Reform movement must be restarted, say observers

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)