Government, NU: Boycotting U.S. products self-defeating

Government, NU: Boycotting U.S. products self-defeating

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
heavily criticized calls to boycott U.S. products, arguing that
such a move would only hurt the nation.

Sultonul Huda, chairperson of the Research and Development
Institute of NU's Human Resources, said on Saturday that
boycotting U.S. products may lead to the revocation of business
licenses and thus closure of Indonesian firms holding franchising
rights in those products.

"We slam calls to boycott U.S. products, as it will spell more
trouble than benefits," he told The Jakarta Post. NU has around
40 million members across the country.

Calls for boycotting U.S. products have mounted across the
country after the world's only superpower led coalition forces
against Iraq in an effort to topple president Saddam Hussein from
power for refusing to destroy the weapons of mass destruction he
has allegedly amassed and hidden in the country.

In Jakarta, Surakarta in East Java, Semarang in Central Java,
and in Lampung and Yogyakarta, people have recently picketed
American fast food franchises like McDonald's, Kentucky Fried
Chicken, and Dunkin' Donuts to protest the invasion, which has
also drawn strong condemnation from world leaders.

The U.S.'s close allies, Britain and Australia, are also
participating in the campaign dubbed "Operation Iraq Freedom".

According to Sultonul, boycotting U.S. products would deal a
deadly blow to the country's unemployment rate, as it could
trigger massive lay-offs if Indonesian firms holding the
franchising licenses for U.S. products had to close down.

Indonesia's unemployment rate has been relatively high since
the country plunged into deep economic crisis in 1997. According
to estimates by labor experts, some 40 million people are
currently jobless, including those who work less than 35 hours
per week.

The protracted economic woes have also forced many Indonesian
firms to downsize their operations to cut costs, or to totally
close down their businesses amid continuous losses.

Following the Bali bombing last October, some two million
people, mostly those involved in the tourism industry, lost their
jobs.

"Several U.S. firms have pulled out due to the protracted
economic crisis, leaving a huge number of people unemployed. We
don't want that to recur," said Sultonul, adding that thousands
of Indonesian workers lost their jobs when U.S. shoe company Nike
decided to stop its Indonesian operations last year.

Separately, Vice President Hamzah Haz voiced similar concern
with NU, by urging the people to take into account the negative
impacts such a boycott would bring.

"We must consider the impacts of the call for a boycott. We
should think of our long-term interests, not only short-term
ones," Hamzah was quoted as saying by Antara.

Hamzah also noted that many U.S. products had already been
franchised to Indonesians and had thus become Indonesian
property, with franchise-based enterprises providing employment
to many Indonesians.

Sultonul also said that NU was also against calls for
Indonesia to severe diplomatic ties with the U.S. and its allies
for attacking Iraq.

"It is unrealistic, given the fact that in many things,
Indonesia still depends on those countries," Sultonul stressed.

Politicians and some legislators have called on the government
to cut diplomatic ties with the U.S. if it did not put an
immediate end to the war.

The government has made it clear that cutting diplomatic ties
with U.S. did not serve Indonesia's national interests.