Habibie told to drop presidential bid

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Prompted by the political fall- out from the East Timor debacle, no less than 1,000 students took to the streets here on Thursday in different rallies against President B.J. Habibie's bid for a new term.

A group of student protesters who called themselves the Surakarta People's Struggle Front marched across the sultanate town to air their opposition against the Golkar Party's nomination of Habibie.

Hundreds of more students, who claimed to represent the National Student League, the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and the Front of Megawati Defenders, gathered outside the local military headquarters. They staged a public speech under the watchful eyes of dozens of Elite Police Mobile Brigade troops.

"Habibie has sold the country and East Timor," they yelled, referring to the President's wide-ranging autonomy offer to East Timor, which was rejected in the Aug. 30 referendum held under the auspices of the United Nations.

Another group of students representing the Joint Action of Surakarta People, a coalition which includes the Indonesian Nationalist Students Movement and the Islamic Students Association, also held an anti-Habibie rally.

The demonstrations, which were incident-free, marred the celebration of National Sports Day at Manahan Stadium here. Habibie had canceled his trip to attend the celebration.

Chairman of the PRD local branch, Ulin Yusron, said Habibie had performed no better than his predecessor Soeharto. "To some extent even, Habibie has opened up more opportunities for the military to dominate the government," Ulin said.

He said it was feared that the East Timor issue would bring the country under military rule at the expense of democracy.

In Semarang, deputy chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Cholil Bisri asked Habibie to step down and apologize to the people for instigating East Timor's separation from Indonesia.

"Habibie must resign for the chaos and disaster in East Timor which resulted from his policy," Cholil said, adding that there was a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree on the transfer of power.

The 1973 MPR decree states that if both the President and Vice President fail to perform the government jobs, a transitional triumvirate comprising the Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Security and Defense will take over.

Cholil said if Habibie continued his term, the country would fall deeper into a disaster triggered by international pressure.

Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono, who attended the Sports Day commemoration, disputed the growing calls for Habibie to resign, saying the self-determination ballot was proof of the Habibie administration's concern for democracy.

"Golkar has no plan to change its mind over its nomination of Habibie for the presidency," Agung said, dismissing speculations that a Golkar executive meeting scheduled for Oct. 20, would reconsider the party's support for Habibie.

In Jakarta, the Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) jumped to the defense of its patron Habibie. The association hailed Habibie's autonomy offer to East Timor as a move to make amends for the government's past mistaken policies in the former Portuguese colony.

"The ballot was not intended to boost Habibie's popularity. It took outstanding courage to settle the East Timor problem," ICMI acting chairman Achmad Tirtosudiro told a media conference.

ICMI secretary-general Adi Sasono, who also spoke at the conference, said he suspected that Australia had exploited the East Timor issue as a political commodity.

The association said it backed the government's decision to impose a state of emergency in East Timor, instead of inviting an international peacekeeping force.

"The martial law was to restore peace and order in East Timor and also to prove Indonesia's credibility," Achmad said. He quoted Habibie as telling UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that a peacekeeping force would worsen the situation in the territory.

In Denpasar, Bali, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Amien Rais said Habibie did not need to resign over East Timor.

"If Habibie resigns before completing his term, the situation in East Timor will worsen. The government will be run by three ministers and there is no guarantee that they can form a solid team," Amien said as quoted by Antara.

Meanwhile, outgoing East Timor governor Abilio Jose Osorio Saores said the losing proautonomy camp had pledged to fight it out to force a partition of East Timor. Abilio made the statement during a meeting on Wednesday night with top East Nusa Tenggara officials in Kupang, his spokeswoman Nani Kosapilawan told Antara. (05/edt/har/amd)