House Speaker warns of widening disparities
House Speaker warns of widening disparities
JAKARTA (JP): The widening economic and political disparities
in Indonesian society may well trigger more mass violence, House
Speaker Wahono warned yesterday.
If not properly resolved, the disparities will affect the
hard-worked-for national resilience, he noted when opening the
new House session.
"The violence that rocked several areas at the end of 1996
shows that our society's sociocultural resilience is weak. People
were easily incited by irresponsible parties," he said.
Major unrest shook Jakarta in July, the East Java town of
Situbondo in October, West Java's Tasikmalaya on Dec. 26 and West
Kalimantan's Sanggau Ledo on Dec. 29.
In Java, the rioters targeted government buildings, property
belonging to Chinese Indonesians and churches. In West
Kalimantan, the conflict pitted Madura transmigrants against the
indigenous Dayaks.
Not only did the incidents inflict substantial material and
human loses, they also left people wondering what was happening
to Indonesians, who usually take pride in being tolerant and
friendly.
Wahono called on the government and the public alike to seek
the root of the problems.
"Perhaps these (violent incidents) were a manifestation of
people's frustration. People couldn't control their emotions on
seeing that their leaders' conduct fell short of their
expectations," he said.
Wahono lamented that people have used social and religious
sentiments to vent their frustration without regard for law and
order.
The Dec. 26 riot in Tasikmalaya was triggered by the police's
brutal handling of teachers of an Islamic boarding school who had
punished the son of police officer.
In the riot that ensued, shops, factories and churches were
burned and four people were killed, according to official
statistics.
The religious violence in Situbondo was triggered by public
dissatisfaction with the sentence demanded by a local court for a
Moslem charged with blaspheming Islam.
The well-documented July 1996 riot in Jakarta was triggered by
the takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) office by a
government-backed rebel faction.
Wahono, a former lieutenant general, said that the authorities
should prioritize preventive measures in handling social problems
so as not to unduly anger people.
"The repressive approach should be used only as a last
resort," he said. "Besides, the authorities and the public should
use their common sense and not take the law into their own
hands."
Wahono also said he supported the view that many Indonesians'
morality is declining and that the multiethnic and multifaith
nation has to refocus its efforts to maintain unity.
The alarm on the declining morality was sounded last week by
leaders of the two largest Moslem organizations, Muhammadiyah and
Nahdlatul Ulama.
Wahono stressed that government officials should provide
examples with real actions rather than statements on how to
preserve national unity.
He praised the government for initiating the National
Discipline Drive and its call for clean governance, hoping that
the campaigns are implemented continuously.
On the May 29 general election Wahono called on the public to
give their ideas to the National Election Committee and the three
contestants, Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and PDI.
Specifically, he called on the public to give input on the
House of Representatives candidates proposed by the contestants.
The election committee is expected to announce the names of
the candidates some time this month.
The public is expected to give input on the integrity of all
the candidates, Wahono said.
"All the input should be based on credible sources so that no
one slanders a candidate," he said.
Golkar, PPP and PDI will contest 425 seats in the 500-seat
House. The remaining 75 seats are reserved by the Armed Forces,
which plays a dominant role in politics but does not take part in
the election. (pan)