Siding with the people

President Soeharto stated that the implementation of the Bogor Declaration (on the adoption of free trade by the year 2020) will not disregard Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution.

The same perception, in a different form, was stated by the Minister for National Development Planning/Chairman of the National Development Planning Board, Ginandjar Kartasasmita, during a ceremony commemorating the 45th anniversary of Gadjah Mada University on Tuesday, Dec. 20. According to Ginanjar, all the talk about globalization and economic liberalization should not make us forget our national goals as charted by the Constitution.

"Our real problem is to make sure that the benefits of economic liberalization will reach the public and can be distributed among them equitably," Ginanjar said. To achieve that, he said, it is of the utmost importance that we side with the people. To do so, a clear-cut and well-aimed strategy as well as legislative products designed to look after the needs of the public are needed.

Advanced countries have already developed a system that protects the rights of the poor -- by generating anti-monopoly laws and devising social welfare plans. Indonesians should not delay outlining a legislation plan, in whatever form, to ensure that we side with the poor.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta