Yogie rejects call to set up opposition parties

Yogie rejects call to set up opposition parties

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M.
yesterday firmly rejected the proposal to turn the two minority
political parties in Indonesia into opposition forces from their
current role as "partners" of the government.

"I think we have reaped the benefits (from the current
system)," Yogie told reporters before attending a cabinet meeting
at Bina Graha presidential office. "Why change it?"

The presence of an opposition force would not necessarily make
the government more effective, Yogie argued, stressing that what
is really needed is for the minority parties to "function more
effectively."

The proposal to change the current political format came from
respected Moslem scholar Nurcholish Madjid in Jakarta on Monday
who argued that the presence of effective opposition forces would
provide check and balances that would ensure a clean government.

The United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) have seen their role reduced to a marginal
one in the country's political decision making process.

Policies are determined largely by Golkar, the ruling
political group, and the powerful Armed Forces (ABRI) which has
seats allocated in the House of Representatives.

Yogie said checks and balances do exist in the current
political system and that it does not take the presence of an
opposition party to "make corrections".

"I'm not saying that the (minority) political parties are not
effective. I sincerely hope they are, so that they can
accommodate the wishes of the people," he said.

He denied the suggestions that criticisms against the
government by the political parties were ignored. "They were
noted."

Any move to change the political system must wait for the next
gathering of the People's Consultative Assembly which is not due
until 1998, he said. "There won't be any change until then."

He said, however, that the idea could still be discussed.

"Sure, anyone can have different opinions...I do that all the
time at home. One person wants to have this particular dish,
another wants gulai (curry). I think it's good if there are
differences of opinions."

Both the PPP and PDI were established in 1972 with the support
of the government. The PPP was formed from a coalition of four
Moslem parties while PDI was a merger of Christian and
nationalist forces.

Both parties accepted the role of "partners" of the government
assigned to them in return for seats in President Soeharto's
cabinets. But since the 1980s to the present day, Soeharto has
excluded the minority parties from his successive cabinets.

When asked to comment on this, Yogie responded that the
formation of the cabinet is fully the prerogative of the
President.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI)
yesterday welcomed Nurcholish's suggestion as a contribution to
strengthening democracy.

YLBHI's director of communication Hendardi said that
recognition of opposition forces is consistent with the people's
right to have different opinions.

"In the name of democracy, these rights should be revived,"
Hendardi said. (emb)