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)