Student plan to topple Habibie condemned

JAKARTA (JP): Politicians, religious leaders and observers expressed alarm at the weekend over the stated support of the National Front -- an association of retired generals, officials and ex-Golkar leaders -- for student activists' 40-day campaign to force President B.J. Habibie to resign.

At least three Islamic organizations, including the outspoken Indonesian Committee for World Moslem Solidarity (KISDI), have threatened to counter the planned daily student demonstrations (due to start on Monday Oct. 5) against Habibie with demonstrations of their own.

The second Islamic organization, the Indonesian United Ummah Party (PKUI), said it will mobilize its supporters "to intercept the masses supported by the National Front."

The third organization was the Institute for Truth and Justice, which called for all forces in the nation to counter the threat. It called the front a group of impatient people.

"If they succeed, do they think they won't be toppled by yet another group? When are we going to work together and lift ourselves out of the crisis?" chairman Adan Safaat said.

Amien Rais, the chairman of the National Mandate Party, was quoted by Antara as saying: "I condemn the threat of the National Front to (launch a campaign for) 40 days to subvert the legal government."

Addressing a gathering of the Muhammadiyah Moslem youth wing on Sunday, Amien questioned the National Front whose members "were missing when the campaign for reform started. Now, all of a sudden, they became reformers seeking to topple Habibie's administration."

He pointed out that Habibie's was a transitional government anyway, and its term would expire after it held the general election, and that a new, legitimate government would be established.

"The threat may lead to anarchy, especially if other parties then counter it with a similar use of the masses," he said.

The National Front, established on Aug. 6, is led by prominent figures such as Lt. Gen. (ret) Kemal Idris, and has, since its inception, declared itself to be a moral force and in opposition to Habibie.

Kemal said last week that the front was ready to support student activists grouped in the All Java Reform Movement, who said after their meeting in the West Java capital of Bandung on Friday they would mobilize people in demonstrations to force Habibie to step down because of his failure to end the crisis.

Moslem leader Jusuf Hasyim from Nahdlatul Ulama called on Kemal Idris and his colleagues not to "incite" the students. "As an elder and a retired (serviceman), please be wise in handling this situation, don't fan the flames that are the students," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

He said what Kemal Idris and colleagues were doing was "playing with fire in the middle of dry straw field."

"The (planned) mass movements are a (campaign) to take over the legitimate power by force," he said, adding that no antigovernment movement could succeed in developing countries unless it had the support of both the people and the military.

Political observer Mochtar Pabottingi of the National Institute of Sciences said he could not agree with the plan to stage massive protests to topple Habibie, saying they could create more problems.

Antara quoted Mochtar as saying that it would be better to give the government and the House of Representatives a chance to produce solid political laws.

Political observer Asma Affan of the Medan-based Sumatra Utara University was quoted by the news agency as saying: "the National Front's open support for (the planned demonstrations) is against the students' objective of moral and peaceful reform."

Asma said everybody was allowed to express their aspirations or political views.

"But such aspirations or views must be channeled through a constructive and effective means which would not endanger the whole nation and worsen the people's crisis-hit lives," she said. (swe)