INFID
INFID | TAPAK Ambon | AKUI
| PosKo Zwolle | Diverse Artikelen
INFID News SNO Questionnaire We thank those who have returned
the completed SNO questionnaire in time. We are most appreciative of your
suggestions and co-operation. For those who have not done so, please return
the questionnaire before August 15, 2002. INFID Conference Reminder: Registration for INFID
XIII Conference in Yogyakarta will be closed on August 10, 2002. Participants
are required to register. If you want to attend the conference but have not yet
registered, you can register online at http://www.infid.be/conference/registe.htm. INFID Related Issues Debt President Megawati Soekarnoputri
said on Aug.1 that the government would cut fuel and power subsidies for a
second time this year to reduce its budget deficit. Lowering the budget
deficit will help the government to reduce a debt-to-gross-domestic-product
ratio in the long-term to a significant degree, she said. Indonesia began
cutting subsidies after the 1997 financial crisis to keep an agreement with
the International Monetary Fund that secures continuing access to a US$5
billion loan package. Fuel subsidies cost Rp55 trillion, or 16 percent of
government spending last year. She also reiterated the need to
work with international lenders such as the IMF. She said that the IMF-led
economic reform programmes was vital to keep confidence in the economy. A day
after chief economic minister Dorodjatun Kuntjoro Jakti supported Megawati
saying the government wanted assistance from the IMF to continue after the
existing programme expires in 2003. Some critics, including a cabinet member,
have recently demanded the Fund to leave the country, saying its economic
prescriptions do more harm than good. Is the co-operation doing more
harm than good? Sources: Bb 01/08, Reuters 01/08
02/08 General News Tommy Soeharto The youngest son of ex-president
Soeharto said on Aug.1 that he would not appeal a 15-year jail term for
masterminding the murder of a Supreme Court judge and other charges. He said
he was innocent of the charges but saw no point in appealing because
"the situation is not favourable for a seeker of justice". "Public
opinion has formed to create hatred against me. It is the work of individuals
or groups who want to destroy me and my family for political reasons,"
Tommy said, adding that he will "seek other legal venue for
justice". One of his lawyer, Elza Syarief,
said Tommy would spend his time in jail "deepening his religious
knowledge". Tommy, Syarief said, has invited two Muslim preachers to
give him religious guidance in his cell and has asked his family to bring him
books on Islam every time they visit him. Sources: AP 01/08, Reuters 01/08, AFP
05/08 MPR Annual Session A number of legislators revealed
that the move to thwart the constitutional amendments was backed by nearly
one-third of the People’s Consultative Assembly’s (MPR) members. About 200
MPR members are manoeuvring to collect signatures for a petition rejecting
the proposed fourth round of amendments of the 1945 Constitution. An
amendment can proceed only if it is supported by at least two-thirds of the
Assembly members. MPR speaker Amien Rais says he is
disappointed that many legislators are opposing the proposed amendments,
warning legislators not to sacrifice the interest of the nation for their
parties’ short-term interests. But activists and constitutional law experts
say pressures to halt the amendment process have merely intensified efforts
to form a constitutional commission. Bambang Widjojanto, a member of the
Coalition for A New Constitution, said that effort to foil the endorsement of
the amendment to the 1945 Constitution would result in a deadlock. If there
is deadlock, it will become more relevant to push for the establishment of a
constitutional commission to take over the amendment process from the MPR, he
added. The Coalition suggested that the Assembly passes the amended 1945
Constitution and declare it as a transitional constitution with a
Constitutional Court serving as a back up should problems arise due to the
overlapping clauses in the amended Constitution, he explained. Meanwhile, more than 5,000
Indonesian Muslims marched on Aug.5 to the national assembly to urge
legislators to amend the constitution so sharia can be implemented in the
country. The issue –on the agenda this week- is not expected to receive
widespread support among legislators, but analysts believe that it reveals a
growing radicalism in Indonesia. Sidney Jones, the Indonesia director of the
International Crisis Group, said: "It is clearly being used by the
Muslim Right to test the waters to see how far they can push the issue."
The proposed change has powerful political supporters, among others Vice
President Hamzah Haz, who has endorsed the move. Sources: LN 03/08, BWM 02/08, JP
03/08, TT 06/08, Reuters 05/08, AP 05/08 Regional News Aceh Washington’s Middle East envoy
Anthony Zinni met security officials and toured parts of Aceh on Aug.6 in a
bid to revive peace talks between the government and the separatist rebels. Zinni
was accompanied by David Gorman and Andrew Marshall from the Geneva-based
Henry Dunant Centre which has been arranging peace talks in Switzerland since
2000. Observers suspect Gen. Zinni was invited by the Centre to try to
persuade the Indonesian government not to abandon the peace talks. Jakarta is
expected to announce its plan for a new military operation soon. Acehnese
rebels, religious leaders and observers have warned that increased military
operation would hurt the peace talks and increase opposition to Jakarta. Vice
President Hamzah Haz said the new Aceh policy could be delayed as late as
Aug. 19 because the government is occupied with the preparations for the
upcoming visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammad. He also said
Megawati is busy writing a state of the nation address, which is to be
delivered on Aug. 16, a day before Indonesia’s independence day. A coalition
of Acehnese NGOs has called for a mass strike on Aug. 17, to protest the
ongoing violence in the province and to push the government and the rebels
back to the negotiation table. Sources: AP 06/08, AFP 07/08, ST 07/08 Links Indonesian NGOs statement on US
military aid to TNI: www.infid.be/openlettertopowell.htm The music is better that it
sounds: Indonesia rising: www.infid.be/musicsounds.htm. Abbreviations AFP Agence France Presse Stichting TitanE |
||||||
|
|