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)