[Marxism] from Central Java, Indonesia

["Tom O'Lincoln" <suarsos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I?m writing from Yogyakarta, geographically but not administratively part
of Central Java, but I don?t suppose that matters. There are some political
thoughts after reading the papers, watching TV, and visiting more political
friends here, in the neighbouring city of Solo, and in Salatiga somewhat
further afield. As in the last post, these are my friends and not a cross
section of the left. But the do range from mainstream activists in/around
the People?s Democratic Party to someone who is influenced by Hardt-Negeri.
Mostly they?re former student activists, though one of them is still
writing a thesis.

First some further thoughts on the nominees for president and vice
president. All the presidential candidates are balancing their tickets with
VP candidates from different political currents. The net result illustrates
both the appalling opportunism characteristic of mainstream politics and
also the degree to which they all come from interlocking elites. A
particularly revealing example is Wiranto?s running mate Salahuddin Wahid,
younger brother of former president Wahid and better known as Gus Solah.
Gus Solah was Deputy Chair of the National Human Rights Commission and also
head of a special body investigating the human rights abuses of May 1998.
Commander of the armed forces at that time was none other than Wiranto. But
once offered a VP slot with Wiranto, Gus Solah resigned his human rights
posts. There are lots of similar rotten deals being made, something
summarised very well by Hermawan, General Chair of KAMMI (fundamentalist
Muslim student group):

?Wiranto-Salahuddin combines a human rights violater with a human rights
upholder; Megawati-Hasyim combines a corrupt politician with an
anti-corruption fighter; Amien-Siswono combines a refomer and a businessman
from the Suharto regime; Hamzah-Agum combines the old regime and the
military, and Yudhono-Kalla does the same.? ("Semua Calon Presiden
Bermasalah", Kompas 13.5.05)

There is much speculation about how Wiranto managed to win the Golkar Party
nomination. I?ve been told, plausibly, that Wiranto expected to lose and
had plans to disrupt the elections, but amazingly he won. Factors seem to
include: money politics, corruption charges against his oponent Akbar
Tanjung (dismissed, but the mud stuck), Wiranto?s superior lobbying
machine, the fact that Wiranto articulated a vision and clearly has
excellent personal skills, and the fact that Akbar had plans to choose a
serving general as his running mate ? which made people think if they were
going to go the military route, why not go for Wiranto. All the above comes
from a newspaper article which delicately avoided the obvious point: much
of the above has to do with Wiranto?s acess to the military?s resources.

Meanwhile former president Wahid nominated someone from Golkar for VP, but
he probably can?t run anyway because there?s a ?sound mind and body? rule
and he?s nearly blind. This discrimination against people with disabilities
brought condemnation from the Human Rights Commission, but what credibility
have they got (see above)?

There is discontent and disillusionment. As shown by the fact that in the
parliamentary elections recently held, 30 percent stayed away from the
polls or spoiled their ballots. The Indonesian term for both is ?Golput?.
It is now said that the ?Golput Party? won the elections, since the 30
percent is higher than the vote for any of the other parties. Also a number
of radical hackers got into the Electoral Commission and registered comic
parties like the Monkey Party. There being no suitable law to deal with
this, the one hacker who got caught received a five year term under
anti-terrorism legislation.

****

We have just had the 6th anniversary of the riots that contributed to
Suharto?s downfall. The spark was the shooting of students at Trisakti
campus in west Jakarta. I happened to be in Jakarta; I went down there when
I heard the news and saw a peaceful student rally which evolved into a
riot. In an earlier post to this list I mentioned my disagreement with
those who see the May 1998 events as a ?revolution? and pointed to the very
negative side of the riots. But it?s equally important not to go to the
opposite extreme and suggest that May 1998 was a total disaster. Here is
what Usman Hamid of the very credible human rights NGO Kontras has
unfortunately written in the daily ?Kompas?:

?Jakarta was burning. In many areas shopping centres were looted, wrecked
and burnt. Traffic was in chaos, thousands of people burnt to death, women
experienced sexual harassment and rape. Jakarta mourned. Indonesia mourned.
At that time, indeed the world mourned. (?Ketika Korban Tak Jadi
Inspirasi?, Kompas, 13.5.04)

This is factually true, but how can he forget the magnificent student
movement which contributed so much to ending the dictatorship? The story of
May has 3 key  factors in it: first the economic crisis, second the student
movement, third the riots which were partly orchestrated by section of the
regime and the military as well as criminal gangs ? but which also had some
political content as I saw with my own eyes.

The TV is also obscuring the positive. I saw one channel?s commemorative
coverage which consisted of an interview with a general. The trend here is
to try to cement in people?s memory only the horrors of the riots, which in
turn creates a hunger for safety and order ? which benefits the military
and the police.

***

So what about the left? I got the same general picture here as in Jakarta
and Bandung: the left is isolated and the Muslims dominate the campuses.
But in each of the towns there were some encouraging signs.

In Yogya the Gadjah Madha University is seeing a revival of critical
discussion groups after ?two dead years?. A recent discussion on
Homosexuality and the State got a good turnout. In Solo I was told that the
events in Makassar (see my last post) were starting to revive the student
left. My friends are helping to hold a seminar, conference and
demonstration to make the anniversary of Suharto?s fall; the aim is to
revive various groups and alliances and create a new and lasting network
around anti-militarism. In Salatiga the level of student activism has held
up fairly well over the past couple of years. So hey, the picture in
Central Java isn?t all bleak.

There now appear to be two national student networks on the left. The LMND,
associated with the People?s Democratic Party, has suffered badly from
splits and defections but is still important. The other network is the
National Student Front which is less defined ideologically, and none of my
friends are connected with it so I can?t tell you much.

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