Government urged to review defective policies

Government urged to review defective policies

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives urged the
government yesterday to be open-minded and hear the people's
calls for reform.

Addressing the plenary opening session of the House
commissions' hearings, Speaker Harmoko said ministers should be
willing to reflect on their development policies and ask
themselves whether they were still "on the right track."

"Should there be any defects or mistakes, the government
should be willing to review its policies and put every effort
into their improvement," he told the plenary meeting.

Harmoko said the House was ready to hold dialogs with all
elements of society, including university students.

"A similar response should also be delivered by the
government," he said.

Speaking about the House's response for the people's calls for
reform, Harmoko said the House would facilitate this commitment
through legislation.

"For us (the House), political reform will be accommodated
through reviews of the existing political laws," he said.

"We (House leaders) will meet tomorrow (today) to discuss
mechanisms for the intended political reform," he added.

He, however, dismissed the possibility of holding an
extraordinary session of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR).

"An extraordinary Assembly session would be held only when the
President has acted against the 1945 Constitution and the State
Policy Guidelines," Harmoko, also Golkar chairman, told reporters
after the ceremony.

Asked about Golkar's response to calls for reforms, Harmoko
said the political organization had established three different
committees to prepare concepts for political, economic and legal
reforms.

In a related development, the country's major student
movements criticized the government yesterday as "anti-reformist"
for its reluctance to carry out sweeping reform.

The Association of Moslem Students (HMI), the Association of
Indonesian Catholic Students (PMKRI), the Indonesian Christian
Students Movement (GMKI), and the Indonesian National Students
Movement (GMNI) told a media conference that the government
should be open-minded in evaluating its past "mistakes" and be
willing to take measures to revive the ailing country through
reforms.

The groups expressed concern that the political system places
the presidency in such a "sacred" position it had become
"untouchable".

"The development process in the past 30 years has made
criticism of the President a political taboo," the groups said in
a joint three-page statement.

The groups also criticized the Assembly's General Session in
March, by calling the five-yearly political event a mere ritual.

The 1,000-strong Assembly reelected Soeharto for a seventh
consecutive five-year term despite growing calls for him to step
aside.

The Assembly did not reflect the country's dire economic
situation or the people's hardship, the student groups said.
(imn/byg)