Soeharto's 'New Order' merely hibernating

Even though some government functionaries have been replaced, without a change in the system that (former president) Soeharto created, the old culture of corruption, collusion and nepotism is sure to reappear.

Monitoring and activities by independent non-governmental organizations need to be institutionalized. At the same time, the national legislature must be turned into a genuine institution of the people, by the people and for the people through free and fair elections.

We must not be hasty in assuming that the old Soeharto regime is dead. The statements that are made and the political strategies followed by most high-ranking officials of the current Habibie administration -- both civilian and military -- appear highly inclined to reinstate the old political and economic systems adopted under Soeharto.

It could be that those high-ranking state officials and Golkar functionaries in question are unaware of all this. However, the drift is unmistakable to the public. Some people even assert that the Soeharto regime is not actually dead -- it is merely hibernating.

-- Merdeka, Jakarta