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Former general tells PKI discussion that government ruling party is recruiting communists
Republika - March 7, 2018
"If we talk about the PKI, indeed the PKI does not exist. But the PKI is currently being revived and its name is New Style Communism (KGB)", said Ismail during a discussion on the theme The Revival of the PKI: Reality or Propaganda, which was held in Jakarta on Tuesday March 6.
Also speaking at the discussion, which attracted tight security from the police and the TNI (Indonesian military), was retired army general Kivlan Zen.
Ismail underlined what had been explained by Zen earlier in the discussion when he referred to the KGB, saying this is the PKI that is being revived.
"I want to underline what was conveyed by Pak Kivlan Zen, namely about the problem of the KGB wanting to take revenge, the New Style Communists. The KGB is the PKI that is being revived", he said.
Meanwhile Zen himself revealed that the revival of the PKI is a fact, not propaganda. Moreover, he said, the PKI's ideology has infiltrated all spheres of life including the political parties.
"It's true, currently they are trying to infiltrate all spheres of life, inside the political parties, most of all the PDI-P [President Joko Widodo's ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle]. I have the data, it's not a lie", said Zen during the discussion.
According to Zen, in 2015 the PDI-P even sent leading party members to the meet with the Chinese Communist Party in order to study political science and the recruitment of cadre. Because of this therefore, Zen hopes that the PDI-P will remove those people in the party who are alleged to have a communist ideology.
"But the PDI-P is doing just the opposite, attracting people like Eva Kusuma Sundari, Rieke Dyah Pitaloka and Budiman Sudjatmiko. She wrote that book right, don't allow them in as leaders any more. It is remarks like this which indicate that PDI-P people are close to communism. So we hope that as a party based on Pancasila [the state ideology] and nationalism [they will expel them]", said Zen.
And it is not just the PDI-P he added, other parties such as the National Democrats (Nasdem) and the Golkar Party have also sent their cadres to China to be recruited as communists.
"Those that have sent people to China for training were Golkar, Nasdem they also sent people there for training. So it is clear that it's not just the PDI-P, but Golkar and Nasdem have been giving their cadre to China", he explained.
Notes
Eva Kusuma Sundari has been a consistent campaigner for religious freedom, women's rights and against right-wing and fundamentalist vigilante groups. Rieke Dyah Pitaloka has likewise campaigned for the rights of women, migrant workers and trade unions. Budiman Sudjatmiko is the former chairperson of the leftist People's Democratic Party (PRD) who was jailed under the Suharto dictatorship. In 2002 PDI-P legislator Ribka Tjiptaning published a memoir titled I'm proud to be the daughter of a PKI member (Aku Bangga Jadi Anak PKI).
[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was Taufik Ismail: PKI Memang Sudah tidak Ada, tapi PKI Bangkit.]
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