PPP finally accepts Soeharto's speech

PPP finally accepts Soeharto's speech

JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) accepted
President Soeharto's leadership accountability speech yesterday
but denied it had buckled under pressure from the two most
powerful factions to do so.

"The PPP faction in the Assembly can accept the President's
speech of accountability," party spokesman Chosin Chumaidy said
in a plenary session.

PPP leaders said they announced their stand three days earlier
than promised because the Assembly's internal rules require every
faction to state their stand at the preliminary meeting.

"There was no pressure from any outside party," said Jusuf
Syakir, PPP faction chief in the 1,000-strong Assembly, after the
meeting.

He denied accusations that the Moslem-oriented party, which
has 134 Assembly members, had broken its promise to maintain its
tough stance on the President's leadership accountability speech.

PPP enjoyed flattering publicity after it was the only faction
in the People's Consultative Assembly which dared to withhold its
approval of the speech Soeharto delivered Sunday.

But the decision provoked sharp reactions from the dominant
government-backed Golkar and the powerful ABRI factions.

These included charges that PPP had been inconsistent with its
decision to renominate Soeharto. The two government factions said
the minority party could not renominate the President but not
accept his speech.

Politicians from the two government factions also said that
PPP was deliberately viewing the President's 2,000-page report
from a negative point of view.

The other four factions, Golkar, the Armed Forces (ABRI), the
regional representatives and the Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI) all reaffirmed their acceptance yesterday.

Unlike other factions, PPP did not include the word wholly
after the word accept.

But PPP, the second largest political organization after
Golkar, remained critical of the speech, saying that Soeharto
failed to clearly account for countless failures and
discrepancies that led to the current crisis.

Usamah Hisyam, a PPP legislator, said his party was only
trying to be honest when it launched its criticism of the New
Order government's failures that the President did not mention.

"President Soeharto has often said he has no objection to
being criticized as long as it is constructive. I don't
understand why people made so much fuss about it," he said.

Observers say that the PPP's delayed acceptance of the
President's speech was only a trick to steal some publicity
because the party had decided long ago to renominate Soeharto.

In its views presented to yesterday's plenary session, PPP
praised Soeharto for his ability to carry out his constitutional
duties.

"The President has proven his loyalty to the Constitution and
given his leadership accountability before the Assembly, the
respected highest law-making body," Chozin said.

Among Soeharto's successes PPP highlighted was his success in
reducing the number of Indonesians living in absolute poverty to
22.5 million in 1996 from 70 million in 1970.

In the current sixth Five-Year Development Plan, that ends
this month, the PPP noted that under the Soeharto government, the
economy grew by an average of 7.1 percent a year, the population
by 1.5 percent, per capita income exceeded $1,000 and annual
inflation was 5.2 percent before the economic crisis started last
July.

But the party noted the widening economic disparity, worsening
corruption in the bureaucracy and the concentration of corporate
wealth in the hands of a privileged few.

The party warned that the economic crisis was a turning point
in the country's efforts to build a strong economic base.

It repeated its demand for political reforms and a bigger
budget for education, which now stands at 3.2 percent of the
country's Gross Domestic Product compared to Malaysia's 5.3
percent and Singapore's 4.8 percent. (pan/imn)