Habibie stakes claim to presidency
BATAM, Riau (JP): Incumbent B.J. Habibie staked his claim over the presidency on Thursday, accepting the nomination by his Golkar Party and dismissing internal and external pressures for him not to run in the November election.
"I am not a coward. I am aware that it is the people who decide. The people are sovereign, they decide who will be president," Habibie said during a joint media conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on this industrial island south of Singapore.
On the eve of the first anniversary of his unexpected ascent to the presidency, Habibie said that being entrusted by the people with the number one office would be an honor. "It can only be paid back with honor, and not with money or anything else," he said.
Golkar announced the nomination of Habibie last week, in spite of opposition from within the party and elsewhere.
Golkar deputy chairman Marzuki Darusman leads the internal opposition, saying that Habibie's unpopularity could turn many voters away at the June general election.
Three major opposition parties -- the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan) have since joined forces to prevent Golkar from returning to power.
Habibie on Thursday challenged other political parties to announce their presidential candidates ahead of the elections so that voters would not simply "buy a cat in a bag".
In Jakarta, PAN chairman and presidential candidate Amien Rais meanwhile led a chorus of critics against Habibie's failure to prosecute predecessor Soeharto for power abuses during his 32 year reign. They all agreed that this was one of the major failures of Habibie's one-year tenure.
Amien commended Habibie for allowing press freedom and political freedom and granting greater regional autonomy, but said Habibie's credibility had been dented by his failure to resolve Soeharto's corruption case.
Mochtar Pabottingi of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said the Habibie government was an extension of the New Order regime and could not be expected to bring Soeharto to trial.
Habibie's score sheet for the past year was poor, Mochtar said, underlining the continued human rights abuses.
He said any progress made over the past year was artificial as long as there was no transparency in government.
Mochtar said the struggle for reform must continue to put the country on the path toward democracy.
Mudji Sutrisno of the Driyarkara Institute of Philosophy said the political situation has barely changed in the past year.
"Some individuals have stood down, but the New Order mentality and political system has remained," he said.
He said that the reform movement had not made any substantial progress, and it was "as if it was running on the spot".
The Association of Indonesian Muslim Students (HMI) made a long list of homework for the reform movement, saying that failure to carry out the prescribed actions could kill the movement altogether.
The list includes proceeding with political trials for the shootings of students and kidnapping of activists, bringing Soeharto to trial for his reported crimes, particularly his political sins, and resolving the many human rights abuses committed by the New Order regime.
The Joint Communication Forum of the University of Indonesia (Jakarta) and Gadjah Mada University (Yogyakarta), in a statement to mark the anniversary of Soeharto's resignation, said the reform agenda was not complete.
It warned against attempts by Soehartoists and status quo forces to break the reform movement apart.
Several demonstrations and seminars will be held in Jakarta on Friday to mark the anniversary of Soeharto's downfall. (prb/rms)