Nation pays enormous price for reform: Habibie

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former president B.J. Habibie said rampant corruption, injustice and distortion of democratic practices was the price Indonesia had to pay for reform.

"These days, we can see that KKN is committed openly, not only in Jakarta, but in almost all regions across Indonesia without an ounce of guilt," Habibie said on Sunday at the Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) meeting, referring to the Indonesian abbreviation for corruption, collusion and nepotism.

Habibie said law enforcement was even more difficult nowadays, due to the poor's lack of access to legal recourse, while the rich had all the luxuries of legal service.

"The law is taking sides with the haves, not the have nots," he said.

He said a distortion of democracy was indicated by money politics, with individuals winning elections because of money, not because of their competence.

The country had also been witness to the government's lack of commitment to health, education and technology development, the continuing high-cost economy and a decline in productivity, competitiveness and direct foreign investment since the reform movement ousted long-time ruler Soeharto in May 1998.

Habibie, who was elected vice president in March 1998, succeeded Soeharto.

The eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism, enforcement of law and justice, and democratization -- emphasizing an end to the military's involvement in sociopolitical affairs -- were among the reform platforms.

Habibie said the current plight was a temporary phenomenon, now that Indonesia was in the transitional phase to democracy, and the government installed through the 2004 elections must take the lead in coping with these challenges.

A participant of the ICMI meeting, Sri Bintang Pamungkas, challenged Habibie's argument, saying the rampant corruption, weak law enforcement and the fall of democracy were the consequences of the country's failure to uphold reform.

"None of the governments since the fall of Soeharto in 1998, including Habibie's, have managed to carry out reform," said Sri Bintang of the Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI).