NGOs urge govt to drop post-IMF reform program
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) demanded the government to drop its post-IMF economic reform programs as outlined in the White Paper document, arguing that many of the programs would not help improve the welfare of the people and went against the Constitution.
The protest from the NGOs comes as the IMF commences its final review of the country's economic condition under its program.
The NGOs pointed out that the government's programs were aimed at eliminating subsidies, financial liberalization, trade liberalization and privatization of state-owned companies, all of which were against the interest of the people.
"The White Paper is not a breakthrough and is useless as a whole," Binni Buchori, coordinator of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) told reporters on Friday.
INFID groups several NGOs, including the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), Debtwatch, Working Group on Power Sector Reform (WG-PSR), People's Coalition for Water, and Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW).
The government issued the White Paper in September under Presidential Decree No. 5/2003. The document, which contains a set of economic reform programs to be implemented 18 months from September, was drafted ahead of plans to end the existing International Monetary Fund-sponsored reform program when it expires at the end of this year.
The White Paper programs cover three main goals: maintaining macroeconomic stability, restructuring the financial sector and improving investment, export and job creation.
While it received praise from international donors, the White Paper -- the contents of which are not much different from the IMF program -- received a cool response at home.
Analysts have said the programs lack a concrete action plan to resolve the country's chronic economic problems.
Binni echoed this view, saying that under the White Paper program, the government had no clear and concrete plan on how to reduce the country's foreign debts.
She said the huge state budget allocation for repaying the debts had been made at the expense of development spending at home, and criticized the government for failing to negotiate with bilateral donors for a debt reduction facility.
"The Minister of Finance insists there is no other way to reduce debt stock other than to repay them, even though the House of Representatives has urged the government to reduce debt payment in the draft 2004 state budget by negotiating with donor countries."
If the debt payment burden could be reduced, the funds could be used to increase the development budget and routine budget, she added.
She mentioned that next year, the government must spend Rp 68 trillion in foreign debt principal and interest payments.
Another flaw in the program is the lack of an action plan for poverty alleviation.
Azas Tigor Nainggolan, coordinator of the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta), said the White Paper programs only copied poverty alleviation programs that had been widely criticized by the public, such as Rice for the Poor (Raskin), the Urban Poverty Alleviation Program (P2KP) and Social Safety Net (JPS).
"These programs have been known for their vulnerability to corruption and manipulation. And the government continues to support them," Tigor said.
INFID plans either to file a lawsuit against the government or file for a judicial review of the presidential decree with the Constitutional Court, if the government proceeded with the White Paper policy.