Golkar defends its policies to foreign press

JAKARTA (JP): Tough questions were the order of the day for some Golkar members who had to defend the dominant faction's stance on sensitive issues such as political reform during a scheduled English-language media briefing yesterday.

In a colorful question-and-answer exchange the four Golkar representatives -- Nazaruddin Syamsudin, Tanri Abeng, Marwah Daud Ibrahim and Lukman Harun -- often had to resort to text books and hurried huddles before responding to questions from a gallery of mostly foreign journalists.

Among the most popular subjects raised was the Golkar- sponsored decree that would give extra powers to the next president. The ongoing General Session of People's Consultative Assembly is scheduled to endorse it Monday.

Marwah Daud said the special power would be given to the president when it was needed but neither she, nor any of her colleagues, explained as to what these extra powers would include.

"It's a special power, but nobody knows what kind of power this is," Marwah concluded. Her response was met with a roomful of laughter.

But the University of Indonesia lecturer quickly claimed that the decree would uphold the country's ideology Pancasila and the State Policy Guidelines.

She denied that such powers would give unlimited authority to the president, saying, without much elaboration, that they would be constrained by existing laws, the Constitution, Pancasila and the rights of the citizens.

"We trust the president to act on behalf of us when the unity of the country is at stake," she said, noting that the law had been applied before, but was never used.

Back and forth for about an hour, the four Golkar members were asked to state the dominant faction's stance on a variety of other issues.

One reporter asked the faction members to comment on perceptions that the Assembly was merely a "rubber stamp".

Marwah retorted: "Judge the political system using Indonesia's way of thinking. It's not fair to merely judge us based on a week's work since this is an accumulation and crystallization of what has been done for months".

Another correspondent asked Tanri, a noted businessman, to comment on the nepotism and favoritism in the economy.

Tanri at first maintained that mechanisms were already in place to control such problems. But he eventually conceded that there could be weaknesses in the monitoring and practice.

"In any system there's always a possibility of a leakage, I think if what you indicated was 100 percent true, it must have been through these leakages," he answered diplomatically.

When pressed on the question of political reform, Nazaruddin Syamsudin argued that the dominant faction fully supported the idea.

"But we don't use the term reform, we say political development because political and social changes have to occur gradually and through an incremental process rather than a radical one," he said.

Nazaruddin had a day earlier told local journalists that Golkar was committed to introduce reform, because the people were now ready, but not revolutionary reform which changes the political structure.

His colleague, Rully Chairul Azwar, also said Golkar wanted gradual reform and defined it as, among other things, giving more opportunity to the smaller United Development Party and Indonesian Democratic Party to be involved in the organization of the 2002 general election.

The Armed Forces (ABRI) -- which is Golkar's powerful ally -- had also promised its commitment toward reform, albeit a slow one. (byg/das)