Govt-critics reconciliation move hailed

JAKARTA (JP): Two political observers gave the thumbs up yesterday to the government's recent willingness to open discussion with former servicemen who have fallen out of favor and other critics.

The Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals' (ICMI) secretary-general, Adi Sasono, said that people should welcome this development.

"It's a positive start to resurrecting the spirit of brotherhood among people," he said yesterday after addressing a seminar on cooperatives at the Hilton Hotel.

Military analyst Yahya Muhaimin said the Armed Forces' (ABRI) willingness to invite critical ex-servicemen to government functions indicated its seriousness to open a greater "political corridor" for discussion on differences of opinion on state affairs.

"ABRI needs to maintain its unity, especially with the country approaching the People's Consultative Assembly's general session next March, as well as globalization and trade liberalization in the next few years," he said.

The lecturer at the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University's School of Social and Political Sciences told The Jakarta Post that an open Armed Forces would encourage people to be more critical but tolerant of differences.

Adi, however, believed the Armed Forces' decision to invite government critics to its functions was by no means new. He cited ICMI's invitation to members of the Petisi 50, a loose group of government critics led by retired marine general Ali Sadikin, to visit the plant of the state-owned aircraft maker IPTN in Bandung in 1992.

Adi said: "Dialog is now part of the national consensus." He conceded, however, that it would be hard initially for some government officials to accept the trend and respond favorably.

Some outspoken government critics have been invited to several military functions in recent months.

In April, the Army organized a reunion for 1951-1961 graduates of the Army Staff and Command School, including many critical figures, and a closed-door meeting between them and active officers.

On June 13, several retired servicemen were invited to the Armed Forces headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, to receive awards for helping establish the People's Security Forces in the late 1940s, which was the precursor to the Armed Forces.

Ailing retired general Abdul Haris Nasution, the first Army chief of staff, who is known for criticizing the government, attended the ceremony. Nasution also turned up at last month's ceremony to transfer the post of the Army chief of staff from Gen. R. Hartono to Gen. Wiranto.

The latest invitation was extended to Gen. (ret) Hoegeng Imam Santoso, a former National Police chief and member of the Petisi 50 group. He joined the festivities for National Police Day on Tuesday.

In the past, critical figures such as Hoegeng had been struck off guest lists for official functions.

Adi, who believed the trend represented a massive drive for democratization, called on legislators at the People's Consultative Assembly to get on the bandwagon.

"They should formulate the spirit of openness and reconciliation (and introduce it) into the 1998-2003 State Guidelines," he said.

The assembly is scheduled to elect a president and vice president and draw up guidelines of state policies for the next five-year term.

Yahya said he was hopeful that political openness and tolerance of differences would not go against the system or the constitution.

"Indonesians are still relatively temperamental. We need wisdom to develop democracy in our country," he said.

He said that the political corridor should be opened for the rest of the nation's life. "It should not be opened only for certain political occasions," he said.

He said that political openness should also extend to non- governmental organizations and community groups which criticized the government.

But Ali Sadikin seemed less impressed by the government's apparent move towards openness. He was quoted by the Merdeka daily as saying yesterday that he was not offended by the treatment he had received in the past.

He said he was glad to see fellow retired generals invited to official military functions and wear their uniforms again. (imn)

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