INFID, May 12, 2006
INFID's Short News Overview No. VII/05: April 21-May 12, 2006
Debt & Poverty
BI to decide Indonesia's capability to accelerate IMF loans payment
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Boediono said it was Bank Indonesia (BI)
that would have to decide whether the country`s current foreign exchange reserves
were adequate to maintain overall stability in light of the government`s intention to
repay Indnesia`s debts to the IMF ahead of schedule. When it was time, the central
bank would doubtlessly submit its report on the country`s foreign exchange reserves
before any final decision was made on the plan to speed up repayment of the IMF
loans, he said. The minister declined to comment on the options forwarded by BI for
the accelerated repayment of the IMF loans.
Indonesia`s foreign debt to IMF stands at US$7.8 billion and is due in 2010.
Indonesia`s current foreign exchange reserves are recorded at US$43 billion, up from
US$41.5 billion last March.
Boediono also said economic growth in the first quarter of 2006 proved not to be as
expected but it would hopefully be better in the second quarter of the year.
"Economic growth in the second quarter of this year will hopefully be better than the
previous one as conducive things like a decrease in bank interest rate, an increase in
fiscal spending, and improving export will happen," he said.
Fiscal liquidity in the first quarter of 2006 was slightly slow but it would significantly be
fast in the second quarter of this year, he said.
IFIs related article:
Transparency reforms the key to controlling corruption:
http://www.infid.be/wb_transparency.htm.
Source: Antara 12/05
General News
Soeharto's Name to be Rehabilitated
Minister/ State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on May 11 that President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono would rehabilitate HM Soeharto`s name soon after Attorney
General Abdul Rahman Saleh had halted the legal process against the former
president.
He said the government would rehabilitate Soeharto`s name with a view to restoring
public respect for him and his image because it was no longer possible for the former
strong man to be brought to trial and because he had also done a lot of meritorious
services to the state and nation.
House of Representative (DPR) Speaker Agung Laksono said he could understand
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decision to put off a final settlement of former
president HM Soeharto`s legal case.
"The president may have psychological considerations to do so," Agung said on May
12 commenting on Yudhoyono`s stance.
"The president may have psychological considerations to do so," Agung said at the
legislative building here on Friday commenting on Yudhoyono`s stance.
Earlier on the day, the president said he would postpone a decision on the corruption
case of the country`s former strongman in order not to create a rift between those for
and those against him in society.
Yudhoyono made the statement after Cabinet members and lawmakers said the
president was considering dropping corruption charges against the ailing 84-year-old
former president, who is now being treated at a Jakarta hospital following a recent
intestinal problem.
"I choose to hold this matter on hold until the right time. Therefore, I urge the public to
regain their calm and restrain themselves so we can think about this case in a wise
way," Yudhoyono said before leaving for Bali to attend a meeting of eight developing
Islamic countries
Authorities charged Soeharto with embezzling 571 million dollars from state charities
while in power, but the case was dropped in 2000 due to his poor health.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/soeharto_issue.htm.
Sources: Antara 11/05 12/05
Nobel Candidate Pramoedya Dies
Indonesia's best known writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer dies at 81. Relatives said
Pramoedya died at his East Jakarta home at 8.55 am.
A relative who identified himself as Gunawan said Pramoedya had been hospitalized
since April 27 for heart and other problems associated with advanced age but on April
29 evening had insisted on returning home. The exact cause of death was not clear,
though one of his grandchildren, Adit, said he believed Pramoedya died of a stroke.
Pramoedya is best known for his "Buru Quartet" series written during 14 years of
political detention on Buru island in Maluku province under then president Suharto.
Hailed by many international critics as Indonesia's leading modern novelist, his work
has been translated into 30 languages. He was imprisoned by three successive
regimes for writing seen as politically uncompromising and consequently his books
were largely banned until Suharto's rule came to an end in 1998.
The novelist, essayist and short story writer was nominated several times for the
Nobel prize for literature, first in 1986, and last year was the only Indonesian to appear
on a list of 100 leading intellectuals named by Britain's cultural Prospect magazine.
While Pramoedya never openly declared his political allegiances, he was accused of
being a communist by Suharto, who in 1965 banned the then powerful Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI) after a failed coup attempt and launched a campaign against
sympathisers that left at least 500,000 dead and saw over one million arbitrarily
arrested and jailed.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/nobel_candidate_pramoedya_dies.htm.
Source: AFP 30/04
Violent Labor Rally
Violence marred a massive protest organized May 3 by the Confederation of
All-Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPSI), with dozens of workers and security
personnel injured near the House of Representatives compound in Central Jakarta.
The protesters were angered by what they considered an indifferent response of the
legislature and government officials to their demand it guarantee it would reject any
revisions to the 2003 Labor Law. They carried banners denouncing Vice President
Jusuf Kalla and Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno, who
commented Monday after peaceful May Day rallies that the law must be changed to
attract business.
The protest descended into violence after the workers pushed down a steel fence
surrounding the legislative compound. Hundreds of protesters from the estimated
50,000-strong gathering then pelted stones at security personnel and journalists, and
set fire to several banners on a pedestrian overpass. They were eventually dispersed
with tear gas and water cannons.
At least three companies of the Police Mobile Brigade retaliated by hitting several
buses used by the workers that were parked on the street. Arrested protesters also
were seen beaten by security personnel who escorted them to the police post inside
the compound.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said at least 14 protesters
were arrested for public disorder in setting fire to tires and attacking police with rocks.
He said an equal number of policemen were injured.
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said those arrested would face
prosecution. He also said the union leadership would be held responsible for damage
to property.
Similar rallies also were held by tens of thousands of workers in North Sumatra, as
well as West, Central and East Java but they proceeded peacefully.
Related article:
Labor movement seizes its chances when it can:
http://www.infid.be/labor_movement.htm.
Source: JP 04/05
Colorful rally enchants Jakarta
Hundreds of activists, artists and cultural communities -- decked out in colorful garb --
bedazzled passersby and spectators along the city's main thoroughfares Jl. Sudirman
in South Jakarta and Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta in a peaceful protest against
the endorsement of the pornography bill.
No! To Zero Culture was the theme the protest organizer, Diverse But One Alliance,
picked to convey their message: The country is rich in cultural diversity and therefore
a law in the name of morality will only be a conduit to destroy the harmony of that
diversity.
Saturday's event began with speeches at the National Monument (Monas).
"The carnival is our way of reminding all parties, the legislature, the government, and
all Indonesians about our identity, an Indonesia according to the republic's
foundations, the 1945 Constitution, Pancasila and its motto, unity through diversity,"
said alliance chairwoman Shinta Nuriyah Wahid.
Shinta, reminded everyone that the alliance was against all forms of pornography, but
passing a law that would regulate people's morality would create a different situation.
The bill, she said, had the potential to cause national disintegration and it was an act
of treason against the Constitution and Pancasila which bound the country's many
cultures.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/colorful_rally.htm.
Related article:
Indonesia’s dilemma: http://www.infid.be/indonesia_dilemma.htm.
Source: JP 23/04
Aceh
Javier Solana in Aceh
European Union's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy
Javier Solana called on the Indonesian government on April 22 to pave the way for
elections in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province -- a key component of a peace agreement
that ended three decades of fighting. The Secretary-General of the Council of the
European Union said an EU mission overseeing the August accord was happy so far
with how things were going, citing the swift end to fighting that claimed 15,000 lives
and the recent return of long-exiled rebel leaders.
"But there are still some steps that have to be taken," Solana told reporters in Aceh,
including clarification of who qualifies for amnesty and parliament's approval of a "law
of governance" that will lead to elections.
"This is an essential element of the framework agreement that was signed," said
Solana.
Solana welcomed the progress made so far in implementing the peace deal: This
week's return of nine former rebel leaders who had been living in self-exile in Europe
since the late 1970s was a symbol "of the trust and confidence in the process we
have started," he said.
"I think it's very moving today to see people who have been away from Aceh for many
years, more than 30 years," said Solana, who wraps up a three-day visit to Indonesia
on April 23.
"On behalf of the European Union we want to welcome them here and we want to
thank everybody who has contributed to this moment," he said, promising continued
assistance for the people of Aceh until "they have achieved the peace they have
dreamed of."
"Even after that we will accompany you in the face of reconstruction," he said.
Source: AP 22/04
Thousands of Aceh students demand draft law be ratified
Thousands of students from universities across the Acehnese provincial capital of
Banda Aceh held a demonstration at the Baiturrahman Great Mosque on April 30.
They were demanding that the government immediately ratify the Draft Law on Aceh
Government (RUU-PA).
The students held a long-march from their respective campuses carrying banners,
crosses and the flags of their respective universities and student organisations. "Ratify
the RUU-PA, What's the Problem" read one of the banners.
The House of Representatives is currently discussing the RUU-PA. According to the
Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Free Aceh Movement and the
Indonesian government the draft law should have been completed by March at the
latest. But going into May the draft has still not been ratified. The continued delays
will also result in delays to the election of regional heads in Aceh.
Related articles:
Who Benefits If Aceh Is Split in Two?: http://www.infid.be/aceh_two.htm.
Aceh Bill Delay Can Be a Blessing for Ex-Rebels:
http://www.infid.be/aceh_bill_delay.htm.
Source: INS 01/05
Papua
Trial preparations on Abepura clashes
The Papua Provincial Prosecutors' Office handed over case files on May 8 on the
March 15, 2006 Abepura clashes between protesters and security officers to the
Jayapura District Court for trial. The case files for the trial of 16 suspects in the
clashes, where five security officers were killed, were handed over by R. Novianto, the
lead prosecutor, to R. Tukidjo of the Jayapura District Court.
The eight suspects were charged under Article 124 and Article 170 of the Criminal
Code on resistance and communal violence as well as Article 160 on causing
provocation. The trial of the 16 suspects, currently detained at the Papua Police
headquarters, was scheduled for next week. Besides the 16 suspects the police are
still questioning five other suspects, said director of the crime unit at the Papua
Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Paulus Waterpauw.
Papua related articles:
Present situation of the West Papuan people:
http://www.infid.be/papua_present_situation.htm.
Old foes agree on the need to placate Indonesia:
http://www.infid.be/papua_placate.htm.
Source: JP 09/05
Abbreviations
AFP Agence France-Presse
AP Associated Press
INS Indoleft News Service
JP The Jakarta Post
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