Govt wary of people seeking political change

JAKARTA (JP): The government is on guard against people who take to the street and seek to overhaul the political system, a senior cabinet minister said yesterday.

Minister of Defense and Security, Edi Sudradjat, reiterated that the government's policy is to tolerate demonstrations as long as they are peaceful and "not used by a third interest group".

"What happens now is that demonstrations have been used by some interest groups to promote their own political agenda," Edi said at a security hearing with Commission I of the House of Representatives.

Edi, a retired army general, declined to specify any demonstration as a case in point and said current street protests are still within the tolerable limit.

Over the past week, several major cities and towns, especially in Java, have witnessed street protests against an alleged government intervention in the rift within the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

In the past months, waves of student demonstrations hit major cities in Java and South Sulawesi. Participants rallied against the alleged military brutality in handling a student demonstration in Ujungpandang in April.

Edi said demonstrations, which occasionally turn violent, show that unresolved problems continue to pile and people do not know exactly how to get over the difficulties.

Increasing number of protests, social violence and resistance against security officers indicate growing social unrest.

"There also are the conflicts of interests, soaring crime rate caused by rapid urban development, and hampered social communication," Edi added.

He called on security authorities for improved communication to win public sympathy.

During the hearing, led by House member Abu Hasan Sazili from the ruling Golkar, Edi complained about what he called "the fading spirit musyawarah", or a lack of deliberation for consensus.

He said bickering within many organizations stems from the members' inability to resolve peacefully their differences through such deliberations.

"People should retain the musyawarah spirits, which are the glue that holds people in an organization together," he said.

Concern about the vanishing musyawarah spirits was also raised by House members Aminullah Ibrahim, from the Armed Forces faction, and Didiet Haryadi, from the Golkar.

Edi also warned the public of the danger of sectarian activities flourishing throughout society.

Issues concerning ethnicity, religion, and primordial grouping remain a sensitive topic in the multi-ethnic Indonesia, he said. (pan)