Golkar rejects talk of leadership change

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)