The message for Habibie

More harm than good. This, in a nutshell, is the restrained but nonetheless unequivocal official view of this week's student demonstrations in front of the nation's legislature in Jakarta. Of course, a more positive opinion can hardly be expected from these quarters. After all, the students' demands -- lower prices of essential commodities, President B.J. Habibie's resignation and his replacement by a national committee -- amount to no less than a motion of no-confidence in the government.

To be fair, lowering the prices of the increasingly scarce essential commodities to affordable levels amid the present economic and political disorder would have been a gigantic task for anyone to accomplish in the less-than-four-months that the Habibie administration has been in office. What is perhaps indicative of the nation's general mood at present, however, is the cool public response which the student protesters seemed to have received in Jakarta, at least for now.

The fact is that there is no question that for the large majority of Indonesians, many of whom are already forced to lead a hand-to-mouth existence with no solution to their day-to-day problems in sight, the provision of food at reasonable prices is by far the most urgent priority. In this respect, the official argument that economic considerations must come first is hard to refute.

It is wrong, however, to assume that students, in their more elevated status, are unaware of this situation. Many students, in fact, live in precisely the same conditions as their less well- educated compatriots. In order to be able to pursue their studies, many students must now already rely on food or financial assistance provided by their universities or university staff. Moreover, official figures show that the student drop-out rate is sharply increasing.

What the debate is actually about is the difference in the way students and most other Indonesians perceive the situation. At the core of this debate is the old vicious circle of what must come first, political reform or economic improvement. The fact is that one cannot be accomplished without the other. The answer to the question whether further student protests would be beneficial or otherwise to the nation, then, depends on the side from which one prefers to look at the problem.

Viewed from this perspective, the core of the message which these most recent student demonstrations convey is that the students -- like many other Indonesian intellectuals -- have no faith in the Habibie government's ability, or even its desire, to introduce the democratic reforms that, in their eyes, are essential to lead the country and the nation toward a future that is significantly better than the past. To them, the government is clearly dragging its feet in fulfilling its promise to bring about meaningful reform.

What, for example, has happened to the drafting of the new political laws that the government promised would usher in a more democratic system of governance in this country? What has happened to the government's stated intention to stamp out corruption and establish equal justice for all? Months-old calls for the government to bring about a national reconciliation are only now being responded to by announcing plans to establish a reconciliation committee. Meanwhile many political prisoners remain in prison and the government appears to be taking sides in internal political party disputes. Restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression are being reimposed and cabinet ministers are being appointed to key legislative positions.

In all fairness it must be said that compared to the situation that existed under the old New Order regime of former president Soeharto, significant improvements with respect to democratization and the observation of human rights have been made. Still, too many of the old wrongs remain uncorrected. It is true that massive student demonstrations at this point could sidetrack the Habibie government's efforts to introduce improvements. On the other hand, the students' and intellectuals' fears that the current efforts at democratization might slow down or even become stagnant appear justified. The message that all this conveys is that Habibie must accelerate reform and pay greater attention to his critics' demands if chaos is to be averted.