INFID calls for peaceful political change
JAKARTA (JP): The International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) called on the nation yesterday to join in efforts to peacefully and constitutionally prepare for immediate political change.
In a statement signed by its Jakarta-based executive secretary Asmara Nababan and its The Hague-based executive secretary Eva Phillips, the forum also called on the government and military to refrain from applying repressive measures against pro-democracy groups who initiate such efforts.
"We are deeply concerned about the ongoing economic turmoil in Indonesia which many fear may lead to political turmoil.
"We believe that the crisis of confidence in Indonesia's leadership has become so acute that efforts to stabilize the rupiah without simultaneous steps toward political reform will be ineffective," the statement read.
INFID is a forum of more than 100 Indonesian and non- Indonesian NGOs concerned with the country's development. Its statement came amid the economic crisis which has been affecting the country for months.
In the statement made available to The Jakarta Post here yesterday, the forum also urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the government to "immediately release the full terms and conditions" of the agreement between them.
The statement also said there was a need to "establish a social impact assessment team, including representation from leading Indonesian NGOs to monitor the impact of the reform package on the country's most vulnerable groups".
The forum also called on the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), a group of developed countries annually donating to the country's development, to use their leverage to ensure the Indonesian government performs both economic and political reform.
"Economic reform without political reform will be insufficient to stem the loss of international confidence in Indonesia," it said.
The call for a new president and a new government has been growing since last week with political experts and senior politicians beginning to voice the aspiration long considered taboo in the country.
In Yogyakarta yesterday, Professor Harun Alrasyid of the University of Indonesia called for a reformation of the country's 1945 Constitution, saying that it has left the nation with "an abnormal" mechanism on presidential election.
"The current mechanism gives too short a time-span between the nomination, election, and endorsement of the president and vice president.
"How can people judge the persons nominated to be their leaders under the current mechanism?" he said in a book discussion held by Gadjah Mada University's Faculty of Social and Political Science.
Harun argued that the reformation of the country's 1945 Constitution was justified by Article 3 and 37 of the constitution. (23/44/aan)