LAKSAMANA.Net, December 22, 2003 12:17 AM
Review - Politics: President 'Ashamed'
Laksamana.Net - Speaking to the Indonesian community in Islamabad, President
Megawati Sukarnoputri said she felt 'ashamed' after Indonesia finished behind
Vietnam and Thailand in the medal count in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
She said Indonesians lacked "the will" to strive and had no national pride. Her
outburst earned criticism back home with senior sports officials urging the president
to get up to speed on the condition of sports in the country.
Djoko Pramono, leader of the Indonesian contingent said Tuesday (16/12/03) that, as
a national leader, the president should look at how athletes put aside personal
interest for the sake of the nation.
"Please don't condemn our athletes. I will not accept it," he told reporters on the
sidelines of a ceremony awarding bonuses to medalists at the national sports stadium
in Senayan.
Djoko said the athletes had done their best and would continue battling to see the red
and white flag hoisted in international events.
"The whole situation here of lack of real government commitment just does not
support high-level athletic development. It's not the athletes to blame. Underline that!"
he told the press.
Transport Minister and Indonesian Sport Council (KONI) chairman Agum Gumelar said
he was "speechless".
Megawati arrived home Tuesday from her unexpectedly dramatic three-day visit to
Pakistan, where she had discussions on counter-terrorism with her Pakistani
counterpart, Pervez Musharraf.
Both leaders, who currently head the world's two biggest Muslim countries, are trying
to balance support for the US-led war on terrorism despite much domestic opposition.
A few hours after she set foot in Pakistan, two bombs exploded in an attempt to kill
Musharraf.
Police Win Case Against Megawati
There was more bad news for the President with a Jakarta Administrative High Court
(PTUN) decision on Tuesday (16/12/03) that Megawati and National Police chief Gen.
Da'i Bahctiar had violated Law No. 2/2002 on the Police when they forced seven police
officers to retire this year ahead of the retirement age stipulated by law.
The decision paves the way for Former Jakarta Police chief Com. Gen. Nugroho
Djayusman and six other police officers to return to the force. With the court decision,
the officers must be reinstated to their previous ranks and positions in the national
police.
The seven had sued the President and police chief for forcing them to retire three
years ahead of the mandatory retirement age.
They were still 55 when they were forced to retire. The legislation provides that a
police officer should retire at the age of 58.
Students Charged
Lawyers complained Monday (15/12/03) that police had refused them permission to
see six students deported from Pakistan suspected of links with Jemaah Islamiyah
(JI). "We deem that National Police headquarters is guilty of gross human rights
violations and of obstruction of justice," said Munarman, the head of the Indonesian
Legal Aid Institute.
The six had been studying at the Abu Bakar Islamic University in Karachi when they
were arrested in September. An Islamabad-based security official has said they were
part of "a sleeper cell" of the al Qaeda-linked JI.
They include Rusman Gunawan, younger brother of top JI terror suspect Hambali.
Munarman said lawyers were originally given power of attorney to represent two of the
group but police had pressured students to revoke the power of attorney. He said they
planned to complain to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)
about the denial of access.
The six were questioned by the national police's anti-terror department headed by
Brig. Gen. Pranowo.
Two were released Tuesday (16/12/03) for lack of evidence but on Thursday police
charged the other four with "facilitating" acts of terrorism for helping the jailed militant,
Hambali.
Families of the four have said they were simply students seeking an Islamic education
and had no links to terrorism.
Rais Hopeful
Amien Rais, chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and current
leader of the National Mandate Party, spoke last week of his optimism over his
chances of winning the presidency in Indonesia's first direct presidential election next
year.
Speaking in Singapore to a World Student Summit audience he said the next
elections would be a catalyst for political change.
A government "free from corruption and nepotism" will top the campaign agenda for
the man whose party won only minor support in the last elections in 1999.
Rais said it was now time to change the present leadership as well to make way for a
more improved, more visionary government.
Megawati, whose Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) won the most
votes in the 1999 general election on its anti-Suharto, pro-reform platform, has lost
popularity for failing to tackle corruption and improve the lot of the poor, according to
recent opinion polls.
Though not quite conjuring up the vision of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream", Rais
nonetheless said he had a 'feeling' about the forthcoming polls.
"When I visited different countryside (areas), towns and cities in Indonesia, I can feel
that people will vote for me very significantly," he said.
Police Attack Students
Police on Tuesday smashed a student-led anti-election protest in the capital,
attacking their bus and detaining dozens of protesters.
About 100 students from the radical City Forum gathered at the Welcome Monument
in central Jakarta Tuesday afternoon to urge people not to vote in the upcoming April
5, 2004 general election.
Police attacked the students' bus, breaking its windows and chasing the
demonstrators out on to the streets where an estimated 30 students were detained
and carried away, eyewitnesses said.
The students were protesting the lack of new parties and politicians contesting the
election. Only 24 parties have qualified to contest next year's polls, less than half the
number that contested the general election of 1999.
Many of the qualified parties are led by politicians associated with the "New Order"
regime of former autocrat Suharto, who was Indonesian president from 1966 to 1998.
Megawati Wants Neutral Civil Servants
President Megawati Sukarnoputri called on civil servants Thursday (18/12/03) to 'stay
neutral' in the 2004 elections, and not to take sides so as to guarantee that the
elections would be conducted democratically.
"Your neutral role will be very meaningful," she told some 10,000 members of the
Indonesian Civil Servants Corps (Korpri) attending the organization's 32nd anniversary
celebration in Lembang, West Java.
Megawati said Korpri should learn from its past and present mistakes in order to
improve its performance in serving the people in the future.
During Suharto's New Order regime, Korpri members were made to vote for Golkar or
risk heavy sanctions.
Korpri chairman Feisal Tamin promised on Thursday that his organization, which has
six million members, would remain neutral in the upcoming elections as it did in 1999.
"We (Korpri) are still committed to staying aloof from political parties," said Feisal,
who is also Minister for Administrative Reforms.
Law 43/1999 on the civil service obliges civil servants to resign if they want to become
party members or executives, but Korpri secretary Zakaria Mahmud said more than
1,000 members were already facing dismissal after they were found holding positions
in political parties.
On Friday the president had some advice for a different group of people. Addressing
young officers from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police she told them to set a
'high moral standard', especially during the country's reform process.
"Only with a high moral standard will you be able to achieve admirable leadership,"
Megawati said during the initiation of 816 new young military and police officers at the
State Palace.
She added that only through the achievement of such leadership would they be able
to become professional in maintaining Indonesia's sovereignty, unity and security,
which was 'badly needed in the country's current transitional phase'.
Poll Violations Agreement
The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), the Attorney General's Office and
the National Police signed an agreement on Thursday (18/12/03) to ensure speedy
investigation into and prosecution in cases of electoral violations.
The agreement stated that a speedy investigation and prosecution was imperative to
cope with possible violations in the 2004 elections, which will run in several stages.
The speedy investigation is expected to ensure that the election schedule runs
smoothly, which "is expected to take place amid a hostile political situation," the
agreement says.
Under the agreement an indictment must be made 72 days after an alleged violation is
reported to Panwaslu. In the past elections many reports of violations were never
investigated.
Panwaslu must obtain reports on electoral violations seven days at the most after
they occur. If Panwaslu considers that a case fits the criteria of an electoral violation,
it must submit the report to the police within seven days after obtaining the report.
Ba'asyir Appeals
Militant Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir on Friday (19/12/03) petitioned
the Supreme Court against an appeal court ruling that he must serve three years in
jail, his lawyer Wirawan Adnan said.
In September a district court convicted Ba'asyir of treason through taking part in a
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) plot to overthrow the government. But it said there was no proof
that he headed the terror network, as prosecutors alleged.
The appeal court this month cleared him of treason but upheld his conviction for
immigration offences and forging documents, as well as slashing his four-year jail
term by a year.
His lawyers want him cleared of all charges. Ba'asyir, 65, has denied any links to
terrorism and said Washington framed him because he campaigns for Islamic sharia
law.
Adnan said he believed the appeal court ruling was made due to "heavy influence by
America and Singapore" on the government of Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Ba'asyir told a gathering of prisoners at Salemba prison in Central Jakarta attended by
reporters and supporters on Friday (19/12/03) that the Bali bombers and an
Indonesian bomb-maker killed by the Philippine military in October were not
"terrorists" but God's fighters.
"Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, who recently became a martyr, is a jihad (holy war) fighter,
not a terrorist," he said, referring to the escaped terrorist gunned down by Philippines
authorities.
Convicted Bali bombers "Imam Samudra, Mukhlas, Amrozi and his friends are not
terrorists either, they are fighters of the army of God," said Ba'asyir.
He also praised Osama bin Laden as a Muslim fighter. He has praised bin Laden in
the past but his public accolade for the Bali bombers was a first.
Students Demand Tanjung Verdict
If the appeal by convicted felon Speaker of the House of Representatives Akbar
Tanjung is anything to go by Ba'asyir's long white beard might be down to his knees
by the time he hears the result.
Tanjung was sentenced last year to three years in jail for involvement in the misuse of
Rp40 billion of State Logistics Body (Bulog) funds. The Jakarta High Court upheld the
verdict and added an extra year to the sentence early this year, but Tanjung has
remained free pending his appeal to the Supreme Court.
Justice Paulus Effendy Lotulung has said he will issue a verdict before the country
goes to the polls in April 2004.
More than 100 university students rallied outside the Supreme Court on Thursday,
demanding the court process the case.
Rico Marbun, chairman of the University of Indonesia's Students Executive Body, said
the court must not give extra privileges to Tanjung.
"He's been convicted, but he's still allowed to lead the House, lead his party and
nominate himself as a presidential candidate," he said.
Anti-Graft Body Launched
Indonesia's first anti-corruption commission is scheduled to start life on December 27
after being postponed several times since 1999. Public officials are to be subject to
investigation and prosecution by commission officials.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is a five-man team, headed by a former
policeman, that will have the authority to investigate and prosecute cases - previously
the prerogative of the police and the Attorney General's Office.
Newly elected chairman Taufieqqurrochman Ruki promised Wednesday (17/12/03) to
develop the commission into a credible institution to eradicate endemic corruption.
Once the organization is established, KPK would focus on corruption eradication in
the civil service, law enforcement institutions and the private sector, he said.
KPK, Ruki added, would examine high profile corruption cases currently in the hands
of police and prosecutors before deciding whether or not to take over the investigation
and prosecution from the two institutions.
He promised that KPK would maintain accountability by being transparent to the
public. He said the commission would report the development of each investigation
every three months to the President, the House of Representatives, universities,
non-governmental institutions as well as those who needed it.
The body is mandated by a special law, (Law No: 30/2002), which provides it with
political independence and strong powers to investigate and prosecute corruption
cases.
The prevention department will take over the function of the current Public Servant's
Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN), which had no teeth to investigate and prosecute.
Special anticorruption courts will be set up within district courts, with career and ad
hoc judges, who will undergo special training before they are selected and appointed
directly by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Border Security Tightened
Malaysia and Indonesia Tuesday (16/12/03) pledged to co-operate in the fight against
illegal logging, smuggling and piracy at their common border on Borneo Island.
Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak said two new security outposts would be
built in 2004 to improve security along Malaysia's eastern Sarawak state and
Indonesia's Kalimantan.
It would take the number of outposts along the border to five.
Armed forces chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, who led the Indonesian delegation to the
meeting in Kuala Lumpur, said both countries needed to be aware of the potential for
terrorist activities on porous and poorly manned border areas. He added they must
also fight drugs, weapons and people smuggling.
But the meeting, which was attended by some 40 top officials from both countries,
focused mostly on the divisive issue of illegal logging.
Sutarto said the practice had to be contained and that both countries would
co-operate to fight the menace.
"Yes, there are illegal logging activities. There are bad people everywhere. We are
working to overcome it and agreed to increase the number of security posts," he said.
Sutarto added that both countries had also addressed the problem of border markers
being moved, which previous reports said had been done by Malaysian loggers to
enable them to steal timber from Indonesia. "It is a problem. But we are tackling it
together," he said.
"I am confident we can cooperate to overcome the threats."
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