Jakarta – The reform movement that started 10 years ago has failed to produce significant changes because of the corrupt political and economic systems inherited from the New Order regime, former campus activists said Wednesday.

Dozens of former campus activists, including noted economists Sjahrir and Rizal Ramli, and Soekotjo Soeparto, a member of the Judicial Commission, attended a one-day forum to mark the 30th anniversary of the Jakarta Student Senate Council (1977-1978).

Sjahrir said the nation's elite were holdovers from the system set into place during the 32-year regime of recently deceased former president Soeharto. He also cited elements of the country's media as retaining entrenched attitudes and biases from that period.

"Who do you think owns those media outlets? Ownership of capital has not changed since 10 years ago," said the member of the Presidential Advisory Board.

"The elite still treat Soeharto well... the media have been saying a lot of good things about him since he died," said Sjahrir, referring to the nation's second president who passed away last week after a three-week hospitalization for multiple organ failure.

Massive student rallies forced Soeharto to step down in 1998 as the country struggled with the economic crisis that hit in mid-1997.

Despite allegations of corruption and human rights abuses, Soeharto was never been brought to court to face criminal charges. Some parties have now proposed the government grant him national hero status.

Soekotjo, once a coordinator for the student activist movement, said the reform movement has made strides toward reforming the legal system, but the government's lack of commitment had prevented any significant change.

"The court system, in fact, has become the most corrupt governmental institution in the past three years," he said, referring to several survey results, including one conducted by Transparency International Indonesia.

"The government has adopted many new legal policies, including the amendment of the Constitution and the endorsement of new laws," he said. "However, we have yet to see any results because there is no longer a clear orientation and strategy in the reform."

Rizal Ramli, coordinating minister for the economy under president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, told the same forum the government needed to adopt a development strategy that could benefit all levels of society.

"We have to shift from the exclusive development model of the Soeharto era to an inclusive one so all levels of society have the same chance to enjoy the results of reform," he said.

Akbar Tandjung, former head of Golkar Party, the dominant party during Soeharto's reign, told the forum the multi-political party system risked impeding the reform movement that had set it into place.

"We are supposed to have adopted a presidential system of government, but (what I see) now is more like a parliamentary democracy," he said. (lln)