National commitment to unitary state questioned

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ahead of Youth Pledge Day later this month, local and foreign experts will take part in a seminar here on Thursday to discuss the numerous issues facing Indonesia as it attempts to build a democracy.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A.S. is scheduled to open the seminar, which will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Organizing committee chairman Fanny Habibie said on Wednesday the seminar would feature a number of experts discussing the nation's commitment to the Oct. 28, 1928, Youth Pledge -- one land, one nation and one language.

These experts will include Van Baalen, a member of the Dutch parliament, and Bilver Singh, a professor at the National University of Singapore, Fanny said.

Singh will present a paper on injustice and its impact on secessionist movements in Indonesia, while Baalen will discuss issues related to Papua and Aceh.

Fanny, who is also a legislator with the Democratic Party, said National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) governor Muladi was expected to discuss a number of issues connected to the state ideology Pancasila.

Historian Anhar Gonggong will address the Youth Pledge's role in uniting a country that has so many different cultures, ethnic groups and religions, and the pledge's relevance to current conditions.

The seminar is jointly organized by Lemhanas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and the Pela Gandong Foundation.

Seminar organizing committee deputy chairman Isaac Latuconsina said the experts would also identify some of the challenges facing the nation and the government in carrying out the national reform agenda for democracy.

"The seminar will be a good forum to evaluate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first year in office in the political, economic, social and human rights fields," he added.

Fanny expressed regret that 77 years after the first Youth Pledge Day and 60 years after Indonesia gained independence, there were still questions about the Indonesian unitary state (NKRI).

"We should no longer have to question NKRI and the status of Papua, Maluku and Aceh as integral parts of Indonesia. The secessionist movements in Papua and Aceh have brought us back to reviewing our national policies of the past and to fighting against injustices and rampant corruption," he said.