Young generation should stay out of elite's dispute: KNPI
Young generation should stay out of elite's dispute: KNPI
JAKARTA (JP): While calling for an end to the mounting tension
between the House of Representatives and President Abdurrahman
"Gus Dur" Wahid, the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI)
asked the younger generation on Tuesday not to become involved in
the rift.
"The tension must be halted because it brings no benefit to
the people.
"The President and legislators should stop mobilizing their
constituents and supporters to settle the tension," KNPI chairman
Adhyaksa Dault said in a meeting with House Speaker Akbar
Tandjung here on Tuesday.
He said youths and large organizations should not be trapped
in the friction between the political elite because it would
raise new problems, confusion and even horizontal conflicts in
the grassroots.
"The nation's future is determined not only by the political
elite but also by the younger generation.
"The nation will face a serious threat of disintegration if
the younger generation is divided," he said.
He said KNPI supported students' moral movements to correct
the government's policies and safeguard the reform movement.
"Youth organizations support the student's movement, but
students must stay neutral and avoid violence," he said.
Adhyaksa said KNPI, which is an umbrella for 65 youth
organizations, would hold a national meeting here on Feb. 4 as
part of the political education for its members in line with the
present heated political situation.
"The national meeting will be a good opportunity for youth
organizations and their cadre to share political visions and
ideas in the face of the current situation," he said.
Akbar said differences of opinion could not be avoided in the
reform era and in democracy, but such differences should not be
allowed to develop into enmity and conflict among the political
elite and in the grassroots.
"We still have much to learn about democracy and the existing
tension is part of the whole transitional process towards a true
democracy," he said.
Meanwhile, dozens of Muslim clerics from East Java announced
on Tuesday that they and Islamic boarding schools in the province
supported the President against increasing demands for his
resignation.
"Clerics and students of Islamic boarding schools in East Java
are ready to be deployed to Jakarta to defend the legitimate
government against efforts by certain groups to topple the
President," Mutawaqil Al-Allah, spokesman for the clerics, said
in a separate meeting with Akbar.
Last week, another group of clerics from the province also
warned Akbar and Amien Rais, chairman of the People's
Consultative Assembly, not to make any attempt to topple the
President.
Mutawaqil, chairman of an Islamic boarding school in
Probolinggo, East Java, also called on the political elite,
including Akbar and the President, to stop blaming one another
because the conflict would foment unrest among the people.
"The political elite should pay attention to national
interests instead of personal ambitions," he said, adding that if
the mounting tension ended with the forced resignation of the
President, it would trigger a civil war. (rms)