Total reform is just that
Total reform is just that
In an effort to implement reform, the Habibie administration
and the House of Representatives have agreed not to hold a
general election until next year. According to their schedule,
the legislature needs six months to revamp the existing political
laws, which will serve as a basis for the change. New Minister of
Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid has said that his ministry needs three
to four months to draft the amendments to the laws before they
can be submitted to the House.
After this more time will be needed to publicize the new
political system and prepare for the polls and establishment of
the new House and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). The
latter, the country's highest constitutional authority, will
eventually elect a new president and vice president.
Amid these activities, we are witnessing more and more groups
reminding the authorities and their supporters that the only way
to heal the nation's multidimensional crisis is total reform,
including the election of a new president. They say that
Soeharto's departure and his replacement by B. J. Habibie only
changes the make up of the administration and not the repressive
system.
If this is left as it is, they say, it will be impossible for
the authorities to regain the people's trust. The current
situation will only lead to a new status quo, continue the
dangerous political uncertainty, worsen the calamitous economic
conditions and prolong the people's suffering.
We have also learned that Western powers will only come to
help salvage us if they can see genuine political stability here.
We are also of the opinion that the authorities should not
jump to hasty conclusions that their efforts, such as the release
of political prisoners and a promise of press freedom, will
satisfy the public's demands for total reform. We need to remind
them of this because there are tendencies among some people to
reduce the meaning of total reform to just the erasure of
corrupt, nepotistic and collusive practices.
Many people have also started to question why Habibie has only
listened to one group of six public figures, which includes
politician Amien Rais, economist Emil Salim and lawyer Adnan
Buyung Nasution, who is another Johnny-come-lately. In this
respect we are sorry to say that Amien's recent claim that
Habibie had not trapped the group has not been supported by
reality.
There are some people who pin their hopes on Habibie's concept
of total reform with all his concessions but we are concerned
that this will be just a farce to prolong the life of a new
status quo. We believe that the meeting of the MPR is the only
solution. But since the majority of MPR members were handpicked
by Soeharto, factions need to replace their members to increase
the level of democracy.
Within Golkar, the majority faction, all those appointed under
Soeharto's nepotistic umbrella, have been asked to quit. Reports
have said that some 200 people fall into this category.
In 1966, one third of the MPR, which was appointed by the
outgoing president Sukarno, was replaced without a problem.
It is important to achieve the same result now, because
despite the efforts of certain factions within Golkar to
undermine the party, the main issue is maintaining political
stability while implementing an economic recovery.