Harmoko to go on Ramadhan safari

Harmoko to go on Ramadhan safari

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko begins his annual Ramadhan trip today with a promise that, unlike in previous years, he will not hold meetings with Golkar supporters.

"I'll undertake this trip only as the minister of information," said Harmoko, who has been widely criticized for mixing his official trips with his duties as the chairman of the ruling Golkar.

He told reporters here yesterday that he will log more than 3,200 kilometers on his 11-day "Ramadhan safari" visit to Java's five provinces.

He is scheduled to first visit a pesantren (Moslem boarding school) and meet with ulemas in West Jakarta, before going on to some towns in West Java. After the provinces of Central Java and Yogyakarta, he will conclude the safari in East Java.

Harmoko first conducted the safari during the holy fasting month of Ramadhan in 1984, a year after he was appointed minister of information.

Since being elected Golkar chairman in 1993, Harmoko has started to combine his activities as a minister with those of a Golkar leader.

Traditionally, Harmoko's safari trips receive wide coverage on the state-owned television and radio stations, TVRI and RRI, which, critics point out, also serve as campaign sessions for Golkar.

Leaders of the minority parties -- the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- have called the Ramadhan safari "disguised electioneering".

The two parties' leaders also question the funds used to finance the activities and the overriding power Harmoko has over the state television and radio networks, both of which are administered by his ministry.

Harmoko, however, reiterated that the safari is undertaken for him to "record the aspirations of people in villages". "It has nothing to do with Golkar," Harmoko argued.

This year Harmoko will visit 42 regencies. At least 24 journalists, including those from TVRI and RRI, will join the tour.

Harmoko is scheduled to visit pesantren in every regency, as well as villages which are included in the government's program of poverty alleviation.

"This year's trip will be easier to undertake because there won't be difficulties of transportation and communication," he said yesterday.

The safari went through Kalimantan last year and through Irian Jaya in 1994. (01)