---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Sydney Morning Herald 24/07/99 INDONESIA Time for Habibie to go, says Megawati By LINDSAY MURDOCH Herald Correspondent in Jakarta Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri has launched a scathing attack on President B.J. Habibie, accusing him of being blinded by greed and trying to cling to power without listening to the Indonesian people. Despite her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle finishing a clear first in the country's elections last month, Ms Megawati said the poll was "still befouled by money politics and other forms of intimidation". This was particularly so in rural areas and islands outside the densely populated Java, where support for Ms Megawati was strongest. Dr Habibie's Golkar party, which came second at the polls, won most of its votes in the outer islands. Ms Megawati, the 52-year-old daughter of Indonesia's first president, Dr Sukarno, and a staunch nationalist, chose the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun to give her most comprehensive statement since the elections. The 700-member People's Consultative Assembly meets in November to elect a new president for the next five years. Positioning herself for what she called a political tug-of-war between reformists and a small group of politicians representing narrow, vested interests, Ms Megawati linked Dr Habibie to the manipulative and allegedly corrupt practices of the former president Soeharto, who was forced to resign last year. The small group of politicians which supported the Soeharto regime, including Dr Habibie, had not yet realised most Indonesians no longer wanted them, she said. "After three decades of political and intellectual coma, Indonesia has now woken up and will not go back to sleep," she wrote in the paper. Responding to a campaign by Muslim groups opposed to a woman leading the predominantly Islamic country, Ms Megawati said some people "have clearly adopted the view that the end justified the means, with no regard for the truth of their accusations and no respect for the holy teaching of Islam itself". "In the same way, they also say that my party and I have no policies for rebuilding Indonesia. "These are the same people who want to cling to power even though they have been so clearly rejected by the majority of the Indonesian people." With the backing of small Islamic parties and perhaps the armed forces, Golkar's strategists say Dr Habibie will have the numbers to block Ms Megawati's bid for the presidency. Golkar has re-endorsed Dr Habibie as its sole candidate for the next five-year term despite warnings by students and other groups that they will take to the streets if Ms Megawati is not elected to lead the country. Ms Megawati said she must remain patient in the face of the "political irresponsibility" of people who wanted to cling to power despite being rejected by most Indonesians. "My priority is not political point scoring, but the preservation of my country's unity. "In my heart I have a feeling of sorrow that in this crucial time for my country there are those who are so blinded by greed as to try to remain in power without listening to the voice and heartbeat of the Indonesian people. " ... the people are no longer blind and deaf as they were in the past, now that their political blindfold has been removed." Ms Megawati said the drastic drop of support for Golkar at the elections "illustrates that the educated, potential middle class, the backbone of the nation's political and economic future, have clearly said no to Habibie". ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 23 Jul 1999 jam 20:12:30 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
