Petisi 50 group, a group highly critical of the government.
Nine members of Petisi 50's working group, led by Lt. Gen. (ret) Ali Sadikin, submitted a statement expressing their concerns over the implications of the Bogor APEC declaration for Indonesia.
The Bogor Declaration affirms that industrialized states will implement free trade by 2010 and developing nations by 2020.
Soerjadi, who comes from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), said that liberal trade is "just the opposite" of the economic system prescribed by the Indonesian Constitution.
Article 33 of the Constitution states that the economy is to be organized as a common endeavor based upon a family-like system in which care is taken for the benefit of all, and in which the various branches of production which directly affect the lives of the majority of the public must be controlled by the state.
Soerjadi said that he could not conceive of how Indonesia expected to be able to liberalize its economy, while at the same time strictly regulating its political system.
"For example, the PDI cannot even inaugurate the chief of the party's East Java chapter because the government has yet to issue the necessary permit," he said.
"Is it possible to have a liberal economic system and a tightly regulated political system at the same time?" the deputy House speaker in charge of economic affairs said.
Implementation
He added that to implement the Bogor Declaration, Indonesia would have to find a middle way, through which it will have to carry out aspects of free trade which are not in conflict with national interests.
The working group of Petisi 50 said in their statement that the implementation of the Bogor declaration would undermine Indonesia's economic and political principles.
They demanded that the House ask the government to explain its projection of Indonesia's economic outlooks for 2020 and to clarify how the country will implement the Bogor declaration.
In an adjacent building, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono told members of the House Commission II on domestic affairs that the Nov. 15 APEC informal summit was a success for the host country - Indonesia.
He said the government spent Rp 24.3 billion (US$11 million) on the event.
"APEC serves as a model for open regional or global trade and investment which will help boost the world's economy," he said. (pan/imn)