YKPK undaunted by absence of govt officials

YKPK undaunted by absence of govt officials

SURABAYA (JP): Leaders of the National Brotherhood Foundation
said yesterday that they were not worried that government
officials invited to their discussion this week did not show up.

Foundation chairman Lt. Gen. (ret.) Bambang Triantoro however
said he hoped this did not mean there was any ill feeling towards
the organization.

"We are not disappointed," he told reporters during a break of
the discussion reviewing Indonesia's path towards nationhood.

"They may have been busy," he said. "But if they didn't come
because of some prejudices towards us, we deeply regret this."

The foundation, popularly known by its Indonesian acronyms
YKPK, is one of several organizations formed last year with the
proclaimed objective of defending the nation against
disintegrating forces.

Despite receiving tacit support from a number of senior
government officials, the foundation, which is made up of senior
statesmen, was not able to invite a single government official to
address their two-day discussion here. Even East Java officials,
including Governor Basofi Soedirman and Brawijaya Military
Command Chief Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo, who were invited to attend
the opening ceremony on Monday, did not turn up.

Meanwhile, a member of the staff of the Coordinating Minister
for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman yesterday
denied a report by The Jakarta Post last week suggesting that the
minister had ever expressed his public support, or was linked, to
the YKPK.

"That report is incorrect," the minister's staff told The Post
by phone in Jakarta yesterday.

The YKPK discussion also provided a first test of the new
government policy waiving an old and controversial regulation
requiring people to obtain police permits for seminars and other
mass gatherings.

The seminar's chief organizer, Martono, said he had submitted
an application to the local police for the permit in the first
week of December, when the old rule was still applicable.

He received no response, but since the new rules had just been
introduced, he took it that the government had no objection.

Bambang said yesterday that what counted most was the strong
public support YKPK has attracted, rather than an official
blessing.

"We are very grateful and touched," he said, pointing to the
packed audience, the presence of most invited panelists, and the
seriousness of more than 200 participants from various regions.

Among the speakers addressing the discussion were House
Speaker Wahono, noted Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid,
politicians of Golkar, and former Army officers.

Bambang questioned the wisdom behind Indonesia's tradition of
needing official blessings for almost everything, including
founding an organization or organizing a discussion.

Most YKPK members attended the event. They include Maj.Gen.
Sembiring Meliala, Moslem leaders Mustofa Bisri and Cholil Bisri
and former envoy to Malaysia Maj.Gen. Sunarso Djajusman.

The discussion yesterday focused on politics, culture and the
economy.

In the session on politics, which was moderated by former
Irian Jaya governor Barnas Suebu, former Golkar executive Midian
Sirait said he hoped for a gradual change, or what he called "a
reform from within", in Indonesia.

He urged people not to blame Golkar for many of the nation's
current ills, "because political parties have followed Golkar's
lead" in practicing nepotism, for example.

Barnas said that in Indonesia, something else reigns supreme
above the People's Consultative Assembly, which constitutionally
should be the highest state organ.

"There is an invisible power" typical of feudal systems, which
has contributed to the low quality of many Indonesian leaders, he
said. (anr)