Jumping on the reform bandwagon

The current reform drive appears to have been given considerable added momentum yesterday (Monday) by the House of Representatives. Amid the cheers of students and leading critics the chairman and vice chairmen of the House, who have thus far been accused of dragging their feet and unresponsiveness, issued a formidable statement.

Flanked by his four deputies -- Syarwan Hamid, Ismail Hasan Metareum, Fatimah Achmad and Abdul Gafur -- House of Representatives(DPR)/People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Harmoko beat the reform drum with force. For the sake of preserving the nation's unity and cohesion, Harmoko said, President Soeharto was requested to exert his wisdom and resign. Students cheered. Syarwan Hamid held up a thumb for Harmoko.

Pak Harto (President Soeharto) has repeatedly stated that if the people no longer want him as a leader, he would have no problem being replaced. He would not use the force of arms to stay in power. The survival and the well-being of the nation was more important than anything else. Besides those ethical considerations, however, Pak Harto also put forth one absolute condition. Any change, or resignation, or whatever step was to be taken, had to be accomplished according to the rules as prescribed by the Constitution.

All kinds of people professing to be proponents of reform are now vying with each other to be first in acting on the signal given by President Soeharto. Institutions and government officials who have thus far been known as antireformist, now compete with each other to be first to grab the opportunity and win the legitimacy of being a hero of reform.

For the three terms that he was in office as minister of information, Harmoko was known as antireformist. He so tenaciously defended Ministerial Decree No. 01/1984, under which so many media publications were banned, that the decree has managed to endure to this day.

As a child of the nation, however, Harmoko obviously has a right to try to rehabilitate himself. Harmoko wants to have a degree of significance in this reform tide, although he is now considered to have transgressed the proper procedures.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta