Nation told to fight terror
Nation told to fight terror
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has called on the people to
remain united and rally behind her in the country's fight against
terrorism.
The call came only hours after United States authorities
announced the arrest of Hambali, an Indonesian militant described
as Jamaah Islamiyah's top operative in Southeast Asia.
"To all sections of society, I would urge you to remain united
and jointly fight against terrorism," the President said in her
state of the nation address to a half-empty House of
Representatives plenary session on Friday.
"We must not blame each other or lose trust in each other as
that would only weaken our resolve in fighting terror," she
stressed.
"The tears of the victims of the terrorist bombs in Kuta,
Bali, were scarcely dry ... and now we have been shaken by a
terrorist bomb in Jakarta," she said, referring to last week's
car bomb attack on the JW Marriott Hotel, which killed 12 people
and injured more than 100 others.
Indonesian police declared Hambali the prime suspect in last
year's Bali bombings, and believe he also had a hand in the
Marriott bombing.
The Oct. 12 Bali blasts, which killed more than 200 and
injured hundreds of others, are regarded as the second worst
terrorist attacks in the world after the Sept. 11 strikes against
New York and Washington in 2001.
Indonesian police have arrested more than 30 suspects in the
Bali blasts, and one of them, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, was convicted
and sentenced to death last week.
In her annual speech ahead of Independence Day on Aug. 17,
Megawati said that Indonesia categorically condemned all such
"heinous acts".
"Whatever the reasons, whoever the perpetrators are, these
acts are still crimes against humanity," the President said.
Citing the grief caused by the terror strikes in Bali and
Jakarta, Megawati told the nation never to bow down to the
terrorists, and promised to cooperate with other countries in
fighting against such outrages.
"We will continue with our fight against terrorism and we will
never surrender. We will cooperate with other countries in this
fight against terrorism," the President said.
For the first time, she also offered condolences to the
victims of terror strikes in the country.
"On behalf of the government and people of Indonesia, I would
like to convey my deepest condolences to the families of the
victims," Megawati said.
On the downside, the session was attended by only 263 of the
500 House members. To make matters worse, only 75 of the 153
members from the Megawati-led Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) were present.
Outside the national legislative complex in Senayan, hundreds
of student activists from a number of universities in Greater
Jakarta staged a rally demanding Megawati and Vice President
Hamzah Haz step down.
The protesters claimed that the two leaders had failed to
combat corruption. They said that the performance of both
Megawati and Hamzah was no better than that of authoritarian
former president Soeharto.
Megawati unveiled a cautious draft state budget for next year
with spending set to shrink slightly for the first time in many
years, holding out the prospect of a reduced budget deficit. The
budget comes as Indonesia exits a five-year International
Monetary Fund (IMF) aid program in December.
The draft budget predicts five percent growth next year
compared to this year's targeted four percent, and average
inflation of seven percent.
It proposes that the defense budget be increased from
Rp 5.7 trillion (US$ 678.5 million) for this year to Rp 10.5
trillion in 2004.
It also proposes an increase in meals allowances and annual
holiday bonuses for Indonesian Military and National Police
personnel.
Other big items in the draft budget are education (Rp 15.2
trillion) and subsidies (Rp 23.3 trillion).
In the draft, the government predicts total revenue of Rp
343.9 trillion next year, an increase of 2.3 percent over the
current fiscal year.
State expenditure for 2004 is predicted at Rp 185.8 trillion
for routine expenditure, Rp 68.1 for development expenditure and
Rp 114.9 trillion for regional expenditure.
The state of the nation address also coincided with the
opening of new session of the House, which will be sitting for
the next three months.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at the national
legislative complex. Journalists without ID cards issued by the
House Secretariat were refused admission.
Long lines of cars at security check points entering the
legislative complex caused severe traffic jams along Jalan Asia
Afrika to the rear of the complex.