Freedom Party promises to develop country with IT

Freedom Party promises to develop country with IT

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For the newly established Freedom Party the figure of
controversial former minister of cooperatives Adi Sasono, who is
known for his obsession with a populist economy, remains the
party's strongest selling point to woo voters in April's general
election.

Adi Sasono, who served as minister of cooperatives and Small
and Medium Enterprises, during President B.J. Habibie's 17-month
administration until October 1999, is very firm in his conviction
that the country's economy should be based on populist economic
policies, to empower the people and enhance democracy.

He is, in fact very confident that such a people's economy is
the sole answer for the democratization of the nation, although
it generally receives negative reactions from the capital
markets.

"Democracy will not work properly if there is no economic
justice in society," Adi said during a visit to The Jakarta Post
on Tuesday.

Adi said he was accustomed to facing negative public
perceptions about him. Some people describe him as anti-Chinese-
Indonesian because of his strong advocacy to promote the pribumi
(indigenous people), while others accuse him of being an overly
fundamentalist Muslim who is anti-Christian. According to him,
some Muslim groups even branded him an infidel.

"How can you say I am anti-Christian? My own in-laws are
Catholics," Adi argued.

The Freedom Party chairman pointed out that his economic
platforms emphasize the importance of linking SME businesses into
a cluster of economic units. A small loan policy is an imperative
element of sustaining economic development, where local banking
is supposed to extend credit to rural farmers and entrepreneurs.

According to Adi, people-based economic principles can balance
the economic situation in the country and hopefully lead to a
true implementation of democracy.

Very similar to Habibie's vision, the former executive of the
Indonesian Muslim Intellectual Association (ICMI) also believes
that the country should develop its technological know-how,
including Information Communication Technology (ICT), because the
mastery of technology by the people is very crucial in upgrading
the economy.

He said that new information technology in this country, such
as the Internet made old organizational systems obsolete and
inefficient.

"It's the same with economics right now. Previous principles
such as conglomerate economic principles have become old-
fashioned and inefficient."

The party has obviously seen what Malaysia and India have done
in terms of information technology. They have seen that it
creates opportunities for less-developed countries, such as
Indonesia, to emerge and establish better nations by embracing
the notion of an interlinked economy.

"When there is no party promoting this easy access of
information as a public policy, our society will not develop.
That is the reason why we established this party," Adi said.

The party also promotes distance learning using information
technology. Rural youth finally will have the same access to
research materials as their city counterparts have enjoyed. It
will also help to curb migration to cities, which has been out of
control for decades.

The party's political ambitions are moderate, but to be
expected for a small, new party.

"We hope to get the minimum electoral threshold of 3 percent
because we are still new," Adi said, referring to the amount of
votes needed to be eligible to nominate a presidential candidate
as well as becoming automatically eligible for the 2009
elections.