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)