Work hard to attain social justice, President says
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said yesterday that Indonesia must persevere in its effort to attain the lofty goal of social justice for all.
"Obviously, materializing social justice and common prosperity cannot be achieved in a short period of time," the president said when opening the fourth congress of MKGR, a mass organization affiliated with the government-backed Golkar.
Soeharto, accompanied by MKGR chairperson Mien Sugandhi, said the nation has yet to work hard to achieve a reasonably high growth rate.
"We have yet to equalize the distribution of development gains," he said, adding that Indonesia's present achievements do not represent the final goal of the development programs.
Soeharto did not give any background to his remarks. While his relative success in economic development is unquestioned, his critics say the lack of social justice remains a black spot in his 26-year administration.
Social justice for all is the fifth and last tenet of Pancasila, the state ideology. The other four are belief in one God, humanitarianism, national unity and consensus democracy.
The president said he believes the nation's current development is "on the right track."
He pointed out that during his long rule, millions of people have been rescued from the jaws of poverty while development programs have been introduced in every single village across the archipelago.
"What we need to do now is improve on our present achievements to speed up and better orient the development process," he said at the ceremony attended by senior officials.
Globalization
Addressing the role of mass organizations, he said ones like MKGR were needed to improve the nation's resilience -- which he said was vital for Indonesia to keep pace with the rapid current of globalization.
The president added that it would be useless to resist the speedy globalization trend, but advised Indonesians to take in the positive impacts of the process.
"We must not resist the globalization process because we are part of the fast changing world community," he said.
Soeharto said scientific and technological advancements had accelerated the globalization process, posing more complex challenges for a growing country like Indonesia.
"What we should do is improve our awareness and intellectual capacity so that we can contribute to the globalization in a creative fashion," he said.
About 350 organization members took part in the four-day congress held at the Pondok Gede Haj hostels in East Jakarta.
Electing a new board of executives is the top item on the agenda. Observers say Sugandhi, who is also the state minister for the role of women, is likely to retain her top post because she still commands strong support.
MKGR is one of several army-backed organizations which founded Golkar in 1964 to counter the rising power of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which has been outlawed since 1966. (pan)