Megawati vows clean government

By Imanuddin & M.M.I. Ahyani

DENPASAR (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri opened on Thursday the congress of her faction of the splintered Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), vowing a clean government if she won the general election.

Addressing a fanatical audience of 50,000 supporters bedecked in red and black plus illustrious guests such as foreign ambassadors at the Kapten Japa Padanggalak Square in Sanur, Megawati said she believed a clean and credible government could only be obtained through a democratic, honest and fair election.

"If the people give their trust to PDI Perjuangan (PDI in Struggle -- Megawati's camp) in the next general election, I can guarantee that the next government will not hesitate to uphold justice and the supremacy of law," she said.

"This is a country of law, and whoever -- be they common people or government officials -- violates the law and human rights should be legally processed," she said.

The same principle applied for former officials who all this time had often violated the law and human rights, she said.

In her government, the 51-year-old daughter of the country's founding president Sukarno, said, "there would be no place for law enforcers such as judges and prosecutors who could not carry out that mandate."

"The struggle to achieve justice and the law is important because the PDI Perjuangan would not want to see people lose confidence in state institutions," she said.

Also in her oration, Megawati made a fresh call on the present government to renew its political and economic commitment to reform and focus its efforts on economic recovery.

"The government's seriousness to uphold the law and the people's basic rights will help restore people's trust," she added.

Megawati gave whole-hearted support to the Armed Forces (ABRI) commitment to redefine its security and sociopolitical roles.

"It's obvious the role and function of ABRI are different from those of civilians. ABRI's main task is to maintain justice and security for the people," he said.

"Any overlap will create a prolonged ABRI-civilian dispute," she added.

Speaking about economic reform, Megawati called for an end to all "prestigious and high-tech" projects which had no direct impact on improving people's quality of life.

"What we really now need is technology which can improve the productivity of our farmers and help produce modern, tough and competitive infrastructure of agricultural technology," she told the participants of the three-day congress and the thousands of other supporters.

"Only through agribusiness can Indonesia meet its own demand for food," she said.

"It's hard to understand how farmers can die of hunger in such a fertile and resource-rich country like Indonesia," she explained.

She criticized the government for its inability to find a way out of the economic crisis.

"I still have confidence the government can settle the crisis. But the government lacks the seriousness and courage to comply with the people's demands for substantial and fundamental reform," she said.

She demanded that people be given correct information on the real state of the economy.

"Tell the people the real status of our food supply. Tell the people the causes of the economic crisis. Also tell the people the person most responsible for all of the problems," she said.

On the government's team for the restoration of the state's economy, Megawati suggested it should consist of officials who were free from any bureaucratic connections.

Present at the opening ceremony were Brazilian Ambassador Jadile Ferreira, his South African counterpart B.S. Kubheka, Bali Governor Dewa Made Beratha, Udayana Regional Military Commander (overseeing Bali, Nusa Tenggara and East Timor) Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri and Bali Police chief Brig. Gen. Gunawan.

Seen among the guests were former minister of defense and security Gen. (ret) Edi Sudradjat, former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. (ret) Achmad Kemal Idris, former Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin and former Udayana Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. (ret) Theo Syafei.

Also present were former minister of finance Frans Seda, former student leaders of the 1966 generation Hariadi Dharmawan, businessman Arifin Panigoro, economists Sjahrir and Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and chairman of the National Committee of the Indonesian Youths (KNPI) Maulana Isman.

Besides Megawati's speech, the ceremony's highlight was a Balinese Panembrana welcome dance.

Megawati hinted her party's name would be changed to PDI Perjuangan because she repeatedly called it the name which first was used by her supporters after she was ousted in a 1996 government-sponsored breakaway congress in Medan, North Sumatra.