Habibie's new plan for political, economic reform
Habibie's new plan for political, economic reform
JAKARTA (JP): Vice President B.J. Habibie reiterated Monday
that he had prepared an eight-point plan to be used as the basis
for reform of the country's political and economic sectors.
Habibie told a gathering of Bandung Institute of Technology
alumni that he hoped they would support his idea, which he called
Asta Krida, which literally means eight activities.
"The Vice President asked us to follow up on his plan and
disseminate the ideas it contains to a wider audience," the
chairman of the ITB alumni board, Cacuk Sudarijanto, said after
meeting Habibie at the Merdeka Selatan Palace.
Habibie revealed his plan last Tuesday during an address given
to an Indonesian Moslem Students (HMI) seminar held in Jakarta.
The Vice President's proposed agenda gives top priority to the
promotion of human rights and human obligations, followed by
efforts to improve the quality of Pancasila democracy and to
develop a more responsive attitude toward rising political
demands.
"The third is to enforce the national law and development it
as the main instrument for managing the nation's life," Habibie
said.
Also emphasized in the plan is the importance of education,
and the development of applicable technology down to village
level.
The final point he proposes is the provision of equal
opportunities for all Indonesian people, regardless of their
background, race, religion and ethnicity.
Cacuk said the alumni organization had also proposed a
strategy to restore the economy to the Vice President. Their
ideas concentrated particularly on the real sector and
resettlement of the country's US$68 billion corporate debt.
"If the government does not prepare a strategy to strengthen
the real sector, even improvements in the financial and banking
sectors will be of no great consequence to the national economy,"
Cacuk noted.
Under the alumni's plan, the government must establish a
special body to help ailing companies regain their strength by
helping them to resolve their troubles.
Cacuk noted the government had paid too much attention to the
financial and banking sectors at the expense of industry, which
had also been severely affected by the recession.
When asked about Habibie's reaction to their suggestions,
Cacuk replied: "He said our ideas were excellent and asked us to
discuss them with the relevant ministers". (prb)