Golkar rejects talk of leadership change

JAKARTA (JP): Golkar has said no to a spate of calls for a new president.

An official of the ruling political organization said yesterday that Golkar would not heed student demands calling for President Soeharto to be replaced since now was not the time for a presidential election.

"If reform means presidential succession, we will automatically reject it," the head of Golkar's Research and Development Center, Din Syamsuddin, told a discussion on political reforms held at the organization's secretariat building.

He said such demands were against the 1945 Constitution and would fail to win public support.

"It will, instead, only create new problems concerning the nation's unity and integrity," he said.

Political analyst Ryaas Rasyid shared Din's opinion.

"The student calls to replace President Soeharto are not appropriate," Ryaas said, pointing out that the calls should have been voiced during the presidential election by the People's Consultative Assembly in March.

Ryaas, who is also rector of the State Institute for Public Administration, said there were no grounds to student calls demanding that the Assembly reconvene in an extraordinary session to question President Soeharto about the economic crisis.

Separately, Minister of Home Affairs R. Hartono said there was no reason for an extraordinary session of the Assembly. He expressed disbelief over student statements that such demands reflected the wish of the majority of Indonesians.

"It's true that the students said that the people wanted to have an extraordinary Assembly session," he told reporters at his office yesterday.

"In my opinion, the people wouldn't say that since they are now politically better informed," he said.

Thousands of students have been demonstrating on their campuses across the country over the past weeks, demanding the Assembly reconvene to ask for President Soeharto's account for the prolonged monetary crisis and the soaring prices of basic commodities.

Ryaas, instead, said that the most important reform to be focused on would be to change the general election system from the current proportional representation system to a district system.

"A district system would guarantee the people's active political participation over the full terms of office for the House of Representatives (DPR) and the president," he said.

As things stood now, people's political participation only existed when they were mobilized to vote at the polls in the general election, he said.

"Their presence is ignored immediately after the new House of Representatives membership is established," he said.

He suggested that Golkar initiate a change in the general election system.

"Golkar should not worry that (by changing the system) it would lose in the election since people would still vote for a reputable political organization like Golkar," he said, "And Golkar has a lot of excellent cadres to win the people's support."

Ryaas said the district election system would eliminate political engineering in the recruitment of DPR members because people would vote for a candidate rather than a political organization.

"Surely, only the best candidates would win seats in the House," he said.

"There would be no guarantee that (people like) PPP (United Development Party) chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum would win a seat in the House under a district system," he added.

Ryaas also called on the government to clearly define how it interpreted Pancasila democracy.

"The two political organizations, the PPP and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), have been denied representatives in the cabinet, which is dominated by Golkar," he said.

He pointed out that Pancasila democracy, which is derived from the state ideology Pancasila, emphasizes accommodation to all elements in society.

The discussion also featured political observer Bachtiar Effendi, who called on the government to take concrete steps to respond to student calls for reform. (imn)