Soeharto, Habibie must be given a chance: Amien

Soeharto, Habibie must be given a chance: Amien

JAKARTA (JP): Moslem leader Amien Rais called on the nation
yesterday to give Soeharto and B.J. Habibie a fair chance to end
the economic crisis after they are elected president and vice
president respectively next month.

Amien, who chairs the 28-million-strong Muhammadiyah
organization, urged the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) --
which elects the president and vice president -- to give them six
months before passing judgment on what they had achieved.

Soeharto's renomination for a seventh term in office and
Habibie's success in the vice presidential race are a forgone
conclusion after all five factions in the Assembly unanimously
backed them.

"The Assembly will surely reelect Pak Harto as president, with
Pak Habibie as vice president. People will certainly accept it
and so will I as a democrat," Amien, a self-proclaimed
presidential candidate told reporters.

Amien suggested that the next president and vice president
should relinquish their mandate given them by the people through
the Assembly if they fail to mend the battered economy.

"Then, we'll figure out the next step to take," he said after
addressing a fifth anniversary function at the Center for
Information and Development Studies (CIDES).

Founded on Jan. 25, 1993, CIDES is the think-tank of the
Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals chaired by
Habibie, who did not show up yesterday.

Amien's remarks were an elaboration of the statement he made
when addressing the function, in which he said: "... we'll have
to find another solution, should they (Soeharto-Habibie) fail to
solve the crisis in six months."

"This will be their chance for the government to make a good
ending," Amien said to the 800 guests attending the function.

Also addressing the gathering were CIDES Secretary-General Adi
Sasono and the vice chairman of the center's advisory board, Lt.
Gen. (ret) Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo.

Among the public figures attending yesterday's function were
former Jakarta governor Lt. Gen. (ret) Ali Sadikin, former state
oil company Pertamina president Lt. Gen. (ret) Ibnu Sutowo,
former state minister of environment Emil Salim, Armed Forces
Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Yunus Yosfiah and his
assistant Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Amien warned that failure to overcome the current economic
turmoil may result in political upheaval.

"So everyone would do well to watch closely what comes after
the General Session. If prices of basic foodstuffs continue to
soar, while people's purchasing power continues to weaken, people
will go hungry and become angry. This could spark an upheaval,"
he said.

Amien said the least the next government should do was to keep
prices of basic foodstuffs, such as rice, and fuel "as low as
possible".

When asked if he was pessimistic about the Soeharto-Habibie
ticket, Amien said: "I'm neutral. All I want to say is let's give
them a fair chance.

On his presidency bid, Amien said the chance was "almost nil",
but added that he would pursue the goal after the session,
referring to MPR's General Session that lasts from March 1
through March 11.

Sayidiman, in his scientific oration Reviewing the National
Development Paradigm: The Need for Sustainable Development,
underlined the fact that the current crisis showed that the
Indonesian economy was not as strong as the nation had claimed.

This, he said, was due to the government's inconsistent
approach to the economic management principles the New Order
government set out at its outset.

Weaknesses can also be found in human and societal development
as well as inadequate attention to political development, he
said.

"These manifest themselves in a weak sense of discipline, a
dysfunctional legal apparatus, widespread corruption, weak skills
and morality, excessive executive power and ineffective
supervision by the legislature." he said. (aan)