June 26, 1999
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| June 26, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Southeast Asia EDITORIAL: Who will reform Indonesia? Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Syarwan Hamid Tuesday proposed an alliancebetween incumbent President B.J. Habibie and Megawati Sukarnoputri, theopposition presidential frontrunner from the June 7 elections. Also on Tuesday, military chief General Wiranto called for ''maturity'' fromall parties, saying, ''The solution now is that each [party] should bewilling to sacrifice [its interest] for a larger interest, that of thestate and the nation." What do we make of these calls by a current government minister and the military for agovernment of national unity and avoidance of a showdown between theopposition and the ruling Golkar party? Are they the defensive moves of the defeatedold New Order regime? Sure they are, at least in part. That, however, does not mean they shouldbe dismissed out of hand. It is far from certain that a coalition ofIndonesian opposition parties based on Megawati's poll-leading PDI-P will be able to rule the country effectively or institute the in-depth reforms required. Even before Megawati and her party emerged in their present leading role,there had been severe doubts about her political savvy. Now that it isclear that she will garner a substantial plurality in parliament - her party is leadingabout two to one in the popular vote - those doubts have become morepronounced and urgent. Aside from a rehash of the fixed exchange rate and currency board ideafloated in early 1998 by then Presdent Suharto and quickly shot down this time just asit was then by the IMF, Megawati and her advisers have not come up with anycompelling economic poicy proposals. In the political sphere, she wants tomaintain the role of the military in social and political affairs and seesno need for significant overhaul of the country's constitution. Evensupporters and numerous people who voted for her have begun to wonder what,other than opposition to Suharto earlier and to Golkar now, her actualreform credentials and ideas might be. Surely the enigmatic Sukarno namealone cannot and will not carry the day now the elections are over. Meanwhile, political observers point out that the conduct of free and fairelections is to the credit of the Habibie government; that an ambitiouslegal and economic reform program has been enacted by the currentGolkar-led parliament; that debt restructuring is making some importantprogress; and that the recent rise of the rupiah to below 7,000 to thedollar reflects renewed investor confidence based on the conduct ratherthan the outcome of the June 7 elections. We would add two further points: The military, as promised, has stayed outof the election process and, by all counts, not interfered. And Golkar andPresident Habibie, their New Order legacy notwithstanding, have shown theability to remake themselves and have not resorted to the repressive toolsof the old regime. The Syarwan Hamid proposal is therefore not without merit and deservesserious consideration. Both the PDI-P and Golkar are essentially secularpolitical parties and jointly represent a better reform potential then acoalition of either with Islamic-oriented groups that might pull them (andthe country) into a more conservative policy mode. | |||||||||
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