Reform leaders must unite: Emil

Reform leaders must unite: Emil

JAKARTA (JP): Economist Emil Salim, one of the leading figures
of the reform movement, has called on public figures who support
reform to put aside their differences and unite in pushing for
political change.

Unity would give them greater bargaining power in any
negotiations with the present government, Emil said in a
discussion on national political reconciliation yesterday.

Emil said these public leaders were the ones with real
political power by virtue of their influence over the people.
Those who were currently in the government only had "pseudo"
political power, he said.

"National political reconciliation will only be possible if
real political power is united," he said.

Among those he cited as having real political power were
Megawati Soekarnoputri, the ousted leader of the Indonesian
Democratic Party, Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Abdurrahman Wahid, and
Muhammadiyah chairman Amien Rais.

Emil was speaking at a discussion organized by Paramadinamulya
University. None of the five public figures invited to speak
turned up. They included Megawati, Armed Forces Chief of
Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
Nurcholish Madjid, the university's rector.

Emil said the bickering between people with real political
power would slow down the reform movement.

"How can they move forward toward national reconciliation with
the government and the Armed Forces if they continue bickering
among themselves?" he asked.

"It was the real political power which had the most influence
in forcing Pak Harto to step down," he said.

Emil cited as an example of the bickering the current row
between labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan and leaders of Moslem
organizations.

Muchtar earned the wrath of Moslem leaders after he suggested,
in interviews printed in the International Herald Tribune and
Ummat magazine, that Moslem groups were behind the bloody riots
in Jakarta.

Secretary-general of the Indonesian Council of Islamic
Propagation Husein Umar and chairman of the United Development
Party Ismail Hasan Metareum have since challenged Muchtar to
substantiate his allegations with evidence.

Political observer Dipo Alam, another speaker in the
discussion, said unity among reform leaders was an illusion.

"They will unite again when the threat of the return of
Soeharto and his supporters become real," said Dipo, "Otherwise,
they will continue to fight among themselves."

Emil, an economist by training who served in several of
Soeharto's governments, said the current economic crisis could
not be resolved unless the nation settled the political issues
first.

He said a general election should be held immediately.

"Only a president and an administration elected through an
open and fair general election will get the genuine support and
confidence of the people," he said.

All recent reform gestures by the government as well as the
efforts to secure the support of the International Monetary Fund,
failed to arrest the decline in the rupiah's exchange rate, he
noted. (imn)