Moslem youth organizations call for accountable cabinet
Moslem youth organizations call for accountable cabinet
JAKARTA (JP): Three Moslem youth organizations issued
yesterday a joint declaration calling on the President to
establish a morally accountable cabinet which can help the
country out of its economic crux.
Dubbed the Al-Azhar Declaration, the nine-point statement
stressed the importance of a clean government free of collusive
practices.
The groups -- the Association of Islamic Students (HMI),
Indonesian Islamic Youth (PII) and the Indonesian Muslim Youth
Movement (GPII) -- urged the President not to assign
unprofessional and morally handicapped ministers or top
government officials.
They also urged the President to take the bold step of making
public the list of tycoons who have bad debts, as well as those
suspected of capital flight.
The need for an antimonopoly law to be established by the
government was also mentioned.
"The declaration, for us, is a reflection of our sense of
belonging and concern, which motivates us to give a critical
response and opinions of a political dimension on the current
situation," HMI chairman Anas Urbaningrum said at the famous Al-
Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta yesterday.
The declaration charged that most of the nation's wealth was
only being enjoyed by a few who have close ties to the power
elite.
"Such dissatisfaction creates various negative expressions in
the community which in turn lead to violent actions of anarchical
tendency," the declaration read.
The strong desire for political and economic reform is also
evident in a recent poll conducted by the Voice of Concerned
Professionals, which polled middle-class professionals between
the ages of 20 and 45 in Greater Jakarta.
A staggering 98.25 percent of those polled agreed with the
need for economic and sociopolitical reform to deal with the
crisis.
Nearly 60 percent of respondents said the kind of economic
reform needed was greater equality in economic opportunity and
the enactment of an antitrust law.
On the sociopolitical side, 38 percent of respondents said
cessation of corruption, collusion and nepotistic practices was
the most urgent need, while 26.5 percent said it was reform in
the legal system.
A noticeable 14.4 percent said there was a need to limit
presidential terms to just two terms.
The 572 professionals in the survey are defined as individuals
involved in work which require some form of specialized skill
based upon a certain level of education.
More than 80 percent of those surveyed had at least a
bachelors degree. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents worked in
either the banking or finance industry. (swa/mds)