Opinions divided on Soeharto's reform offer

JAKARTA (JP): Opinions on President Soeharto's offer to reform were divided between acceptance without reservation, acceptance with conditions, and outright rejection yesterday.

Supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri in the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) backed Soeharto's offer for a new general election, but said it must be held within the next three months.

Leaders of the unrecognized PDI executive board said Megawati should be immediately reinstated as the rightful leader of the party to strengthen their electioneering hand.

Megawati herself has yet to give a direct response to Soeharto's proposals and has maintained silence throughout the recent political upheaval.

The daughter of former president Sukarno was ousted from the PDI leadership in 1996 in a government-engineered maneuver. She was also sidelined from the 1997 general election and the March meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

The PDI research and development center issued a statement yesterday signed by Kwik Kian Gie, Mochtar Buchori, Tarto Sudiro, Sukowaluyo Mintorahardjo, Imam Kadri Suprakto, Subagio Anam and SGB Tampubolon.

They said Megawati should be included in the Committee for Reform which Soeharto proposed on Tuesday.

The committee's task should be limited to conducting reviews of three critical areas: electoral law, the law on political parties and legislation covering the House of Representatives and the MPR.

This would allow the general election to take place in two or three months, the statement said, adding that the PDI should be led by Megawati not Soerjadi, the government-recognized PDI chairman.

Kwik added that Megawati intended to run for the presidency.

They dismissed the idea of convening a special session of the MPR, as demanded by many pro-reform activists.

They said that based on the evidence of the 1997 general election, the MPR was "legally and morally" defective and therefore had no legitimacy.

The Presidium for National Reformation Movement, led by former economic minister Subroto and Dimyati Hartomo, rejected Soeharto's proposal and insisted that the MPR convene to remove the President from office, as demanded by students.

"The source of the present crisis is the lack of trust in the government led by President Soeharto," the presidium said in a statement.

Only the MPR has the constitutional power to call an early election. "If President Soeharto's proposal is carried out, that in itself is a violation of the constitution."

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Soeharto's proposed committee for reform and cabinet reshuffle should be capable of restoring the domestic and international confidence required to enable reform to proceed with the desired effect.

The chamber hoped the President genuinely understood the people's desire for total reform, and said that if he did, he could still leave behind a name and legacy that would long be remembered by the people of this country.

Gakari, an subsidiary organization of Golkar, supported the plan to set up a reform committee, which it hoped would accommodate all of society's aspirations for reform.

The Coalition of Indonesian Women for Justice and Democracy rejected "Reform Soeharto Style" and called for his immediate resignation.

It also demanded the trial of Soeharto, his family and his entourage of sycophants.

The coalition criticized Abdurrahman Wahid, Emha Ainun Najib, Nurcholish Madjid and Amien Rais for being "too willing to compromise", and for monitoring the situation from a safe distance in an air-conditioned room.

It denounced the meeting Soeharto held with nine community leaders, who were all Moslem and all men.

The Academic Community of the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) in Jakarta rejected Soeharto's proposal to hold an election soon because it effectively meant that he was disbanding the current House of Representatives.

It called on the MPR to convene and remove the President and Vice President and elect replacements.

The Academic Community of the National University in Jakarta said Soeharto's proposals would only worsen the situation and demanded that both the President and Vice President stand down.

It suggested that the MPR should convene shortly after their resignation to elect successors to carry out reform.

A coalition of six human rights groups said Soeharto's decision to lead the reform program was "a fundamental mistake" because the national crises, in particular the crises of legitimacy and confidence, could be traced back to President Soeharto and the entire national leadership structure.

Establishing a reform committee is in violation of the constitution because the committee will come to rival existing institutions such as the House of Representatives, the coalition led by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation said.

The other five bodies aligned in the coalition are the Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), the Committee for Missing People and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the People's Democratic Alliance (Aldera), the Indonesian Journalists Alliance (AJI) and the Association of Indonesian Advocates (AAI).

They suggested that the MPR convene to remove the President and Vice President, and form a transitional government and provisional House of Representatives.

The transitional government should then work to organize a new election.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) rejected Soeharto's proposals, saying his government no longer had the moral and political legitimacy to rule. However, his government does still have legal legitimacy and the MPR should convene in a special session to take this back as soon as possible, the organization said.

The Indonesian Legal and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said the public should not get caught up in political euphoria following Soeharto's offer and his attempt to seize the initiative on reform.

It called on the public to rally behind students who are insisting that a change in the national leadership is a prerequisite to democratization in Indonesia.

The Indonesian Nationalist Student Movement (GMNI) rejected Soeharto's offer and said both the President and Vice President should resign and make way for a transitional leadership formed by a meeting of the MPR.

Professors and staff lecturers from the School of Social and Political Sciences at Pasundan University in Bandung rejected Soeharto's proposal to establish a reform committee, saying that it overlapped with the existing legislative body and that it was simply an attempt to divert pressure for him to resign.

In a statement, the lecturers said they fully supported the student struggle for "peaceful reformation" and lamented Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid's statement calling on students to stop protesting.

Twelve professors from Padjadjaran University in Bandung said the crisis engulfing the country has its roots in a crisis of confidence in President Soeharto's leadership.

Establishing a reform committee will not solve the problem and is an unconstitutional move.

The proposal diverts public attention from the national crisis and has the potential to divide the nation.

They called on the MPR to convene and take back the mandate given to President Soeharto in March as soon as possible. It also called on the MPR to bring him to account for the present crisis.

The Forum for Communication, made up of students, alumni and lecturers from Perbanas Institute, questioned the independence of members of the reform committee and the process by which they would be selected.

They also questioned the relevance of the House of Representatives and the MPR after the new committee has been established.