Pakpahan disappointed with Soeharto's MPR speech

JAKARTA (JP): Jailed labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan expressed his disappointment yesterday with President Soeharto's accountability speech which he said neglected labor problems over the past five years.

Pakpahan, who called a media briefing at Cikini Hospital where he has been treated for various ailments for the past year, said the account gave neither a substantive portrayal of the nationwide labor strife nor any guidelines for the campaign to improve workers' welfare.

He attributed the neglect to the paradigm upon which the New Order administration was built, which he said did not provide adequate space for labor issues.

The chairman of the unrecognized Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union pointed to various social and economic ills resulting from development policies that placed undue emphasis on growth at the expense of equity.

Under such policies, capital and technology dominated while workers became mere accessories, he said.

Pakpahan also lashed out at the government for depoliticizing workers, leading to their poor bargaining position. "Workers have not been given the freedom to assemble, to discuss and express opinions.

"They have become the sacrifice of development. When development went well, they were poorly paid, and when development faltered, they became the first victims," he said.

Pakpahan demanded that the People's Consultative Assembly and the government restore workers' political rights and include them in economic decision-making.

"Subsidize the purchase of basic commodities for workers, especially those who have lost their jobs in the economic crisis," he said. "Project the International Monetary Fund and World Bank assistance for labor-intensive projects involving labor unions.

"Stop layoffs, reduce prices, and increase workers' wages in accordance with the inflation rate over the past two months," he demanded.

The government said on Monday that monthly inflation in February was at its highest in more than three decades.

Pakpahan, 43, is serving a four-year sentence for inciting riots but was admitted to hospital last March suffering from a number of illnesses. He also faces charges of subversion in connection with riots in Jakarta in July 1996 which erupted in the aftermath of the government-sponsored ouster of the Indonesian Democratic Party leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Subversion carries the death penalty in Indonesia.

Pakpahan also said yesterday he had requested government permission to be allowed to travel overseas for the removal of a tumor in his lung. If permission is refused, Pakpahan will have to return to his prison cell by the end of the month.

The government has so far refused to allow him to leave the country, saying his illness is not fatal. However, the government did approve the sending of a medical team and equipment from Canada to help Pakpahan late last year.

In the East Java capital of Surabaya, it was reported that a poll found that more than half of the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology students rejected President Soeharto's accountability speech.

Poll organizer Ja'far Amiruddin, also the chairman of the institute's student senate, said questionnaires were distributed to the 5,000 students and 2,989 were returned.

"Soeharto's accountability report was rejected by 53.05 percent of the students (who answered the questionnaire)," Ja'far noted.

The President presented his accountability report to the People's Consultative Assembly on Sunday. Four of the five factions in the Assembly have already responded positively to it.

Ja'far could not elaborate on the reasons for the students' rejection of the report because they were only asked to express their approval or disapproval. (nur/byg/swe/prb)