Proreform parties warned of potential dissension

SURABAYA (JP): An expert warned proreform political parties on Saturday of potential dissension and even a collapse of the next administration if they coalesced merely for the sake of blocking the status quo forces from power.

Suwoto Mulyosudarmo, a new professor of constitutional law at Airlangga University, said the next government would be particularly vulnerable to dissension and failure because the proreform parties -- which were expected to win the polls -- joined forces only because they were forced to unite against the status quo.

"Such a weak coalition is a consequence of the absence of a single majority winner in the elections. Therefore, parties are being forced to form a coalition government," Suwoto said in an oration marking his inauguration as a new professor.

Also attending the ceremony were renowned law professors Loebby Loqman and Erman Radjagukguk, both from the University of Indonesia in Jakarta.

According to provisional election results on Sunday at the General Elections Commission, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) has won 135 seats at the House of Representatives, the ruling Golkar Party 98 seats, the National Awakening Party (PKB) 42 seats, the United Development Party (PPP) 35 seats and the National Mandate Party (PAN) 20 seats.

Abdurrahman Wahid, a cofounder of PKB, PAN chairman Amien Rais and PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri signed a joint communique to keep President B.J. Habibie, named by Golkar as its presidential candidate, from returning to power.

Suwoto said a coalition should be based on shared ideals, platforms and vision; only thus can a strong coalition government be formed.

In another part of his address, Suwoto said Habibie's transitional government had not been serious in investigating the allegation of corruption, collusion and nepotism involving former president Soeharto, his family and cronies.

Habibie was mandated by the 1998 Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to undertake measures to ensure a clean government, including by investigating Soeharto.

Suwoto said Habibie would have to answer to the upcoming MPR General Session if by that time Soeharto had not been legally named a corruption suspect.

The law expert, however, acknowledged that it would be easy for Habibie to skirt around the truth by merely saying that an investigation had been launched but not enough evidence had been amassed to bring Soeharto to court.

Suwoto also called on the government and the House to revise a 1999 government regulation that bars civil servants from being involved in politics, saying the stipulation was a violation of human rights.

Separately, in Semarang, political observer Novel Ali from Diponegoro University criticized some PDI Perjuangan supporters' display of support for Megawati Soekarnoputri by collecting thumb prints in blood. The "political mystification" act was against democratization, he said on Sunday.

He pleaded for Megawati's supporters to discontinue the campaign.

PDI Perjuangan's supporters in Surabaya and Semarang recently started a collection of their thumb prints in blood, and planned to hold the campaign up to a week before the presidential election. They justified the act as a counter against what they believed was a campaign to prevent Megawati from becoming the next president; this, however, incited her opponents to threaten to "spill some blood, too".

Novel warned that the presidency was not a supernatural position.

He also urged Megawati to "come out of hiding" and announce what her party planned to do when the time came to form a coalition government.

"If she remains silent and fails to make initiatives, she will create (adverse) speculation that could impede democratization," he said.(nur/har/rms)