Govt told to be open to criticism

YOGYAKARTA (JP): A scholar has urged the government to be more receptive to criticism and not maliciously brand critics as antigovernment.

The deputy rector of the Indonesian Islamic University, Moh. Mahfud criticized officials for being overly sensitive to criticism and perceiving it as a threat to stability.

"The government's insensitivity to accommodate public criticism has triggered violent riots," Mahfud said Monday at the launch of Social Criticism in Development, a book jointly edited by Mahfud, Edy Suandi Hamid, Suparman Marzuki and Eko Prasetyo, in Yogyakarta.

"Criticism always has a negative connotation here, because the government focuses on political stability above all other issues," Mahfud noted.

Mahfud strongly condemned the current state of affairs, characterized by rampant monopolistic and collusion practices and the weakening of the country's legislative bodies.

He lamented that law enforcers often manipulated laws to defend their own interests and ignore public interests. He then criticized the restriction of student activities which curbed academic freedoms.

He said that Javanese culture may not be as tolerant as one would think in terms of allowing open differences of views.

"The culture of criticism must be revived if the nation wants to be democratic," he added.

Separately, Yogyakarta's Legal Aid Institute revealed that the number of rights violations in Yogyakarta had risen to 533 this year.

"Land appropriation and labor problems rose sharply while violations of civic and political rights increased by 60.7 percent," said its director Budi Hartono.

Budi said most violations of political rights occurred during the general election campaign in May, pointing to the fact that the government failed to be fair during the electoral process.

Forced land appropriations occurred in Bantul, Sukoharjo and Wonosobo regencies. Local officials often used the public interest as a pretext to force people to give up their land without adequate compensation.

"Violations of human rights took place because the government uses violence and intimidation in land disputes," Budi said.

Land owners, especially farmers, often find themselves powerless against the government. He warned of possible social turmoil if the tendency continued. (23/44/prb)