Habibie eyes 'a civil society'

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie said yesterday that current reform efforts must be geared toward building a civil society which is just, open and democratic, and one which requires the military to adjust its role accordingly.

In his inaugural state of the nation address before the House of Representatives, Habibie shared his vision of where he intends to steer the country. The address was televised nationwide.

Habibie, who took over from Soeharto on May 21, envisioned a society free of prejudice, and a sociopolitical system which is transparent, effective and reflects the people's sovereignty.

He underlined the need for effective social controls which were only possible if people's rights to express opinion, gather and form associations were fully respected. "Any opinion in society is valuable. That is why we need to create an atmosphere of freedom of expression, including press freedom...," he said.

"An effective social control is one way of preventing and eliminating the practices of collusion, corruption, cronyism and nepotism... (and this will) open the way to the creation of an honest and clean government."

Habibie said the paradigm used to build the nation in the last 30 years could not be sustained if Indonesia was to transform itself into a civil society.

The old paradigm stressed the use of security and the top-down approach to ensure a strong government. "This proved outdated and no longer suited to the demands and conditions of society," he said, pointing to its failure in causing the political crisis that led to Soeharto's downfall in May.

"A new paradigm that puts greater emphasis on the democratic and welfare approach must be developed. This approach underlines transparency and a bottom-up mechanism.

"This is also in line with the characters of a civil society," he said.

While calling for a revision of the sociopolitical role of the Armed Forces (ABRI) as part of the civil society movement, he fell short of stating to what extent it should be done.

"In this reform era, ABRI needs to consolidate and carry out internal reforms in line with the demands and development of the time. ABRI's professionalism must be enhanced to support the realization of the goal of a state that is based on law and the development of democratic values in the future."

He hinted at the need to review the position of the National Police within ABRI, given pressing demands on their role in enforcing the law and observing human rights.

Traditionally, the President delivered the state of the nation address on the eve of Independence Day on Aug. 17. Since Aug. 16 falls on Sunday this year, the speech was moved a day forward.

Habibie took five minutes shy of two hours to complete his 45- page speech, often read with German-accented intonations -- presumably for emphasis -- normally heard from a poet.

He broke three times to drink, evoking laughter and applause when he asked the audience: "May I take a sip?"

At the end of the speech, the 62-year-old President fell just short of receiving a standing ovation, with some in the audience applauding but remaining seated.

In his opening remarks, Habibie described his ascent to power -- following a massive public outcry for Soeharto's resignation -- on May 21, 1998, as the start of the "Era of Awakening for Democracy", and as the sixth milestone in the nation's history.

The first five were May 20, 1908 as the National Awakening Day; the Youth Pledge on Oct. 28, 1928; the Independence Proclamation on Aug. 17, 1945; the founding of the New Order on Jan. 10, 1966; and Aug. 10, 1995, as the Technology Awakening Day.

Habibie underscored the reform programs his government is currently pursuing in legal, political and economic fields.

He noted his government had launched the National Action on Human Rights Campaign, to strengthen Indonesia's commitment to human rights, not only by ratifying international conventions but also by fully observing these rights in practice.

"We have firmly departed from the phase of doubting that human rights are essentially the cultural products of the West. We have firmly stated that on human rights it is our resolve to respect the dignity of all people, irrespective of their religion, race, ethnicity, skin color, sex and social status."

Habibie said that since assuming the presidency, he had released 73 political prisoners and 30 others would receive amnesty in the coming days.

The President took the unheard-of step of apologizing for atrocities committed by security forces in dealing with separatist movements in the regions in the past.

"Through this noble forum, on behalf of the government, I extend our deepest regret at the violation of human rights committed by errant apparatus in their operations to deal with separatist movements.

"We are all concerned at the violations committed against the dignity of citizens. In all sincerity to uphold and respect human rights, I hereby extend our apology to the people, especially to the families of the victims," he said.

The President said ABRI was investigating the incidents.

"The government, including the ABRI leadership, has stated that these incidents will never be repeated."

On Indonesia's economic predicament, Habibie said the key to getting out of the crisis was to restore confidence of economic players at home and abroad, "and most of all, to restore our own self-confidence".

He complained of the predominance of bad news about Indonesia lately, saying Indonesians themselves often painted a bleak picture, "as if we're all competing to outdo each other's pessimism".

He accepted the need to be realistic, but added it should be tempered with appreciation for the remaining blessings.

"But we must not despair and be pessimistic. Just look around us, at the abundance of natural resources ready to be tapped and to create added value."

He listed strong infrastructure, abundance of human resources and their skills, strength of the agricultural sector and the presence of manufacturing plants.

"The moment confidence is restored, I'm convinced Indonesia will recover more rapidly than other countries who experienced a similar crisis.

"It must all start with us restoring our own self-confidence as a nation, confidence that we can free ourselves from the trappings of this crisis."

Besides discussing his reform agenda, Habibie gave details of his economic blueprint, which prioritizes ensuring a social- safety net to cushion the poor from the impact of the economic crisis and to restart the economic wheels.

He tried to fire up the people's nationalist sentiments, which he said had once bonded together the people of the archipelago.

"We have to admit in earnest that we don't always realize how much our behavior affects the nationalist sentiments. The deviations that occurred and were not corrected immediately have gradually undermined the people's sense of nationalism."

He said people's sense of nationalism was severely tested during the racial and ethnic conflicts which erupted in some parts of the country recently.

"We cannot take nationalist sentiments for granted," he said.

Habibie set Oct. 28, when the nation marks Youth Pledge Day, as the deadline to restore nationalist sentiments.

"The goal is so that everyone and every community, whether native or not, indigenous or not, minority or majority, can feel as a legitimate citizen with equal rights in this huge nation." (emb/prb/imn/byg)