| Subject: Habibie defends
E Timor policy, again asks for vote ratification Habibie defends East Timor policy, again asks for vote ratification
JAKARTA, Oct 17 (AFP) - President B.J. Habibie on Sunday
again defended his East Timor policy and appealed to Indonesia's highest legislative body
to ratify the territory's vote for independence in the name of democracy.
Answering scathing criticism from the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR), which must ratify the referendum results, that his government had acted
rashly in allowing East Timor to move towards independence, he said parliament was
consulted every step of the way.
"As a great nation that highly upholds the fundamental
values of the preamble of the 1945 constitution, and in this new era where we are
determined to advance democracy and human rights in Indonesia, we have to accept and
respect the result of the (East Timor) ballot," Habibie said.
Habibie was replying to accusations by MPR factions that he
had not consulted parliament before offering independence to the people of East Timor if
they rejected an offer of autonomy under Jakarta.
The MPR factions, commenting on his speech on Thursday
accounting for his 17 months in power, also accused the Habibie government of ignoring a
1978 MPR decree that formalized East Timor's 1976 integration into the country.
Habibie said the MPR as well as the lower house or DPR were
consulted on the independence option, and that several "strategic decisions" had
also been taken following the same procedure.
Among those was advancing the date of the Indonesian
general election from 2002 to 1999, he said.
He also said that since the announcement of the autonomy
proposal, the foreign minister had regularly consulted with the parliamentary commission
on foreign and security affairs.
He also said the draft agreement governing the United
Nations poll in East Timor on August 30 had been passed to the commission. The commission,
he added, "understood and agreed" on the signing of the agreement in New York on
May 5.
"It should also be noted that the entire process of
negotiation on East Timor has taken place in an atmosphere of openness and global
interdependence ... and under the inevitable pressure of time," Habibie said.
"Time constraints forced the government to act in line
with the momentum and we had to adjust ourselves to the speed."
The MPR factions have charged that the resounding defeat of
the pro-integrationists in the East Timor referendum was a result of the government acting
without enough preparation.
Habibie also said that the government had always stressed
that the poll result would have to be approved and ratified by the new MPR, which was
formed following the June 7 general election.
"This is clearly reflected in the New York agreement
and understood and approved by the UN secretary general, Portugal and the international
community," he said.
The result of the poll showed that East Timorese voted four
to one against autonomy.
The New York agreement stipulates that if autonomy was
rejected, the Indonesian goverment had to take constitutional steps to free East Timor in
a peaceful and dignified way.
"The government is under the obligation to report this
to the MPR as the highest state institution, to respect the result of the poll and seek a
decree (to that effect)," Habibie said.
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