Universities move to put reform back on course

Universities move to put reform back on course

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

University communities throughout the country, particularly those
in Java, have committed themselves to a nationwide "moral
pressure movement" aimed at helping put the country's reform
agenda back on track, says Gadjah Mada University (UGM) rector
Sofian Effendi.

"We have agreed to meet by the end of this month, or
the beginning of next month at the latest, to set up a
national steering committee (for the movement)," he told
journalists on Saturday after officially closing a three-day
seminar on reform in Yogyakarta.

Sofian said the committee would comprise representatives from
all the universities nationwide.

The meeting is scheduled to prepare an agenda of activities
that universities will partake in ahead of the 2004 general
elections, based on the conclusions of the seminar, he added.

The seminar, which began on Thursday, recommended that
universities should play a more significant role in the national
reform movement, which many say has not been effective as
evidenced by increased corruption, human rights abuses and other
cases of extreme violence.

"We have all agreed that universities are the only
institutions that have the moral authority to push for the right
kinds of change," Sofian said.

He said that with a national movement, the universities would
provide and disseminate proper information to voters which
outline the necessary criteria for the country's next
administration, so citizens would not be duped into voting for
anti-reformists in next year's elections.

Sofian felt quite strongly that the universities could serve
as a strong moral force to put the nation's reform movement back
on course in a peaceful, constitutional manner.

The seminar, hosted by UGM to help Indonesia reformulate the
goals of the reform movement and put it back on track, ended with
some recommendations to resolve the various crises the country
was facing.

The recommendations included the need for revisions of the
amended 1945 Constitution by involving public participation, so
as to be more representative and comprehensive.

The highly respected participants at the seminar also
concluded that there was a need for the country to produce clean,
intelligent and strong leaders capable of creating mutual trust
as social capital.

It was also suggested that a collective leadership would be
better for crisis-ridden Indonesia under the current condition.

Djamaluddin Ancok of the UGM's School of Psychology, which
chaired a session to draft the recommendations, highlighted the
need to make the seminar's results an "anticipatory concept" in
case the outcome of the upcoming elections failed to satisfy the
nation.

"We have agreed that the electoral process should be carried
out according to the Constitution. But should there be something
wrong with it, we are ready to come up with a concept of
collective leadership as an alternative for the country," he
said.

Sofian further said that the country, home to some 212 million
people, was immersed in an emergency situation, for which it is
in a dire need of a proper solution to its complicated problems.

An opportunity for such a solution would be available to the
citizenry in the 2004 elections, he added.

However, he said that as the election was just a few months
away, cooperation was most urgent among all community members to
make the 2004 polls a success and elect a capable, responsible
administration.

Calls for a revolution to mend the country's chaotic
conditions also surfaced in the three-day seminar. But Sofian
said that he personally saw the idea would be ineffective due to
its unpredictable risks.

"A revolution would indeed create change quickly, but it's too
unpredictable. We can have a revolution but the person who will
take over power could be worse than those of the present time. We
don't want such a risk," he said.