ITB's faculty senate sets up anti-crisis body

ITB's faculty senate sets up anti-crisis body

BANDUNG (JP): The faculty senate of the Bandung Institute of
Technology set up a committee yesterday to explore concepts and
prepare recommendations for the government on ways to cope with
the economic crisis.

The 13-member committee, chaired by Sudjana Sapi'ie of the
mechanical engineering school, held a closed-door meeting with
experts and students. Among those invited were distinguished
alumni, including former state minister of the environment
Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, former president of the state-owned
telecommunications company PT Telkom Cacuk Sudarijanto, former
banker Laksamana Sukardi and economist Rizal Ramli.

The committee will hold a dialog today with students of the
institute, who have been demonstrating for the past two months
for an end to the economic crisis and for economic and political
reforms.

Later, Laksamana told the media the nation could only survive
the crisis by committing itself to reform.

He compared Indonesia to a stalled computer whose operation
was in "hang" mode.

"The only thing we can do is reboot it," he said.

He continued the metaphor by stating the computer could only
be restarted by simultaneously pressing the "Ctrl", "Alt" and
"Del" buttons on the keyboard.

"The Ctrl button means control, Alt means alternative and Del
means delete," he said.

"So, the nation needs to have an appropriate control
mechanism, to seek alternatives for crisis settlement and delete
all obsolete elements in a bid to rerun the suspended development
programs."

Another call for reform was sounded yesterday by the executive
board of the Muhammadiyah Students Association, who said in their
statement: "Reforms are a must for a country in crisis."

The statement, co-signed by chairman Abu Bakar J. Lamatapo and
secretary Gunawan Hidayat, urged three institutions -- the ruling
Golkar, the Armed Forces (ABRI), and the House of
Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly -- to be the prime
movers in the reform process.

The students of the schools established by Muhammadiyah, the
second largest Islamic organization in the nation with 28 million
members, also urged legislators to respond to the people's wish
for reform.

The House is in recess and will begin its next session on May
4. Several observers have recommended that legislators should cut
short their leave to meet with protesting students.

Review

Separately, law professor Satjipto Rahardjo of Diponegoro
University said in Semarang Tuesday the government should not
simply ignore appeals for a review of the five political laws
enacted in 1985.

"The five political laws are no longer relevant to the current
situation," Satjipto, also a member of the National Commission on
Human Rights, was quoted by Antara as saying.

The laws are on general elections, political parties and
Golkar, mass organizations, the composition of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the House of Representatives
(DPR), and on public referendums.

Satjipto said a good law was one which could absorb
aspirations of different members of society and accommodate
gradual reforms.

"The 1985 laws fail to recognize the nation's plurality," he
said. He argued that the state ideology, Pancasila, accommodated
plurality in all of its five principles.

He said the House should pay serious attention to the
clamoring for a review of the laws, which have been voiced by
students, political experts and legal practitioners.

Calls for reforms were also voiced in a government-student
dialog, organized by the Indonesian Moslem Students Association
(HMI) on Tuesday evening.

"Reform, or whatever it's called, is a must," said a
participant from the Indonesian Nationalist Students Movement
(GMNI).

"Reforms mean a total commitment to implement the principles
stipulated in Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution," he added.

A participant from the Imam Bonjol State Institute for Islamic
Teachings (IAIN) in West Sumatra said there should be a review of
articles 4 and 5 of the Constitution on the President's authority
and Article 28 on freedom of speech, expression and assembly.

Meanwhile, a representative of Bandung-based private Pasundan
University said "moral" reform was needed among bureaucrats.

"Moral reforms are fundamental prerequisites for all kinds of
reforms." (43/imn)