[ppi] [ppiindia] Back to the future in Indonesia

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EDITORIAL

Back to the future in Indonesia

The first round of voting in Indonesia's electoral pageant has revealed a wave 
of nostalgia for the past. Golkar, the party of disgraced former leader 
Suharto, came out on top in national parliamentary elections in early April. 
Days after the results were announced, Golkar picked Mr. Wiranto, a former 
defense minister, as its presidential nominee. The choice is controversial: Not 
only is the former general a stalwart of the Suharto regime, but he is widely 
viewed as complicit in massive human rights violations by the Indonesian 
military. The country's apparent readiness to embrace a party that represents 
so much of its discredited past speaks volumes about its hopes for the future. 
Golkar, or Golongan Karya, was set up in 1964 by Suharto to provide a ruling 
framework. When he fell from power in 1998, the party also collapsed. Since 
then, it has been punished by corruption scandals, yet it has managed to 
rebuild and reclaim its role as a force in Indonesian politics. In 
parliamentary elections held April 5, Golkar emerged as the leading party in 
the legislature. Most recent tallies give the party 21.1 percent of the vote, 
topping the Indonesian Party of Struggle (PDI-P) of President Megawati 
Sukarnoputri, which took 19.5 percent. Impeached former President Abdurrahman 
Wahid's Nation Awakening Party came in third with 12 percent. 

The strong showing bodes well for Golkar's presidential candidate in the next 
round of voting, which will be held in July (if no one wins 50 percent in that 
ballot, a runoff will be held in September). The presumptive nominee had been 
party chairman and speaker of the House Akbar Tandjung. But charges -- 
eventually dropped -- that he embezzled nearly $4.6 million of taxpayer funds 
for the party tarnished his image. Mr. Wiranto, a former personal assistant to 
Suharto, has portrayed himself, in stark contrast to Ms. Megawati, as a can-do 
leader capable of uniting the country. He is remembered as the man who was 
offered the presidency when Suharto stood down, but instead passed it on to the 
vice president, Mr. B.J. Habibie. 

The former general has one problem with his image, though. It is stained by 
charges that he held "command responsibility" for the deaths of nearly 1,500 
people during violence in East Timor in 1999. U.N. prosecutors have sought a 
warrant for his arrest, but the issue does not seem to generate much interest 
in Indonesia. 

Golkar's national political network and organization give Mr. Wiranto a boost 
in the presidential ballot. Its strong showing throughout the country in the 
parliamentary vote attests to the party's strength and appeal. But Golkar can 
only muster 35 million voters out of an electorate of 137 million. That 
explains why the front-runner in July -- Indonesia's first direct vote for the 
presidency -- is Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Democratic Party candidate, 
another retired general and former security minister. Like Gen. Wiranto, Mr. 
Yudhoyono, often referred to as SBY, presents the image of a strong, decisive 
leader. Unlike Gen. Wiranto, he is without the taint of human rights abuses or 
intimate ties to Suharto. 

The deciding factor in the presidential ballot is likely to be each man's 
running mate. The key task is to find a candidate suitable to Indonesia's 
Muslims, which make up nearly 90 percent of the population. Gen. Wiranto is 
thought to favor someone from Mr. Wahid's National Awakening Party, although 
Mr. Wahid is not an option. 

Golkar's resurgence and the appeal of former military figures hint at a 
powerful nostalgia in Indonesia. The country has been foundering since the 
Asian financial crisis cost Suharto his job. His successor, Mr. Habibie, was 
quickly rejected by voters; his replacement, Mr. Wahid, was impeached, and the 
current office holder, Ms. Megawati, has seemed more interested in being 
president than acting like one. The result has been national drift. Opinion 
polls have shown that the country yearns for a decisive leader who can overcome 
Indonesia's fractious politics. Voters want an end to rampant corruption. 
Unfortunately, they also seem willing to ignore some of the worst chapters in 
their country's past to achieve that. 

Indonesia is a sprawling country that sits astride crucial sea lanes through 
which pass virtually all of Japan's imported energy. Instability there 
threatens this country and all others that depend on maritime trade. 
Lawlessness has offered terrorists a haven that poses a danger to Indonesia and 
the entire region. It is only natural that Indonesians look back to the 
authoritarian period with some longing, but they should also remember that much 
of their country's current situation -- both good and bad -- can be traced to 
the decision to give power to one man instead of building political 
institutions. It is a mistake they should not make again, no matter who wins 
the presidential ballot. 

The Japan Times: April 28, 2004
(C) All rights reserved 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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