Political researchers call for new president
Political researchers call for new president
JAKARTA (JP): Nineteen political researchers affiliated with
the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) called on the nation
yesterday to elect a new president for the sake of much needed
political and economic reforms.
The scientists said in a joint statement that new national
leadership would help the country heal its economy and restore
its pride.
"We are facing more than just an economic crisis, (it is also)
a crisis of dignity... with many workers having their wages cut
so that they cannot afford to maintain their pride as people of a
country self-sufficient in rice," the statement said.
Their call was made a few hours after incumbent President
Soeharto officially accepted his renomination for a seventh five-
year term in office, put forward by the ruling Golkar.
The group also criticized the government for only pledging to
undertake austerity measures and economic reform after consulting
with the International Monetary Fund and receiving a US$43
billion rescue package.
"The government trusts foreign ideas more than national
resources, despite the fact that we have long been demanding some
of the IMF concepts.
"This administration has turned a blind eye and closed its
conscience to what people say, and it behaves as if nothing bad
has happened. They (officials) always respond to any ideas
outside their circle with suspicion, rather than becoming
enthusiastic about increased public participation," it said.
They were skeptical about the IMF-sponsored severe economic
measures working.
They said that these measures would only deal the people a
severe blow because price hikes would follow the termination of a
fuel subsidy starting April.
"People know that none of the (reform) measures will restore
their confidence, because the crisis is the result of the greed
of a small group of people close to the power holders," one of
the scientists, Ikrar Nusa Bakti, said.
Ikrar said he and his colleagues had assessed all the risks
they might face for voicing their opinions.
"This is a moral drive, which is far from having any vested
interest. We are prepared to take the risk, including facing
administrative sanctions from the institution we work for," he
said.
The scientists are members of the civil servants corps and,
therefore, are required to affiliate with the dominant political
organization Golkar.
Another scientist, Hermawan Sulistyo, said top executives of
the institute knew about, and deplored their critical joint
statement.
Hermawan said some other colleagues had initially agreed to
join them, but had withdrawn for various reasons.
He refused to identify these scientists.
He said the group would not campaign for an alternative
candidate to run for president.
"We are not partisans who favor certain figures," he said.
(amd)