Mega takes issue of separatism seriously

JAKARTA (JP): President Megawati Soekarnoputri and her new Cabinet honed in on details of its working programs on Monday, with an emphasis on maintaining national unity and lifting the country out of the economic crisis.

According to her top security minister, in the first meeting of the new Cabinet, Megawati decided that she would lead efforts to bring peace to the restive provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya where separatist unrest had been on the rise.

"The President will concentrate on the conflict in Aceh and Irian Jaya," Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after the one-hour meeting.

It is not yet clear, however, how Megawati will approach the separatist movements in Aceh and Irian Jaya.

Susilo only said that he was asked by the President to immediately identify threats that would potentially endanger the country's territorial integrity and measures that could be implemented to deal with the problems.

"The President underlined that we have to find the best measures to maintain the territorial integrity of the country," Susilo remarked.

When she was vice president, Megawati was tasked by former president Abdurrahman Wahid with dealing with religious and communal unrest in the Malukus. She has been criticized for devoting little time to the issues.

After becoming president, Megawati assigned Vice President Hamzah Haz to handle communal unrest in the Malukus, Central Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi.

Hamzah said in Balik Papan, East Kalimantan, on Monday that he would be very embarrassed if he were unable to solve the sectarian clashes in those areas.

The vice president flew to Balikpapan minutes after the Cabinet meeting to attend a peace declaration there by the local chapter of the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) aimed at preventing another sectarian clash from breaking out in the area.

"That is why I have come to this island and I hope the declaration will be a good way to start resolving the continuing conflicts across the country," Hamzah said as quoted by Antara.

Maintaining national unity is the first priority of the Cabinet's six-point working program Megawati unveiled when announcing the Cabinet lineup last Thursday. The other priorities included continuing the reform and democratization process, and normalizing the economic situation.

Susilo said that during the meeting Megawati gave ministers pointers about their respective duties, reiterating that her administration only had three years to make an impact.

The most important change in the current Cabinet is the new role of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and the transfer of control over the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) into the hands of State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi.

In addition, Laksamana, an executive member of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), is also tasked with acting as the representative of shareholders in state companies.

Previously, IBRA, which controls billions of dollars in assets, was under the Ministry of Finance, while the finance minister legally controlled state enterprises.

"The finance minister is tasked with concentrating on efforts to raise and safeguard state revenues, and to handle the matters of the state budget and state treasury," Susilo told the press conference.

Susilo was accompanied at the media conference by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla. However, it was only Susilo who outlined details of the meeting.

All three coordinating ministers refused to answer any question asked by the large crowd of journalists gathered at the presidential palace.

"I was assigned to disclose the guidelines of the meeting and the question and answer session will be conducted tomorrow (Tuesday) in my office," Susilo said.

He said that his office will oversee the ministries of home affairs, foreign affairs, defense, justice and human rights, and transportation, as well as supervising the National Intelligence Agency, the Indonesian Military, the National Police and the Attorney General's Office.

Meanwhile, the ministries of finance, energy and mineral resources, industry and trade, agriculture, forestry, transportation, maritime affairs and fisheries, manpower and transmigration, resettlement and regional infrastructure, and the state ministries of research and technology, cooperatives and small and medium enterprises, and national development planning will be under Dorodjatun's supervision.

Meanwhile, Jusuf Kalla will supervise the ministries of health, national education, social affairs, religious affairs, and the state ministries of tourism and culture, the environment, administrative reforms and women's empowerment. (dja)