Habibie's comments under fire

JAKARTA (JP): Observers criticized President B.J. Habibie yesterday for recent remarks on Chinese-Indonesians who fled the country in the wake of last May's riots.

Political expert Harry Tjan Silalahi of the Centre for the Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and chairman of the Chinese-Indonesians Reform Party (PARTI) Lieus Sungkharisma termed as "deplorable" Habibie's statements in an interview with the Washington Post on Saturday.

Habibie reportedly said the country's economy would survive even if ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs did not return because their role would be filled by other Indonesians.

"If the Chinese community doesn't come back because they don't trust their own country and society, I cannot force (them), nobody can force them," the President said.

"But do you really think that we will then die?"

"Their place will be taken over by others," the Post quoted him as saying.

Harry said: "It's a very irresponsible remark from a statesman, if he wants to consider himself as one."

"As a president of a country, even when one of your countrymen is unsatisfied, you have to find out why and you have to regret it if they should flee their own country. Settle the problem if you can."

Lieus, contacted separately, supported Harry's view.

"Habibie should have shown his deep concern over the exodus (of the ethnic Chinese), over why it happened.

"His remarks are not compatible with the country's campaign to draw foreign investors."

Harry and Lieus believed Habibie's remarks could be misinterpreted and subsequently fuel suspicions among thousands of Chinese-Indonesians still abroad that they might not be welcomed back.

"If Chinese-Indonesians are afraid, what about new foreign investors who want to come in?" Harry said.

In the interview, Habibie acknowledged the May rioting could have been incited by an organized force and that Chinese- Indonesians were the target.

But he said Chinese-Indonesians who were not attacked and survived the mayhem were those who had "integrated into society" and "helped the other people".

Habibie also said that the tension between ethnic Chinese- Indonesians and indigenous Indonesians was "more social" in nature.

Although they make up less than 5 percent of the country's population of more than 202 million, Chinese-Indonesians form the backbone of the economy.

Analysts have said the country will have a more difficult time recovering from its economic crisis without their capital and business skills.

Bakom-PKB

Separately yesterday, a delegation of the state-sponsored Communication Forum for National Unity (Bakom-PKB), in a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission II on home affairs, urged the government to guarantee the safety of all citizens regardless of their racial background and to scrap all existing "discriminative" legal products.

Bakom-PKB spokeswoman Rosita S. Noer said the government had yet to show its political will to campaign for the safety of everybody, as indicated by sporadic and unchecked looting across the country.

"It is not only the country's 'nonindigenous' people who aren't feeling safe, even 'indigenous' people are feeling insecure nowadays," she said.

Bakom-PKB members who attended the hearing included lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, senior journalist Fikri Jufri, businessman Steve Sondakh, and former national badminton player Christian Hadinata. (aan)