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.