Observers decry state domination of siciety

Observers decry state domination of siciety

JAKARTA (JP): Political observers have expressed concern over
the wide gaps between social groups brought about by national
development. They have blamed the differences in wealth, among
other things, on the state's dominant role in political decision
making.

In a seminar on the achievements of the current New Order
government on Wednesday, prominent speakers, including State
Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tanjung and Armed Forces chief
of sociopolitical affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, agreed that
challenges abound for the 30-year old administration.

"One of the problems is the state's dominant position over the
people," Akbar, who is also a former activist in the 1960s, was
quoted by Antara as saying.

Many of the public's potential contributions have yet to be
developed, so that the state and its apparatus take over most
development initiatives, he said.

Syarwan pointed out that Indonesia's political system, which
is built on the state ideology Pancasila, has yet to function
effectively.

Other speakers, Soerjadi, of the nationalist Indonesian
Democratic Party, and Yusuf Syakir of the Moslem-based United
Development Party (PPP), also decried the state's domination over
its people.

"In many ways, our people are still dependent on the state's
power, such as the Armed Forces," Yusuf said.

"Our people's political rights are not what they should be ...
because our political education is elitist in nature," Soerjadi
said. Leadership in society is monopolized by the well-connected
and so common people have little opportunity to reach positions
of importance, he explained.

Speakers at the seminar also included constitutional law
expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Fahmi Idris of the ruling Golkar
organization. Yusril, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia's
Law School, agreed that the people's decision-making role in the
sphere of national development is still limited.

"This is why many decisions taken by those in power are not
based on the wishes or needs of the people," Yusril said.

In the seminar's opening address, Akbar also spoke of gaps in
regions' readiness to develop. "There are regions where people
are more ready to develop and whose progress into various new
stages of development occurs without upheavals," he said.

"These regions often develop faster and leave others behind,"
he said.

Development programs imposed on regions whose people are not
yet ready may result in harmful upheavals and stunted progress,
he said.

"The fruits of the national development program have not been
distributed evenly either," he said. "There are gaps among
sectors, regions or groups...there are social and economic
disparities which persist even now."

"The problem is so basic that every layer in society has
agreed to consider social and economic disparity as a threat to
national integrity," he said. "Unless handled well, this could
prove to be fatal for national unity." (swe)