Reform movement must be restarted, say observers
JAKARTA (JP): Observers have expressed concern that the campaign for reform has stagnated and are calling on people to take a break from their routines in order to once again set the wheels of democratization in motion.
Political analysts Arbi Sanit, Hermawan Sulistyo and Nurcholish Madjid, along with Moslem leader Cholil Bisri and constitutional law expert Ismail Suny explored measures that could be taken to restart the reform movement in a discussion on Saturday. Most of the speakers in the discussion organized by book publisher Mizan and American oil company Arco agreed that the new government under President B.J. Habibie had yet to show it was better than former president Soeharto's regime.
"I noticed that fervor for reform only occurred during the first week after Soeharto announced his resignation," Arbi said.
"Then I noticed (Habibie's) government and the Armed Forces (ABRI) began to defend Soeharto in the following weeks," he said.
Under strong pressure from reformists, Soeharto announced his resignation on May 21 and appointed Habibie as his successor.
Arbi, a lecturer in the University of Indonesia School of Social and Political Sciences, described how the Armed Forces and the government issued statements defending Soeharto's grounds for resignation in the second and third weeks after he stepped down, then turned their backs on reform in the fourth week.
"The government has even issued an 'anti' demonstration decree to 'calm' the people down," he said.
"All this proves that ABRI and the government have gone against the spirit of reform and are continuing in the old ways of Soeharto."
Justice minister Muladi said on Friday that President Habibie had signed a government regulation in lieu of a law on freedom of expression that sets out conditions for street demonstrations.
Hermawan said the drive for reform must not stop just because the old government was replaced by a new one.
"Political transformation has never been a one-stop process... reform has now been started, but there should be follow-up measures," he said.
"The process of reform in the Philippines did not stop when Ferdinand Marcos was deposed from the presidency in 1986. It is still going on," he said.
"Similarly, reform in Russia did not stop when then-president Mikhail Gorbachev introduced perestroika (democratization) and glasnost (openness) in 1987," he added.
Separately, Nurcholish said Habibie's administration should be considered transitional in nature until a new government of the people's choice was established.
"The (current) government is still finding it difficult to win the people's confidence. A legitimate government should therefore be elected by the people," Nurcholish told reporters during the lunch break at the seminar.
Council
Meanwhile, Arbi suggested the establishment of a reform council to replace Habibie's administration until the general election has been held.
Among other measures which he suggested to keep reform rolling was the establishment of a system which recognized a ruling party and an opposition party.
"The opposition party can then act as a check on the ruling party," he said.
He said the presidency should be limited to a maximum of two terms in office and urged that the legislative, executive and judicial branches of power be separated.
Arbi also called on the Armed Forces to leave the House of Representatives (DPR) and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
"ABRI's seats in the DPR and the MPR should be given to minority groups, such as the Kubu tribe who live in the forest in Jambi province and have never been represented in the two legislative bodies," he said. (imn)