Opposition figures form anti-Habibie group

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)