New party offers hope for reform, modernity

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A relatively new politician strongly criticized the poor performance of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government, saying she had deviated from the reform agenda.

Sjahrir, chairman of the New Indonesia Alliance Party (PIB), said here on Tuesday that Megawati had achieved no progress over the past year.

"The government did nothing but focus on maintaining its power," he said in his address to mark the party's first anniversary here on Tuesday.

Sjahrir, also an economist, said further that very few leaders in the state institutions, especially in the executive and legislative bodies, had performed up to public expectations because state officials in the two institutions were just caught up in political bargaining, instead of doing anything meaningful for the nation.

As a result, he said, many problems remained unsolved.

Sjahrir said he would use common sense in managing the state if he was elected president in the 2004 presidential election.

"We are offering a new culture to protect the people from legislators who are trying to steal from the people through the alleged manipulation of the state budget," he added.

Unlike other party leaders who normally appear in public wearing fine suits, at Tuesday's ceremony Sjahrir and his economist colleague Pande Radja Silalahi wore modest white polo shirts.

The party's first anniversary was also highlighted by a performance from singers Harry Roesli and Obbie Messakh.

The anniversary opened with the ceremonial cutting of a traditional rice cone by Sjahrir who then handed over the rice to a group of women whom Sjahrir described as "special guests".

The special guests were mothers of the four students killed in the Trisakti shooting in 1998 and the wives of two noted sociologists, the late Koentjaraningrat and Harsja W. Bachtiar.

Also attending the ceremony were National Mandate Party (PAN) politician Fuad Bawazier, human rights activist H.S. Dillon and several foreign diplomats.

Sjahrir said if he were elected president he would scrap the state-sponsored discrimination in the form of the letter of citizenship for Chinese-Indonesians (SBKRI) within the first 100 days of his administration in an attempt to bring the country into the modern age, as discrimination based on race and enforced by governments, was now unheard of in civilized nations.

He reiterated that his party would always accept differences as part of the nation's diversity.

He expressed his optimism that he would win the first-ever direct presidential election next year, saying he wound continue to publicly express his vision and mission, which includes continuing the reform agenda and develop a modern democracy in the country.

"How can the people understand a president's thoughts and vision if he or she rarely speaks? That's why we want to have political debates among the top presidential candidates contending for the next election," he added.