Habibie stakes claim to presidency

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)