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)