Opposition leaders' meeting welcomed as rare opportunity

Opposition leaders' meeting welcomed as rare opportunity

JAKARTA (JP): A declaration drawn up by four popular figures
on Tuesday was well received by political observers on Wednesday
as a rare opportunity to build an alternative national
leadership.

Marsilam Simanjutak and Arbi Sanit separately said that the
meeting involving Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarnoputri,
Amien Rais and Sultan Hamengkubuwono X at Abdurrahman's residence
in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, was much more important than the
declaration itself.

"It is acceptable for the meantime, because if it is rejected
the potential for alternative leadership would be crippled," Arbi
told The Jakarta Post. Even though he disagreed with a point in
the declaration to gradually phase out the Armed Forces' (ABRI)
dual role within six years, he said he was willing to compromise
if the figures continued to cooperate and follow up on the
document, given the failure of civilian leaders to come forward
during decades of repression.

However, 14 new political parties rejected the declaration,
saying the figures had indirectly cast their weight behind the
Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly whose
members were appointed by former president Soeharto.

Among the 14 were the New Masyumi Party, Christian Democratic
Party, Catholic Political Party,Indonesian Uni-democracy Party
(PUDI), Indonesian Workers Party and People's Economy Party
(PERI).

New Masyumi chairman Ridwan Saidi said, on behalf of the
political parties, that the parties sided with students who
opposed the general election and would fight with the students
for total reform in all fields.

"We cannot accept (President) B.J. Habibie's administration as
a transitional government and the current legislative bodies
because they are part of Soeharto's corrupt regime, and they have
no commitment to investigate the allegation of rampant
corruption, collusion and nepotism during the 32-year New Order
administration," Ridwan said.

PUDI chairman Sri Bintang Pamungkas and, separately, Ratna
Sarumpaet of the National Coalition, said the dialog was not
representative of society.

"If they claim to represent the people, all components in
society, including new political parties, should be invited to
the dialog," he said. The Coalition also rejects the current
government, which Ratna said was at odds with the declaration.
Ratna organized a "People's Special Session" with students on
Wednesday in opposition of the Assembly's session.

Besides demanding the gradual phasing out of ABRI's dual role,
the eight-point appeal call for the maintenance of the unitary
state, to return national sovereignty to the people,
decentralization, a new government within three months of the May
elections, an investigation into corrupt practices, and the
appeal to withdraw civilian security volunteers.

Marsilam said the document was of secondary importance given
the rare meeting of the figures with diverse views, and the
wording of the document which he said was open to many
interpretations, compared to the students' clear cut demands.

Regarding the point on ABRI, Marsilam said, "What I can
understand from their way of thinking that in six years, starting
today (Tuesday), the dual role is to be gradually eliminated
until it is completely abolished, at the most within six years,"
Marsilam said. "So this would include the demand of the students
that ABRI should not be apportioned seats in the parliament."

Because ABRI's seats in the legislature is only part of the
dual function, removing them would be the first step to meet the
six-year time frame, he said.

This would necessitate the deletion of the part of the draft
decree on elections that justifies ABRI's seats in the
legislative body, he said.

Marsilam said that because public support for the national
figures was only based on their personality and position, the
document itself would need to be worked on further by the four
figures for it to provide effective leadership in the crisis.

"If not it will only be hollow," Marsilam said. "If not
simultaneously filled with enough energy to apply pressure, it
will vanish." Sufficient pressure would only come from students,
he added.

In Yogyakarta, Cornelis Lay said the Ciganjur Declaration
"should be accommodated by the government" as it is a "maximum
compromise" to bridge the government's demands and those of the
public.

The rector of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, Ichlasul
Amal, said the Ciganjur forum should be widened to include
political parties and draw up rules for fair elections.

Arbi said the declaration was a compromise between the wide
gap of the decrees prepared in the Working Committee of the
Assembly and the wishes of the public including students, who
wanted a transitional presidium and immediate end to ABRI's dual
role.

"So the declaration was a middle way, with the four leaders
giving an opportunity to save face for members of the Working
Committee who since the beginning would not agree to much
change," he said.

Arbi said the four leaders were compromising over ABRI "only
because ABRI is insistent" on maintaining its dual role such as
its seats in legislative bodies.

On Monday Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces
Commander Gen. Wiranto announced that the post of ABRI chief of
sociopolitical affairs would be expanded to a new position, the
Armed Forces Chief of Territorial Affairs. Wiranto did not say
when this change would be effective, only saying that it would
mean that military members would either have to retire or quit
ABRI if they entered civilian jobs. But the policy did not relate
to the Armed Forces seats in the legislature, he said.

Marsilam added the government's response to the declaration,
which was "a confrontation to the interests of those in power"
was irrelevant. "This declaration should function as an
expression of the will of (the four figures) to respond to the
demands of people, and it should not be left as a mere
declaration." (rms/23/anr)