No place for opposition: Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has dismissed the proposal that opposition parties be recognized in Indonesian politics, saying the notion is inconsistent with the values contained in the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.

As quoted by State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita, Soeharto said yesterday that, while he was open to any new proposal, he could not accept nor would he endorse the call for the establishment of opposition parties.

The Indonesian state is based on familial ties, Soeharto said, as quoted by Ginandjar. "The spirit of consensus through deliberations (musyawarah mufakat) precludes the existence of opposition," the President said.

Consensus through deliberations is the fourth point of the five-principle Pancasila.

Noted Moslem scholar Nurcholish Madjid suggested earlier this week that the two minority parties -- the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- be recognized as opposition parties rather than as "partners" of the government.

Nurcholish said opposition parties would make the checks-and- balances mechanism in Indonesian politics more effective and therefore could ensure cleaner governance.

Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. rejected the proposal on Wednesday, saying that the current political structure has been effective and that there is no need to change it.

Of the two minority parties, the PPP has accepted the role of partner of the government more readily than the PDI, which on several occasions has tried to form a "shadow cabinet," only to incur the government's wrath.

The combined strength of the two parties pales in comparison with that of the mighty Golkar, the dominant political organization in the House of Representatives.

Soeharto spoke on the issue of opposition parties while meeting with leaders of the Association of Indonesian Engineers at the Bina Graha presidential office.

According to Ginandjar, who was present at the meeting, the President criticized many Indonesian political and economic "experts," "observers" and "analysts" for looking at the political and economic development in Indonesia using alien perspectives rather than through "Indonesian spectacles."

"They find that what we've been doing is wrong because they judge things using alien systems," Soeharto was quoted as saying.

"So, he (the President) said, that these so-called experts, observers and the others, should look up the State Policy Guidelines and the (government's) Five-Year Plan," Ginandjar said.

"Some of them (the so-called experts) are insisting that we lack perception and planning. They should read (those documents) first before airing their opinions. The President appealed: Let's all go back to our real identity," Ginandjar added.

On the economy, Soeharto spoke on the concern expressed by some experts over the growing strength of the private business sector. As quoted by Ginandjar, the President said that those people feared that the government was losing its grip on the economy or that Indonesia was moving towards capitalism.

"He said there is no need to fear," Ginandjar said, adding that the President underlined that Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution both already preclude such an eventuality.

The President cited Article 33 of the Constitution, which states that the government not only controls, but also manages economic sectors and resources that affect the livelihood of the mass of the people. (emb)

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