Opposition figures form anti-Habibie group

JAKARTA (JP): A group of retired generals and former officials yesterday declared the creation of the National Front, a forum intended to serve as a moral force and as an opposition group to President B.J. Habibie's administration.

Former commander of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command, Lt. Gen. (ret.) Kemal Idris, was elected the group's chairman, while former Golkar secretary-general Rachmat Witoelar was named its secretary-general.

Former minister of mines and energy and OPEC secretary-general Subroto read the group's statement, which stated that its reason d'etre was to strive to restore the people's sovereignty.

Kemal said he officially declared himself in opposition to Habibie, questioning the latter's legitimacy as president. Habibie succeeded former president Soeharto on May 21, seconds after the long-ruling leader stepped down from the presidency.

Kemal also criticized Habibie's acceptance of an additional US$7.9 billion in fresh aid pledged by donor countries, saying it would only burden the country.

Kemal said the National Front was calling on people to rely on their own economic resources to weather the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

The declaration was signed yesterday by Kemal and Subroto.

Kemal asserted that the National Front was not a political party and that it would not become one.

"We will support all political parties seeking total reform, (but) we clearly do not support Golkar," Kemal was quoted by Antara as saying.

Political observer Hermawan Sulistyo has reportedly called the National Front -- which shot into prominence in May as a loose group of Soeharto critics whose statements added to the pressure on Soeharto to resign -- a group of people disappointed in Golkar, which elected Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung as its new chairman over former Armed Forces chief Edi Sudradjat.

Commenting on the involvement of Golkar's Indra Bambang Utojo and Moestahid Astari in the group, Kemal said: "Those who join the National Front share a common vision. We should not worry about their past."

Present at the announcement held at Gedung Joang yesterday were former national police chief Hoegeng Iman Santoso, former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin, military analyst Lt. Gen. (ret.) Hasnan Habib and former commander of the Udayana Military Command Maj. Gen. (ret.) Theo Syafei.

Also attending and lending greater credence to the gathering was Megawati Soekarnoputri, the ousted chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party.

Other figures attending were former minister of environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, former minister of youth affairs and sports Hayono Isman, lawyer Dimyati Hartono and Golkar's Didit Haryadi.

Indra and Didit were among a number of people who refused to join Golkar's executive board last month. Indra was offered the position of deputy secretary-general, one of 13 such posts on the new board, and Didit was named as one of the six people in charge of setting up Golkar's strategy for the country's next general election.

Hundreds of local and foreign reporters covered the announcement yesterday.

Separately, an expert on Indonesia from the Australian National University, Marcus Mietzner, said the National Front's call on the people to oppose Habibie's government was an expression of "disappointment".

"It is an expression of disappointment and I am not surprised with it because I saw it coming a long time ago," Mietzner was quoted as saying by Antara yesterday in Jakarta.

Mietzner is a doctoral candidate at the university's Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. He is now carrying out research on the relationship between Moslems and ABRI.

Mietzner said that the retired generals in the group became further disappointed with the government when Edi Sudradjat was beaten by Tandjung in Golkar's leadership race last month.

"Therefore, they are trying to mobilize the people by calling on them to oppose Habibie's administration," Mietzner said.

He also did not rule out the possibility that a power struggle between Moslem-based movements and nationalists might return to the Indonesian political arena. (byg)