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.