Indonesia needs a national unity govt

Indonesia needs a national unity govt

By Omar Halim

JAKARTA (JP): At the moment, Indonesia is at an extremely
critical juncture. The process of reform, which was initiated by
the people on the street, particularly the students, has been
taking shape since mid-1998 when former president Soeharto
stepped down. Much has been achieved since then.

The economic reform measures, which were prompted by the
government's inability to deal with the onslaught of the
financial crisis, were initiated by the assistance of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Asian
Development Bank.

Extremely painful adjustments, such as a drastic drop in
income, bankruptcies, high unemployment and soaring prices, were
accompanied by, on paper, new laws and measures that would make
the Indonesian economy leaner, more dynamic and more efficient to
face the 21st century.

But much more needs to be done. Most important of which is
what role do we want the Indonesian economy to play in the world
economy in the next century?

A national commission could be established to provide answers
to this question. Once this is clear, then complementary policies
and measures, such as the direction and curriculum of our
education and training goals, should be formulated and
implemented.

The reform process within the economic area, however, was
dealt a severe setback by the Bank Bali scandal. Domestic and
international confidence in our economic prospects has plummeted.
According to the testimonies of trade associations in the last
few weeks, it is fair to conclude that only a new government with
a clear vision of what needs to be done in the future can restore
that confidence.

At the political level, a very promising start was made.
Forty-eight political parties contested the relatively free and
fair elections, and six emerged as significant parties.

Although the General Elections Commission performed miserably,
somehow a reasonably representative People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) was established. So far the highest legislative
body has shown a rather remarkable performance in amending the
1945 Constitution by establishing a balance of power between the
legislative and executive branches of government.

The independence and strengthening of the judicial branch
needs to be established also. It is hoped that this process of
establishing a better checks and balances under the authority of
the representatives of the people will continue. To ensure a
leaner and more competitive economy as mentioned earlier, the
draft State Policy Guidelines for 1999-2004 seeks to prevent
monopolistic markets and distortions caused by corruption,
collusion and nepotism.

Now the MPR is at the point of electing the fourth president
on Oct. 20. With reformist Amien Rais at the helm of the MPR and
reformist Akbar Tandjung as speaker of the House of
Representatives (DPR), the executive branch of government needs
to be under the control of reformists as well.

In essence, this will determine whether Indonesia can now
muster the cooperation of reformist elements to complete the
reform process as started by the people, particularly the
students. If the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) and National Awakening Party (PKB) camps can work
with the reformist wing of Golkar, this will create a strong
nationalistic-based coalition.

The "axis force," which is an alliance of Islamic parties,
will have less leeway in the political chess play in the
formation of the executive branch of government.

But elements of the axis force that are considered reformist
should also be invited to join this coalition. Such a
collaboration among reformists in the three groupings would no
doubt create a very strong force in completing the reform
process. The executive branch could work with the independent
legislative branch in formulating further reform laws and
regulations and in the implementation of them.

Our future very much depends on whether Indonesians can start
a new chapter in its young history with a force that can overturn
the past ills in order to pave the way for a bright future which
is a clean break from the past.

Before the general election on June 7, a clean break did not
seem possible. The status-quo forces seemed to be exerting real
influence over events that were contrary to the process of
reform. After the elections, however, reformist forces in all
parties seemed to be increasingly visible and exerting their
influence. Even Golkar was characterized as having a 'dark' and a
'bright' Golkar (I loathe the use of the terms 'black' and
'white').

Although the religious and regional factors are relevant and
do play roles in the political chess game, the secular and
nationalist-oriented political parties could form the core of
what could develop into a "national unity" government. The
representatives of the people and the political leaders in the
MPR have a golden opportunity to make this happen and lay the
groundwork for the people and the country to have a bright
future.

The writer is an Indonesian economic and political observer
residing in Jakarta.