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)