Nov 30, 2023 Last Updated 8:29 PM, Nov 27, 2023

Peaceful change, now!

Published: Sep 29, 2007

We believe that the crisis of confidence in Indonesia's leadership has become so acute that efforts to stabilise the rupiah without simultaneous steps toward political reform will be ineffective.

We call upon the government of Indonesia and Abri to refrain from applying repressive measures against those who increasingly and peacefully make use of their right to freedom of expression.

We also call upon the pro-democracy groups and the Indonesian people in general to join in efforts to peacefully and in a constitutional way prepare for immediate political change in Indonesia.

Furthermore, we urge the International Monetary Fund and the government of Indonesia to immediately release the full terms and conditions of the agreement between them, and to establish a social impact assessment team, including representation from leading Indonesian NGOs, to monitor the impact of the reform package on the country's most vulnerable groups.

We urge the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to examine the social and environmental costs of all economic reforms proposed, to minimise the impact on the urban and rural poor, women and children, migrant workers, tribal and upland communities, and the unemployed, estimated as at least seven million by the end of 1998.

We urge the members of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) to use their leverage not only to see that the Indonesian government implements economic reforms but to also impress upon the government of Indonesia that economic reform without political reform will be insufficient to stem the loss of international confidence in Indonesia.

 

Jakarta and The Hague, 13 January 1998.

Asmara Nababan        Eva Phillips

Inside Indonesia 54: Apr-Jun 1998

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