Indonesia feels pinch of foreign intervention

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security Edi Sudrajat said on Saturday that Indonesia increasingly feels the pinch of foreign pressure in solving its domestic problems.

"Although we don't mean to turn our back on economic, social and economic problems, foreign hands are reaching deep into our domestic affairs," he said when addressing students of the Sriwijaya University, Palembang, South Sumatra.

He pointed at human rights, labor and democratization as classic examples of issues used by wealthy states as a condition for developing nations to join a free trade grouping, the Antara news agency reported.

Behind that, he said, is an unhealthy business rivalry in which developed nations resort to unhealthy tricks to maintain their advantage.

"In fact, such non-tariff barriers run counter to the principles of global free-trade regime, as trumpeted through international media," the retired general said.

He said the increasingly free flow of information globally had made it difficult to separate which affairs in a country were subject to foreign intervention and which were not.

Earlier on Friday, when addressing officers of the Sriwijaya Military Command in Palembang, Edi said in the modern, transparent society, honesty is a must for officials.

With regards to the Armed Forces (ABRI), it means that military officers should uphold their ethical codes and act indiscriminately against injustice, he said.

"Intense public scrutiny into government officials' conduct should not be seen as certain groups' political maneuvering but rather as the demands of the people which must be welcomed whole- heartedly," he said as quoted by Kompas newspaper.

Edi said transparency in international affairs due to the free flow of information had made Indonesian public better informed of what happens in the outside world.

The public become exposed to once foreign concepts like human rights and democratization, he said. The direct impact can be seen now in the various charges hurled at the government and ABRI related to the issues, he added.

"For example there is accusation that ABRI hampers democratization, that all politicians are bad, military district commandants are ruthless, court officials like extorting people and bureaucrats are corrupt," he said. "All these perceptions are a consequence of a new world order."

The condition, he said, should serve as a reminder for government apparatuses to safeguard their image and security officials to improve their professionalism in order to create a clean and respectable government. (pan)