Unemployment could seriously threaten elections

Unemployment could seriously threaten elections

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea said on
Friday that the number of unemployed people would increase by
about 2.5 million to over 45 million this year.

He added that the millions of unemployed could pose a serious
threat to political stability and the elections if no measures
were taken to help cope with it.

"Most of the newly unemployed will be young people, mostly
elementary and high school dropouts as well as university
graduates who will not be able to find jobs," he said during a
press conference on the 2004 labor situation here.

The unemployment problem has reached an alarming level because
of the 42.7 million unemployed workers, 10.8 million were in the
category of full unemployment and 31.9 million in the disguised
unemployment category (informal sector or part-time workers).

Jacob called on political parties not to manipulate the
unemployment situation during the election campaign to prevent
violence and to maintain political and economic stability, saying
that the jobless were definitely a group that is vulnerable to
provocation and political chaos prior to and during the
elections.

"The government actually is not worried about the political
condition during the elections because there are still many
people who do earn a good living and enjoy life," he added.

Indonesia will hold its main legislative election on April 5
and the direct presidential election on July 5, with a possible
run-off on Sept. 20.

Jacob said that besides his own programs at the Manpower and
Transmigration Ministry, he had been coordinating with other
fellow ministers to help solve the unemployment problem.

"I have signed MOUs with the tourism minister, agriculture
minister and maritime development minister to put on the table
all problems in carrying out programs to absorb the unemployed in
those three sectors.

He said the Agriculture Minister would prepare labor intensive
social safety net projects, the Tourism Ministry would provide
training programs for workers who will eventually be employed in
the tourism sector while the Maritime Development Ministry would
provide nets and vessels so people could work as fishermen.

He, however, did not hazard a guess about how many of the
unemployed could be absorbed in the three sectors.

The minister said the government would continue to develop the
labor export and the labor placement at home to help reduce the
unemployment rate to a minimum.

"The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry has set a target of
sending around one million workers to the Middle East and Asia-
Pacific region this year and resettle thousands of others in
palm-oil plantations at home," he said.

Chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo)
Sofjan Wanandi expressed his great concern over a possible
unemployment explosion this year, saying the unemployment rate
could reach 50 million this year because many manufacturing and
forestry companies would have lay off their employees due to a
dearth of new international manufacturing orders and a
government-lowered logging quota.

Labor observer Bomer Pasaribu said he was skeptical that the
government would be able to ease the unemployment problem because
of the Indonesian workers' low bargaining position and the long
election season.

"In addition to increasingly scarce labor opportunities,
Indonesian workers were unable to compete with those from the
Philippines, Vietnam, China and Thailand when it comes to working
in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea and the Middle East.
Indonesian workers have no other alternatives but to enter the
informal sectors which are prone to labor abuses. And violence
against Indonesian workers will continue overseas because most of
them will only be able to get jobs in the informal sector," he
said.