Student plan to topple Habibie condemned

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)