Petisi 50 criticizes Soeharto's speech

JAKARTA (JP): The Petisi 50 group of noted government critics urged the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) yesterday to reject President Soeharto's accountability speech and beseeched them not to reelect the 76-year-old president.

"It's not only because he (Soeharto) has failed to make himself truly accountable for things which should be delineated, but also because he has been in the post for more than two terms," the group said in a statement.

According to the highly vocal group which comprises many former senior government and military figures, Sunday's accountability address should have been delivered to the 1992/1997 Assembly, not the 1998/2004 one, since it was the former congress that gave him the presidential mandate.

The group also disparaged the content of the speech because it failed to answer various issues concerning state governance over the past five years.

Instead, the group said in its statement, the speech resembled more of a technical explanation of government activities.

They contended that the speech should have accounted for and explained what they claimed to be abuses of power as a result of corruption, collusion, nepotism and monopolies.

"Given these considerations, President Soeharto's accountability speech of March 1 cannot be considered an accountability address but instead only an official technical explanation," the statement said.

On account of this, the Petisi 50 asked the Assembly to establish a special commission to examine the omitted elements of Soeharto's speech.

Petisi 50 was formed in May 1980 by 50 prominent figures, include several of President Soeharto's own peers from various services of the Armed Forces.

Even though many of the original siganitories have passed away, the remaining members are still outspoken in their opinions of the government.

In yesterday's statement, the group suggested that given his age, incumbent Soeharto should be noble and say that he did not wish to be renominated for a seventh consecutive term.

Soeharto has held the presidency since 1968.

Among the Petisi 50 members who signed yesterday's petition were former governor of Jakarta Lt. Gen. (ret) Ali Sadikin, former police chief Gen. (ret) Hoegeng Iman Santoso and former student activist Chris Siner Key Timu.

This is not the first public call for the Assembly to reject President Soeharto's speech.

A day earlier 20 representatives from the University of Indonesia presented a similar petition to Assembly members.

However, these calls seem to be more or less unheeded as the Assembly's Commission C in charge of deliberating the president's accountability endorsed yesterday Soeharto's address leaving the way open for the Assembly to formally accept the speech in a plenary session on Monday. (swa)