Habibie rejects plan to hold national dialog

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie has poured cold water on the National Resilience Council's (Lemhanas) plan to hold a national dialog, saying it may create more problems than it intends to solve.

Speaking at the Bina Graha presidential office to participants on the council's 31st regular course, Habibie said one main drawback could be selecting suitable participants worthy of placating all interests.

Habibie attempted to defend his remark by saying that choosing a leading figure in Jakarta might be rejected by other regions and vice versa.

"It's possible that it (dialog) will only create more problems. We have enough problems as it is," Habibie said.

"Just use the constitutional institutions (available). We have the People's Consultative Assembly, the House of Representatives. They are far from perfect, so let's make them perfect," Habibie added.

Lemhanas Governor Lt. Gen. Agum Gumelar said in his report to Habibie that the current government had yet to successfully eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN).

The country's top leaders also still have different stances on the government's reform programs.

"There is a need to hold a national dialog to harmonize vision, perceptions and interpretation among experts and public leaders in resolving national obstacles," Agum said.

Agum first proposed a dialog last month. He said the ongoing violence and distrust among the public, students and Armed Forces (ABRI) could not longer be sustained.

Agum, who is a former Army Special Force (Kopassus) commander, was widely praised when he allowed street protests in Sulawesi while serving as commander of the Wirabuana Military Command overseeing Sulawesi between 1996 and 1998.

Speaking later to journalists, Agum seemed unfazed by Habibie's apparent reluctance to allow a national dialog.

"We don't want to have to pay such an expensive price," he said, referring to the recent spate of clashes and unrest.

In a related development, Armed Forces spokesman, Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif, said on Monday that the ABRI headquarters had received no formal notification of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Abdurrahman Wahid's proposed meeting with Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto.

He said that technically there would not be a problem with such a meeting.

"I believe he (Abdurrahman) would be welcome to meet the Armed Forces commander," Syamsul said, noting that Wiranto had met with various community figures.

Many believe that a meeting between the two could fall under the context of a precursor for some sort of dialog.

Commenting on Abdurrahman's warning that the nation was on the brink of a social revolution, Syamsul said the Armed Forces would cooperate with all elements of society to prevent it.

"A social revolution is a horrifying situation as it would destroy all national structures that we all have established," he said.

Moh. Mafhud, a political scientist at Universitas Islam Indonesia in Yogyakarta, supported both Agum and Abdurrahman's efforts to begin a dialog as a positive step to overcome the current crisis.

"What's important is that the leaders must be honest, open minded, and ready to show mutual understanding, concessions and not just think about their own political interests," Mafhud said. (prb/imn/swa)