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ASIET NetNews Number 8 - March 2-8, 1998
East TimorThe road to overthrowing Suharto is open Thousands of students rally in Sumatra Protest demanding ouster of Suharto Thousands of students say 'Reject Suharto' Students stage massive protests
Political/economic crisisTimorese activists arrested in Dili Six Timorese leave to Portugal Australia grants oil exploration licences Timor seminars held despite 'harassment' Three killed in clashes in Ermera
Environment/land disputesIndonesian currency continues to slump IMF delays Indonesia rescue package Indonesia's Economic Crisis Hungry illegals flood Malaysia Indonesia bobs, weaves to avoid impact
Human rights/lawIndonesian fires raise smog spectre again Indonesia battles to fight fires Fires take toll on wildlife in Borneo Kalimantan in peril as fresh water runs Who starts the fires?
Arms/armed forcesMilitary operations in West Papua Police to question Indonesian editor 123 protesters to be charged
International relationsWiranto to be replaced mid-March ABRI denies rumours of mass desertions
Economy and investmentAid before reform will only help the corrupt
PoliticsIndonesian reserves down inflation up
Party trusts Suharto with special powers Sutrisno gives tips on Suharto Critic drops presidential bid US backs Suharto despite calls for reform All is not well in Soeharto oligarchy
| Democratic struggle |
[The following is a slightly abridged translation of an interview with the coordinator of the Central Committee Leadership of the People's Democratic Party (Komite Pimpinan Pusat - Partai Rakyat Demokratik, KPP-PRD), Mirah Mahardika.]
The People's Consultative Assembly session (MPR) (1) has begun. The regime and the opposition are apparently both ready to respond to it. How do you see the situation?
Formally and legally, the MPR session along with the general elections are part of the process of legitimising the regime, in this case Suharto. Golkar's [electoral] victory will be followed by Suharto's appointment as president.
However, in terms of "real politics", Suharto and his regime have already collapsed. People everywhere are rioting. How much can Suharto and his soldiers do? They are overwhelmed. Economically, what can Suharto do to overcome [the crisis]? Banks have been liquidated, monetary policy tightened, the "I Love the Rupiah" campaign launched, asking the IMF for help, and now the establishment of a currency board. Who knows what else. But it is all pointless. These are the facts. Suharto is incapable of maintaining control.
Because of this, in real political terms Suharto has already fallen, so this "legal-formal" legitimisation is extremely important. Suharto is dying to make the MPR session a success, and certainly he will again become president.
But it seems that the opposition is also ready to hold protests or boycotts to make the MPR session fail? Is this so?
From the beginning the PRD called for a boycott of the MPR session, because like the general elections, it is only a puppet of Suharto. And, clearly it is not just the PRD which has a program to boycott the MPR session. There are many other groups. The regime is afraid of this. That is why they mobilised so many troops. But the objective conditions benefit us greatly. The people's anger is becoming increasingly broad as a result of the failure of the New Order economy and Suharto becoming president again.
What form will the MPR session boycott take?
The people should come out into the streets, demonstrate. But, perhaps this will be more difficult -- although it is not impossible -- because of the extreme military repression. But we can also do this in a symbolic manner, such as wearing clothing of a specific colour, or head bands, or carrying flags of a specific colour. But what is important is that the people gather together, even if they don't demonstrate. Thy can hold sit-ins at offices, schools and on campus, bus terminals, in front of lanes, and the like.
Is it not true that the PRD supported the nomination of Megawati as president. What is being done by the PRD with regard to this during the MPR session? Isn't the PRD also boycotting the MPR session?
It is an illusion for us to hope that Megawati, Sri Bintang or other presidential nominees, aside from Suharto, will be considered by the MPR session. All of the MPR members are puppets of Suharto's. All of the fractions (2) have nominated Suharto. Because of this, the people themselves must force the MPR to nominate [someone else]. How? By demonstrating, or putting Megawati posters on cars, walls and so on. Or by writing Megawati's name on walls. To draw the support of the people, we must also distribute Mega's pictures or writings.
Yesterday, thousands of University of Indonesia (UI) students held a demonstration. They also covered UI slogans such as "Campus of the New Order Struggle" and changed it to "Campus of the People's Struggle".
In the history of Indonesian politics students have been a central agent of change. The demonstration by UI students, with yellow jackets [the official colours of the "New Order Campus" - JB], is reminiscent of 1965, that is at the time of Sukarno's overthrow, although at that time it was engineered by the army.
I think that the UI students demonstration must draw in other students and people from other sectors, such as the urban poor, workers, the unemployed, mothers, transport workers and so on. Because, if the actions remain isolated [on campus], it will not develop into people's power. As a result, these actions will come to nothing, merely romanticism. The UI actions could become an agitation for students in other campuses.
What is the PRD's strategy if Suharto regime doesn't collapse after the MPR session?
It is almost certain, if the MPR session is a success, Suharto will definitely be chosen again. And we are not certain that Suharto will fall. But, the [anti-]MPR session [sentiment] can become a momentum for the people to spill into the streets. And if the Suharto [regime] doesn't fall, the political situation which follows will be more difficult for the regime. Because, with Suharto's reelection, the people's hatred will grow and fractions will emerge within the regime. And we all know, Suharto is conservative. He doesn't want to implement significant changes to overcome this crisis. The result, the crisis will become worse and the people will hate him [even more]. More and more people will want change.
If Suharto is reelected, will the people's suffering increase?
Absolutely. From the beginning Suharto has been the tool of foreign capital. Just look at the reform program of the IMF for Indonesia. Reductions in subsidies and tariffs. All of this will make it easier for foreign capital, while at the same time it will also increase the suffering of the people.
But isn't Suharto also in conflict with foreign capital, such as over the issue of the currency board? (3)
Suharto's conflict with international capital, is related to his own interest and the companies of his immediate family. But in principal no. And this can be overcome by concessions.
Translator's notes:
[Translated by James Balowski]MPR: Mejalis Permusyawaratan Rakyat, People's Consultative Assembly. The highest legislative body in the country with 1,000 members, 425 of whom are elected with the remainder being appointed by the president. It meets once every five years (usually around a year after the general elections) to hear an outgoing report from the president, enact the Broad Outlines of State Policy (Garis Besar Haluan Negara, GBHN) and to vote on nominations for the president and vice-president. The five fractions are: the armed forces, the state party Golkar, the United Development Party, (Suryadi's) Indonesian Democratic Party and the regional fractions. In February Suharto mooted the formation of a currency board to peg the Rupiah to the US dollar at a proposed exchange rate of 5.000 Rupiah.
Jakarta - Some two thousand students of a state university in Padang, West Sumatra, held a rally Thursday to reject a further term in office for President Suharto and demand reforms.
More than 2,ooo students of the Andalas University rallied at their new campus saying the economic crisis was 'a catastrophe' and that 'Suharto's leardership can no longer be forced' upon the nation, a resident said.
The students marched round the campus to muster support, carrying posters and banners expressing their demands.
'We call for a leadership succession and reject the renomination of the candidacy of retired general Suharto as president for a seventh term,' the students said in a statement.
The head of the university, Marlis Rahman, said it was the students' 'right to express their aspirations and there is no ban so long as this is done within the campus and in an orderly and responsible way.'
'There will not be any sanctions on the students,' he said.
Christopher Torchia, Jakarta -- Thousands of banner-waving university students demanded President Suharto's ouster Wednesday -- the largest display of anger yet over the economic crisis that has Indonesia in an upheaval.
The protests came as the United States and other foreign lenders stepped up the pressure on Suharto to carry out reforms they consider crucial to rescuing the economy -- reforms that could undercut much of Suharto's power and wealth.
"Hang Suharto!" shouted protesters in the Java island city of Yogyakarta, circling their campus on scooters under the scrutiny of hundreds of police and plainclothes officers.
Students also rallied in several other cities on Java as well as on Sulawesi, another of Indonesia's larger islands.
Five people have been killed in riots this year over rising food costs, but Wednesday's rallies were peaceful. Confined to campuses, they posed little threat to Suharto, who has resisted calls to overhaul the government he began shaping in the 1960s.
Even as the students protested, delegates to a special assembly were preparing to extend Suharto's 32-year rule. Already Asia's longest-serving leader, the 76-year-old president is almost certain to get a seventh five-year term next week.
However, Suharto is under growing international pressure to carry out economic reforms in exchange for $43 billion bailout by the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF has already handed over $3 billion, but still has not decided whether to grant the second $3 billion installment, due March 15.
The United States, which exerts virtual veto power over the IMF, says Suharto is not moving fast enough on reforms that would remove business perks he, his family and their associates have long enjoyed.
Indonesia says many of the measures, including the slashing of subsidies, are too strict and could provoke more social unrest.
But with the deadline nearing, Suharto said Wednesday that he had dismantled a string of monopolies in line with the IMF requirements. In a meeting of top economic advisers, he said the government has stripped the state agency Bulog of all trade controls except for a rice monopoly. Presidential spokesman Murdiono, who attended the meeting, quoted Suharto's remarks on reform.
Indonesia's worst economic turmoil in three decades began when the currency, the rupiah, plunged in value last year, pushing up prices and unemployment in the nation of 202 million. Protesters said Suharto is to blame.
"Suharto is the mastermind of the crisis," said Pedro Viera, a student at the prestigious Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, 310 miles east of Jakarta.
The Yogyakarta students also appealed for the government to take action against ethnic violence. Chinese merchants, a minority who dominate commerce in Indonesia, have been targeted in the riots over soaring food prices.
Human rights groups accuse the government of doing little to protect the Chinese, although Suharto warned against scapegoating in a speech last weekend.
In Surabaya, another Java city, seven university students entered the second day of a hunger strike.
Police blocked a small group of protesters from leaving the campus at a state university in Bandung, near Jakarta. In the capital, students also marched at an Islamic university.
Several thousand people demonstrated at a teaching institute in Ujungpandang on Sulawesi island, northeast of the capital.
In Jakarta, three women who had been arrested in an anti- government protest went on trial Wednesday. More than 100 people crowded a district court for a hearing in the case of Gadis Arivia and Karlina Leksono, both feminist editors and philosophy lecturers, and Wularsih, a housewife.
They were arrested Feb. 23 after waving posters on a main plaza to protest the government's management of the economy. The women face one week in jail if convicted.
Authorities have imposed a ban on political rallies in Jakarta, hoping to keep the peace during the March 1-11 assembly expected to renominate Suharto. The 1,000-member People's Consultative Assembly is dominated by Suharto supporters.
Jakarta -- Thousands of Indonesian students shouting "reject Suharto" rallied at two campuses Wednesday to demand the resignation of their country's veteran ruler, witnesses said.
More than 3,000 students in Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta marched in the campus grounds throughout the morning, waving banners making the same demand before assembling to hear speeches by their leaders. Some of the banners depicted the ruling party Golkar's logo of a tree on a yellow background above a caption comparing the party to a spectre haunting the country.
Five East Timorese students clambered onto a balcony above the crowd to shout demands for political equlity and justive for their conflict-torn territory.
Dozens of demonstrations have been held at university campuses across the country in recent days as an electoral committee (sic) meets in Jakarta to return Suharto to office for a seventh term, despite growing calls for him to step down.
Authorities have banned public gatherings during the meeting but have been tolerant of students protests as long as they remain on university grounds.
In Surabaya, East Java, about 200 students ralied at the Surabaya Islamic Institute to demand Suharto's resignation.
Some 5,000 students at the Teachers University in the South Sulawaei capital of Ujungpandang marched between their two campuses under tight security, Suara Pembaruan, a Jakarta daily reported. More than a thousand other students of the Muslim University of Indonesia, also in Unjungpandang, marched to the provincial parliament building to express their concern over the economic crisis faced by the nation, the same paper reported.
Jakarta -- With the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly only three days away, students across Java staged demonstrations yesterday to press their demands for lower prices and political reform.
Major peaceful demonstrations were staged in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Purwokerto and Kudus.
Students massed on their campuses and no clashes with security personnel were reported.
In Jakarta, more than 3,000 students staged a noisy protest at the sprawling University of Indonesia campus in Depok, just south of here. The rally was the third such gathering in the past two weeks.
"Reforms, reforms," the crowd chanted as students and alumni took turns climbing on top of a white pickup to address the crowd.
The protest began with only 200 students in the late morning. Three hours later, with their ranks swelled, they finally gathered on the field in front of the School of Social and Political Sciences.
The protesters carried banners demanding lower prices and an end to corrupt, collusive and manipulative practices. They also demanded that supreme national sovereignty be given to the people not the government.
They expressed concern over the economic crisis sparked by the rupiah's drastic plunge against the U.S. dollar that is crippling the economy and prompting mass layoffs and soaring prices.
"We still have time to show the Assembly what we want," Sri Edi Swasono, an alumnus and former chairman of the Indonesian Cooperatives Council, shouted to the crowd from the top of a car turned into a podium.
The 1,000 strong Assembly begins its General Session on Sunday to endorse the 1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines and to elect a president and vice president.
"Reforms or death," said a banner carried by students, while others said economic and political reforms were two sides of the same coin "which can be distinctly differentiated but not separated." Some students carried a chair on which was written "this chair has already been ordered by the usual client," eluding to incumbent President Soeharto's renomination.
No uniformed security personnel were visible on the campus but dozens of military intelligence agents could be seen following the marchers.
At least three truckloads of riot police were on standby outside the campus, along with scores of rapid response troops on motorcycles carrying automatic rifles.
In Purwokerto, Central Java, a demonstration with similar demands took place at Jendral Sudirman University, where some 500 students took turns to express their ideas.
The protesters urged the Assembly to open their eyes to what people want to improve the country's economic and political stability.
"They (Assembly members) should fight for the people's interests, not the organizations that patronize them," said student senate member Kundiarto.
Scores of security officers in riot gear kept a close eye on the protesters.
In another Central Java town, Kudus, dozens of students took their protest to the local legislative council. They demanded the government do more to end the economic crisis and initiate political reform.
"The crisis is taking a toll on common people and it will become a terrible disaster unless a proper solution is found," they said in a statement.
In Yogyakarta, over 100 students from the Islamic University of Indonesia massed on their campus to demand lower prices and political reform.
They called for certain groups in society and the government to stop exploiting the sensitive issues related to race, religion and societal groupings for political ends.
"This is not the-real issue that the nation is facing," they said in a statement.
| East Timor |
Jakarta -- Three alleged Timorese activists were arrested in Dili by the Indonesian authorities on 26 February, Indonesian news agency Antara said on Wednesday.
Quoting police sources, Antara said that the authorities had found some 420 explosive devices in the house where the activists were arrested as well as diaries that allegedly linked them to an underground group supporting the territory's self-determination resistance movement.
The Timorese were identified as Bernardo da Costa, 24, Floriano Xavier, 22, and Joao dos Reis, 22.
Lisbon -- A group of six Timorese who had sought refuge at the Spanish embassy three weeks ago left Indonesia to Portugal on Tuesday, the Portuguese Red Cross announced.
The six Timorese who have complained of persecution by the Indonesian police, left Indonesia in a KLM flight.
For the past six months, another group of six Timorese has remained inside the Austrian embassy because the Indonesian authorities have refused to let them leave to Portugal.
Jakarta claims that two of the six Timorese were involved in a "bomber network".
Sydney -- The Australian government announced on Thursday that it had granted seven new licences to explore oil in the Sea of Timor.
Australian Minister for Resources, Warwick Parer, said that the new licences, granted to local and foreign oil companies, would lead to an expected investment of more than US$88 million during the next six years. Three of the licences are located in the area known as Timor Gap, an area being jointly explored by Indonesia and Australia.
Portugal has challenged the agreement entitled Timor Gap Treaty, signed in 1989 between Jakarta and Australia and allowing both countries to explore the resources in the area.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed it one year later but the United Nations still regards Portugal as the territory's administering power.
Bangkok -- A Group of human-rights advocates successfully concluded two international seminars on East Timor this week despite continued "low intensity harassment" by Thai authorities.
The International Symposium on Peaceful Settlement for East Timor (Peaceset) held on Monday and Tuesday and the Third Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet III) on Wednesday and Thursday drew more than 60 participants from 17 countries in Asia-Pacific and Europe.
Filipino Renato Constantino, a non-government organisation (NGO) representative, said the group was subjected to "low intensity but visible harassment".
He said at the Apcet III meeting held in Baan Siri, police officers and Labour Ministry officials were present. They took videos, asked questions, walked around the conference room and barred the international participants from speaking into microphones.
He said participants, particularly those from East Timor who held Indonesian passports, felt the intimidation, which caused considerable delay in the conference proceedings.
Bantorn Ondam, coordinator of Asian Cultural Forum on Development (Acfod), said Apcet III yesterday sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, expressing concern for the situation in East Timor and encouraging the UN's efforts in resolving the ongoing situation of conflict and human rights violation as well as in working towards a peaceful settlement in East Timor.
The letter, signed by Somchai Homla-or, secretary-general of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, and Bantorn was delivered to a UN representative in Bangkok, who sent the letter to New York the same day.
Speaking at a press conference which included various co- organisers of the meetings, Constantino said the two meetings discussed the efforts being made to bring about a peaceful settlement and identified strategies that societies around the world could take to support the process.
Agio Pereira, of the East Timor Relief Association, said Apcet will hold the fourth meeting in Indonesia in the year 2000. He read out the Apcet conference statement, which recognised the long suffering of the East Timorese people since the invasion of Suharto's forces in 1975 and called for action from the civil societies and social movements around the world to support the peace process.
Pereira said the people of East Timor are suffering escalating human rights abuse especially in the current political and economic turmoil in Indonesia.
The conference called on the UN to:
Establish a working committee of UN and related agencies to prepare the foundation of the self-determination of the people of East Timor; Establish a permanent office of the UN Commission for Human Rights in Dili, East Timor; Extend the terms of reference of the All Inclusive East Timorese Dialogue to allow East Timorese participants to discuss the political status of East Timor; Extend the UN's supervised Portugal-Indonesia governmental talks on East Timor to include the recognised leaders of the East Timorese people.
Dili -- Fighting between Timorese guerrillas and Indonesian forces in the East Timor region of Ermera on Wednesday caused the death of two resistance members and one Indonesian soldier, according to a military source.
The officer who asked to remain anonymous told Associated Press that the fighting in Ermera, 80 km south of Dili, broke out when Indonesian troops surrounded and attacked a mountain hideout of the Timorese guerrilla.
A second Indonesian officer confirmed the attack, adding that at least 20 Timorese guerrillas, many of them wearing Indonesian military uniforms, who were inside the hideout before the attack managed to escape. He refused to comment on the number of deaths.
| Political/economic crisis |
Seth Mydans, Jakarta -- As an electoral assembly moved through its scripted steps Friday toward the expected re-election of President Suharto next week, the new players on the Indonesian scene -- international financial traders -- voted no-confidence in the economy.
After a month of relative stability, the Indonesian currency, the rupiah, slumped for its second day because of worries that the International Monetary Fund might suspend or delay part of its $40 billion rescue package.
The fund and its major partner, the United States, have voiced concern over slow implementation of austerity measures that they say are needed to begin the recovery of an economy weakened by inflation, unemployment and hundreds of bankruptcies.
Even at its recent relatively stable rate of around 9,000 rupiah to the dollar, the currency was worth 30 percent less than before the region's fiscal crisis began to hit Indonesia last summer.
On Thursday it dropped further, to 9,800 to the dollar, and Friday it tumbled to 12,000 before partly recovering to end the day at 10,800 to the dollar.
"There is an element of evaporating confidence -- whatever little is left -- because of IMF displeasure with Indonesia's not necessarily sticking to all the promises," Rajeev Malik, a Singapore-based analyst with Jardine Fleming, said here Friday.
A second infusion of $3 billion is scheduled to be disbursed by the fund on March 15, but Malik said, "There is increasingly a certain perception that it is going to be delayed, though maybe not totally cancelled. That just adds more confusion or uncertainty to an already uncertain picture."
There is virtually no uncertainty about Suharto's confirmation on Wednesday by a 1,000-member People's Consultative Assembly for a new five-year term after 32 years in power.
Since the start of the year, the rupiah has plunged in value, prices and inflation have soared, student at rallies and some public figures have called on the President to step aside and food riots have broken out in provincial towns.
But Suharto, 76, has retained and even consolidated his grip on the levers of power. He has won new statements of allegiance from the military and secured the backing of all three political parties, not only for his own re- election but for the election of his friend, B.J. Habibie, as vice president. At the same time, he has expressed doubts about the shock-therapy prescriptions of the IMF, which he says have done nothing to strengthen the rupiah.
While failing to implement large parts of the recovery package, the president floated the idea of instituting a currency board, which would artificially raise the value of the rupiah at the risk of soaring interest rates, which could bring economic disaster.
The possibility of a sudden increase in the value of the rupiah by decree helped support its value over the past month as traders held on to the currency, financial analysts said. But the president's hesitancy about reform has been a major factor in the continuing weakness.
"He is dodging the tough steps, and it just adds to the uncertainty," Malik said. "At this time, he should be trying to make an all-out effort to eliminate as much uncertainty as possible so that the markets have a clear picture, a game plan, of how Indonesia is going to tackle the problem."
Without this clear picture, analysts said, investors will continue to stay away from Indonesia, unable to make their own plans.
"There's a kind of paralysis, and no one can see a way out of it," Linda Lim, an expert on Southeast Asian economies at the University of Michigan, said. "Nobody is putting money into Indonesia, short term or long term, and the reason has got to be political risk," she said. "Political risk doesn't just mean the risk of political unrest and social unrest and food riots; it can also mean a paralyzed government which cannot implement any of the policies that are required to bring back market confidence." The decline in the rupiah's value has driven up the cost to Indonesia of its foreign debt, which is denominated mostly in dollars, to levels that are all but impossible to pay. Even with the temporary freeze on debt payments announced last month, the burden of more than $65 billion in corporate debt seems insurmountable.
This debt has pushed almost all of the country's major corporations past the level of bankruptcy, although they remain technically alive. Foreign banks have pulled back from their contacts with Indonesian banks, local lending has nearly stopped and business transactions have been put on hold.
"The devaluation is happening so fast that prices have not been able to catch up," an American businessman said. "How can you increase prices by 500 percent? People will start throwing rocks through your window. But if you don't, you lose money on everything you produce. And if you're an exporter and all your lines of credit are cut, how are you going to proceed?"
Washington -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not disburse a second 3 billion dollar installment of its loan to financially beleaguered Indonesia before April, an IMF spokeswoman said Friday.
The delay of the loan installment, which forms part of a 40 billion dollar international rescue deal, came as the IMF and the U.S. government expressed dissatisfaction with Indonesian President Suharto's economic policy.
"The IMF management aims at the speedy conclusion of the review discussions as soon as the basic conditions are met and the required changes in a few macroeconomic assumptions of the program can be made," the spokeswoman said.
"Assuming this can be achieved, and given the existing IMF procedures," she said, "the date of the Executive Board discussion of the conclusion of this program review could not be expected before April."
The IMF originally had planned to approve a handover of the second installment of its loan at its Executive Board meeting March 15.
The IMF and the U.S. government are dissatisfied with what they see as Suharto's noncommittal attitude toward full implementation of a program he and the IMF agreed upon in January to revamp the Indonesian economy.
It is feared that postponing the disbursement could aggravate Indonesia's economic and social turmoil, the result of the rupiah's rout and ensuing financial unrest.
Suharto's idea of pegging the value of the rupiah to the U.S. dollar is believed to stand in the way of the economic reform program. Former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale, who visited Indonesia earlier this week as a special envoy of U.S. President Bill Clinton, failed to dissuade Suharto from the planned monetary policy.
1997
July 8: Indonesia's currency, the rupiah, begins to fall. The Government widens its rupiah trading band from 8 to 12 percent.
July 24: Several Asian currencies - the Thai baht, the Malaysian ringgit, the Philippine peso and the Indonesian rupiah - all slump as confidence in the region rapidly deteriorates.
August 14: After several days of decline of the rupiah, Indonesia abolishes its system of managed exchange rate. The rupiah sinks still further. October 6: The rupiah sinks to a new low of Rp. 3,845 against the dollar. The Indonesian Government announces it will ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance.
October 7: The IMF agrees to send a technical team to Indonesia to begin developing an economic restructuring program and a financial assistance package.
October 10: The White House announces it will provide emergency assistance to the Indonesian Government in combating forest fires aggravated by global El Nino weather patterns. The fires are causing high levels of air pollution across Southeast Asia and economic and environmental damage to several regions of the country.
October 31: Indonesia's IMF package is unveiled in Jakarta. It provides for as much as $40 billion in financial assistance, including a front-line defense fund of $23 billion. Indonesia agrees to close 16 insolvent banks, reduce import tariffs, deregulate several commodity products, open its domestic wholesale and retail markets, postpone several large infrastructure projects, and implement other economic reform measures. The IMF package includes a commitment from the United States of $3 billion in the form of second-tier defense loans and bilateral credits.
November 5: The IMF approves a $10 billion loan for Indonesia as part of the international package. November 22-24: President Soeharto discusses Indonesia's economic restructuring program with President Clinton at the APEC economic leaders meeting in Vancouver. The Asian financial crisis is a lead agenda item at the APEC meeting, but no policy decisions are reached by the leaders.
December 10-12: Indonesian Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammed travels to Washington and New York to meet with US officials, the IMF and business and banking leaders.
1998
January 6: Indonesia unveils its 1998/99 Central Government budget, which projects 4% economic growth in 1998 and a 23% increase in revenue and expenditures over the previous budget.
January 7-12: The rupiah loses half its value against the US dollar, breaking through the Rp. 10,000 to the dollar level, before a slight recovery. The freefall is precipitated by perceptions that the Central Government Budget was not tough enough to meet the IMF-mandated austerity measures and by market talk that Indonesia might declare a debt moratorium.
January 11: IMF Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer arrives in Jakarta to begin talks with the Indonesian Government about additional economic reform measures.
January 13-15: Defense Secretary William Cohen and Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers confer with Indonesian Government leaders in Jakarta. Secretary Cohen reiterates the important role Indonesia plays in ensuring regional security and stability.
January 14: IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus departs for Jakarta, saying that the IMF was asking Indonesia for a letter of intent commitment to implement further economic reforms.
January 15: President Soeharto and the IMF sign an agreement strengthening Indonesia's economic reform program. The agreement calls for significant new structural reforms, including lifting subsidies for energy, dismantling domestic trade restrictions in several industries, establishing greater independence for the Central Bank (Bank Indonesia), reducing selected foreign investment barriers and ending support for Indonesia's national automobile program and national aircraft program.
January 16: The Clinton Administration and the IMF announce strong public support for Indonesia's new economic restructuring program. Camdessus predicts the Indonesian economy will recover within two years.
January 21: The rupiah falls to a record low of Rp. 12,000 to the dollar. Reports surface that Indonesian corporations are now paying off their foreign debts in rupiah. President Soeharto formally establishes the Economic and Financial Resilience Council to supervise and monitor Indonesia's economic reforms. The Council immediately approves all of the reforms mandates under Phase I of the IMF agreement. Several presidential and ministerial decrees are signed into law.
January 22: The rupiah continues its fall a week after the Indonesian Government agrees to the new IMF-mandated reform measures. The IMF package shows no signs of alleviating Indonesia's debt and confidence crisis. The rupiah falls to a record low of Rp. 17,000 on speculation that Research and Technology Minister Jusef Habibie might emerge as Indonesia's next Vice President. Bank Indonesia intervenes and the rupiah pulls back up to 11,800.
January 23: The Indonesian Government announces a revised 1998/99 Central Government budget, based on new figures agreed to between the Government and the IMF. The new budget projects 0% economic growth in 1998, inflation of 20% and a return of the rupiah to Rp. 5,000 to the US dollar.
January 26: The Clinton Administration and the IMF issue statements supporting Indonesia's actions to comply with the IMF-mandated reform program.
January 27: Indonesia announces a temporary freeze on debt servicing, but says this action is not a moratorium. Companies with the dollars to pay off their creditors must continue to do so. Indonesia also announces a series of banking reforms in which the Government will guarantee the security of both depositors and creditors. The Government creates the Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA), which will be responsible for rehabilitating banks that are not sound or are unable to restore themselves to soundness.
February 6-12: Indonesia reports that it may set up a Currency Board System to stabilize the rupiah by establishing a direct peg to the US dollar. The rupiah strengthens on the news, rising 28% to a level of Rp. 7,600 to the dollar. However, within the next few days, the IMF and the Clinton Administration strongly urge Indonesia not to take this action at the present time. The rupiah declines again.
February 3-5: World Bank President James Wolfensohn visits Indonesia to discuss the impact of the economic crisis on Indonesia's low income and poor populations.
February 13: President Soeharto and President Clinton discuss Indonesia's restructuring program by telephone. President Clinton urges Indonesia not to establish a Currency Board System. President Soeharto reportedly tells President Clinton that the IMF-mandated program is not stabilizing the rupiah, and additional actions may be necessary.
February 13: President Soeharto installs Dr. Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, a respected Dean of Economics at the University of Indonesia, as Indonesia's new Ambassador to the United States. Indonesia's previous Ambassador in Washington, Arafin Siregar, retired from government service in November 1997.
February 15-17: Indonesia's major political parties and the Armed Forces (ABRI) endorse Jusef Habibie as Indonesia's next Vice President.
February 17: President Soeharto appoints Sjahril Sabirin as the new Governor of Bank Indonesia, replacing Soedradjad Djiwandono.
February 20: Japan announces a series of new loans, totaling 300 billion yen ($2.36 billion), to support Indonesia's recovery. The US, Japan and Australia announce a plan to grant export credits to Indonesia to help the country import badly-needed commodities and raw materials.
Ian Stewart in Kuala Lumpur and Jenny Grant in Jakarta
Hunger is forcing thousands of Indonesians to flee to Malaysia, police there said yesterday.
A senior police officer said recent batches of illegal immigrants from Indonesia sought arrest so that they could enjoy proper meals.
"Those interviewed told the authorities that it was better to eat rice in our jails than to survive on sweet potatoes or tapioca in their villages," he said.
Sulaiman Ali, commander of the general operations force central brigade, made the comment as illegal immigrants continued to flood into Malaysia despite tightened controls along border areas.
He said the interviews also revealed that more people were waiting to enter Malaysia illegally to "escape the economic hardship in their respective countries".
Malaysian police avoid referring to Indonesia directly, in accordance with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations compact that a member should not interfere in a neighbour's internal affairs, but have disclosed that the new immigrants are predominantly Indonesian.
In the past three weeks, police have detained 3,971 people landing illegally by boat in Peninsular Malaysia. During the whole of last year, the number of people detained in similar circumstances was 5,432. Apart from these "known" landings, many illegal immigrants are thought to have entered without being detected.
The deputy director of internal security and public order, Yusof Mohamad Said, who last week called on the public to help police cope with an "alarming" increase in illegal immigrants by making citizens' arrests, has proposed that a prison closed in 1996 be used to house the latest arrivals.
Mr Yusof said the 103-year-old Pudu Prison in Kuala Lumpur, which has been turned into a tourist attraction, should be reopened because official centres could hold only 1,000 more illegal immigrants in addition to the 11,000 in detention.
Senior police commanders have asked the Government to introduce tougher penalties for the operators of boats carrying illegal immigrants, including caning.
Food shortages have been reported in the Indonesian provinces of Central Sulawesi, East Kalimantan and Maluku due to a five-month drought. But there is concern the country's economic crisis may also be contributing to the influx of illegals.
In East Kalimantan there have been food shortages in several inland areas. Villagers on the Mahakam River either have no rice or cannot afford the supplies being brought in, and are eating root vegetables such as cassava and sago instead.
Seth Mydans, Jakarta -- As a decision nears on whether to infuse billions of dollars in international aid into Indonesia, a close look at President Suharto's performance shows a pattern of evasions and half-measures on the economic reforms he agreed to recently.
From cars to cloves to banks to plywood, the painful austerity measures Suharto promised in return for the aid made brief appearances. But many have disappeared again in a haze of missed deadlines, quick name changes and fiscal shuffling, according to Indonesian and foreign businessmen and economists.
Tax breaks for a "national car" were removed, only to reappear in a new form. Cartels controlled by Suharto's close friends in cloves and plywood seem to have been dismantled, only to rise again, the experts said.
Banking reform, probably the most critical step in regaining financial stability, appears to have been slowed by the financial interests of the country's elite.
The removal of subsidies for basic commodities has been announced several times, only to be delayed as food riots have flared around the country.
Officials of the United States and the International Monetary Fund warn that unless quick action is taken on reforms, a $43 billion rescue package could be suspended later this month, further deepening Indonesia's crisis and threatening economic fallout throughout the region.
For both the United States and the IMF, the stakes go beyond Indonesia itself. With its falling currency and huge foreign debt, Indonesia has become the epicenter of Asia's economic turmoil.
If the rescue effort fails in the world's fourth-largest nation, the damage could spread around the world. If Suharto successfully defies the IMF, U.S. and IMF officials worry that other countries would then feel free to ignore the fund's requirements for economic reform.
But Suharto, whose word has been law for 32 years, is resisting this formula, which would cut deeply into the interests of his wealthy children, his friends and favored businessmen.
And so, when the IMF demanded in January that he cut loose the tax breaks that allowed one of his sons to make money on a "national car," the president said yes, but soon found a loophole.
The car, called the Timor, was one of the most striking examples of Suharto family favoritism.
Under the control of a son, Hutomo Mandela Putra, it was made entirely in South Korea but was exempt from payment of import and luxury taxes. This allowed the Timor to undercut the prices of its Japanese and other competitors in Indonesia.
These exemptions were removed in the January agreement. But there seems to be some fine print. As of January, 39,000 Timor cars had been imported, of which 24,000 had been sold. Last month, the government decided that the remaining 15,000 cars could maintain their tax exemptions.
In the current slow-moving market, industry analysts estimate it will take two years to sell them -- by which time the tax exemption law would have expired anyway.
| Environment/land disputes |
Nick Edwards, Singapore -- Choking smog that blanketed much of Southeast Asia last year is set to be even worse in 1998 as tinderbox-dry Indonesian forest is consumed by fire, experts said on Thursday.
A rainy season cut dramatically short by the El Nino weather phenomenon and the possibility of prolonged dry weather and drought into September has created a highly combustible mix.
"We have predicted the potential for the fires to be even bigger than last year's," said Longgena Ginting, a programme co- ordinator with Indonesia's Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
"We had virtually no rain at all last year. The wet season was very short which left conditions just right for fire to spread," Ginting told Reuters in a telephone interview.
The situation is already desperate in East Kalimantan, where Ginting says fires have been concentrated around plantation and farm land, destroying up to 40,000 hectares so far this year.
Most of the fires are again said to have been lit to clear land for development, despite a ban on burning open land.
"In theory the government does not allow burning of open land, but in fact it goes on," Ginting said.
Walhi estimated about 1.7 million hectares (4.25 million acres) were affected by forest fires in 1997, while the polluting cloud of smog caused more than US$1.3 billion in damage to the region, said a study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Economy and Environment Programme for Southeast Asia.
Indonesia suffered some $1 billion in losses, more than 90 percent of which stemmed from short-term health costs. Malaysia suffered more than $300 million in damage, mostly from industrial production losses and a drop in tourism revenues.
The smog triggered repeated government health warnings, disrupted land, sea and air travel, blighted tourist arrivals and enraged environmentalists.
The same could be in store for 1998, particularly as the fires have been set three months earlier than previously. Ginting expects drought conditions to continue at least into July, and possibly into September.
Warnings about deteriorating air quality have already been issued in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the three worst-hit nations in last year's smog. While the main hot spots so far are in East Kalimantan, satellite images show that the fires are spreading swiftly and developing into major blazes.
"We hadn't had any major fires until about 10 days ago in Sumatra. We saw many, many small fires but now it is alarming that we are seeing some major fires breaking out," said Lim Hock, the director of Singapore's Centre for Remote Sensing, Imaging and Processing.
"East Kalimantan is burning badly and is pretty much out of control, while in Sumatra big smoke plumes are beginning to emerge and that is a concern."
"A lot depends on factors like wind direction, the size of the fires and the way they are managed," he said.
A lot too could depend on the finances available to fight the fires, already stretched because of Asia's protracted economic crisis, of which Indonesia has become a principal victim.
The cost of 1997's slash and burn fires is regarded as a contributory factor to the country's economic instability. Millions of dollars in international aid have already been pledged to help Jakarta fight the fires in 1998.
Indonesian government officials on Thursday forecast rain over most of the country's farm land, predicting rainfall over the southern part of Sumatra and the western portion of Kalimantan.
The International Monetary Fund's US$43 billion economic rescue package, desperately needed by Indonesia, could also make the fires harder to deal with.
"The IMF has said Indonesia must open up. If we open up our timber market now, it will allow more foreign investors to come in and they will want to increase the rate of land clearing. It could make the problem worse," Ginting said.
Geoff Spencer, Balikpapan -- Five men, some with shoes, others barefoot, trudged up the smoky forest highway toward a wall of flames.
"We're here to put out the fire. The authorities gave us these," one said, proudly referring to a battered plastic water tank strapped to his back.
Until now, he explained, they had to beat flames out with tree branches.
This time, they walked about two miles from the nearest water hole to fill each four-gallon tank. When they finish dousing this fire, they will walk back, refill and hike to another blaze, he said.
Wildfires that poured choking smoke across much of Southeast Asia and threatened the health of an estimated 70 million people last year have returned to the jungles of Borneo island.
Indonesia's worried neighbors have demanded strong action. But bogged down in its worst economic crisis in three decades, Indonesia admits that without heavy rain it has almost no chance of preventing haze from spreading across the region again.
Most days, a heavy haze blankets the cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda, both about 745 miles north of Jakarta. Their airports have been closed much of the time since the first fires started in January.
Here the sun burns orange in a gray sky. Smoke fills the nose, irritates the throat and stings the eyes. Doctors warn of a dramatic increase in respiratory infections and asthma if the haze persists.
"We could face major health problems if it does not rain soon," said Dr. Jusuf, the head of a hospital in Samarinda.
The smoke is worst in two national parks that are home to rare species such as orangutan apes.
Scientists warn that together with drought, the haze could devastate harvests as it did last year when crops could not get enough sunshine to grow.
"The smoke has ruined my crop. Fruit from my trees is too small to sell," complains Kondo, a farmer who lives on the edge of the burning forest.
As last year, officials have said many of the fires appear to have been set, a cheap way for farmers, plantation owners and logging companies to clear land. Officials using satellite imaging count between 400 and 600 hotspots a day in eastern Borneo and dozens more in central Sumatra island. Fires have also been spotted in the Malaysian-controlled northern part of Borneo.
At this time of year, these locales should be green, lush and wet. But meteorologists say El Nino has cut short the rainy season, leaving jungles, farmland and commercial forest areas tinder-dry.
The government says about 22,000 acres of land have been blackened in Borneo. But Grant Beebe, a forest fire expert from Boise, Idaho, said the damage could be in the hundreds of thousands of acres.
Several hundred soldiers, firefighters and farmers are battling the fires with buckets or branches of trees, said Beebe, who works for a German-funded aid project monitoring the problem.
They haven't had much success, he said, but "it's an improvement on the past when people just let fires burn. At least now they know they should at least try to control them."
More sophisticated methods have also had little success.
When the fires first started in Borneo costly water bombing planes were sent up for a few days -- to little effect.
The government then began a cloud-seeding operation in which a plane drops salt crystals into clouds to induce rain. But so far that also has failed.
Indonesia's neighbors seem resigned to another year of choking on Indonesia's smoke. In Singapore, the state-owned television advised people to get their air filters and face masks ready.
"Prepare early and well for the full impact of El Nino," viewers were warned this week.
Balikpapan -- Wildlife officials said Saturday that they had found the charred remains of dozens of rare animals in a national park in eastern Borneo, where forest fires are burning.
Doctors warned people, meanwhile, to expect an increase in upper respiratory tract infections if thick smoke and haze from the fires continue to build near the cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda, about 750 miles northeast of Jakarta.
"We could face major health problems if it does not rain soon," said Dr. Jusuf, head of a state-run hospital in Samarinda.
The fires have been burning as a drought grips the eastern part of Borneo island, which should be having heavy rains at this time of year. Meteorologists blame the El Nino weather phenomenon for the delay of the wet season.
Last year, hundreds of fires between July and November across Indonesia produced a haze over much of Southeast Asia, threatening the health of millions. The new fires in Borneo have raised fears the haze might return, perhaps even worse than the last time.
As in 1997, officials say that many of the fires have been started deliberately by farmers as well as plantation and forestry companies to clear land cheaply.
The official Antara news agency reported that rangers in the Kutai National Park, north of Samarinda, had found a large number of remains of orangutans, small deer, snakes and porcupines.
Fires have also broken out in the Bukit Suharto conservation park, south of Samarinda.
Earlier this week at least eight orangutans, including four babies, were saved by wildlife officials after parts of their natural habitat were burned.
Two other orangutans were found dead in traps. Mother apes sometimes are hunted by villagers who take their young to sell as pets.
The government estimates at least 34,600 acres of forest have been burned since January.
Jenny Grant, Samarinda -- Towns and villages in East Kalimantan province are suffering a severe water crisis, with river levels drastically lowered by drought and fire-fighting.
The low level of the capital Samarinda's main Mahakam River has made water from it unfit for people to drink.
The river has dropped three metres in the town and seawater has intruded 60 kilometres upstream, raising the salt content.
"Because of the fires and the drought, there is no water feeding into the river, so there is no fresh water to push out the salty water," said Abrianto Amin, director of the Indonesian Environment Forum's local branch.
Health workers in Samarinda warned of a widespread outbreak of diarrhoea in the coming weeks as residents picked up infections from dirty water.
Samarinda, a town of 400,000 people, ran out of running water three days ago.
The only way to wash, cook or drink for most residents is to buy bottled water.
Water sellers on the streets are doing a brisk trade in the midst of a countrywide recession.
Men pull carts laden with cans of water through the dusty town while mothers carry pails of water from communal wells that are running low.
Plastic water tanks carrying 1,000 litres sell for 12,000 rupiah (HK$12), while 25-litre jerrycans of 25 litres of water sell for 500 rupiah.
Most people earn about 4,000 rupiah a day, and with the price of rice and cooking oil rising almost daily, buying water is an expense they can ill afford.
Wood collector Handoko, 82, said he had to walk across two hills on the outskirts of town for his water supply.
"It's at least a two-kilometre walk to the nearest stream," said the Javanese migrant who moved to Samarinda eight years ago.
In the village of Sangkimah, where salt has also polluted the main river, residents have to travel 8 km to the neighbouring state-owned Pertamina gas estate to buy fresh water. Bushfires ring the village and there has been no rain for five months.
"There is usually a harvest every August but this year there will be no harvest," said Hawa, who sells palm leaves for roof thatching.
The story is the same in Teluk Pandang, 30 km away, where farmers say they cannot get enough water for their market gardens.
"Rice here is 2,300 rupiah a kilo, but last year it was only 1,000 rupiah. We are just hoping the people in Jakarta send us rice," said 53-year-old Fatima.
A contractor building a road through the village delivers a 5,000-litre drum of dirty drinking water every three days.
"It's free because they know we're having a tough time, but it's still not enough and we have to ration the water," said cacao farmer Sinar, one of 2,000 residents of the Teluk Pandang area.
The resurgence of bush and forest fires in Indonesia has raised fears of a return of the massive blanket of smog that smothered much of Southeast Asia last year. The haze of 1997 was caused by thousands of blazes across the country, but why were they so widespread?
The cause of last year's fires in Indonesia remains the subject of heated debate. Environmental activists blamed the timber and plantation industries for using uncontrolled burning to clear land, while many Indonesian government ministers said it was the result of unusually dry conditions brought by the El Nino weather pattern.
The truth is probably a combination of the two. Most of the fires were started deliberately, some by individual farmers hoping to plant a few crops under the jungle canopy, others by commercial plantations cashing in on demand for rubber and palm oil. But the growing hunger for land coincided with the worst drought for half a century. The fires simply refused to go out.
Human causes
The World Wide Fund for Nature says that many of the world's forest fires last year were started deliberately, and often illegally, in order to clear land for planting or development, or to cover up illegal logging. Setting fire to the land is the quickest, cheapest way of clearing land. Any other method in the former tropical forests of Indonesia is much more difficult.
Don Henry, Director of WWF's global forest programme: "While the causes are complex, the smoking gun in almost all cases is widespread forest destruction and land clearing for plantations.
"Rainforests should not burn. But by clearing vast areas through destructive logging practices, loggers have made them tinderboxes waiting for somebody to strike a match. As more and more rainforests are destroyed, it will be easier and easier to set them on fire."
The WWF has called for the strict enforcement of national laws controlling forest fires and the introduction of new laws where necessary. The fund wants improved management of the world's forests.
But environmentalists argue that most fires in Indonesia were started by large conglomerates and politically-influential businesses who had been given licenses to turn vast areas of Borneo and Sumatra into commercial plantations.
Environmentalist Emmy Hafild: "Without government ability to control the attitude of the big business and the vested interests groups, I think the forest fires will not be able to be controlled or be prevented. It depends on the political will of the government to really implement laws and rules that have been in place but never been implemented."
For years Indonesia's forests have been viewed as the country's green gold - a rich source of revenue for the government, and of profits for the companies which have been allowed to exploit them. Environmental campaigners believe the fires are just the latest chapter in a long history of unsustainable forestry practices by big business.
Unsurprisingly the forestry industry disagrees. Bob Hasan, timber tycoon and close friend of Indonesia's President Suharto, is unrepentant. He admits lighting fires in the forest, but dismisses the complaints of his critics.
"When we do deforestation, we do organised burning. Organised burning means we clean up the shrubs, we clean up the grass, because if you do not clean the shrubs, it might become a fire hazard. We want to develop our country on a sustainable basis, but sometimes some of the NGOs come in and say you're violating environment rules, you're violating human rights, but usually things like this comes from communist individuals."
The Environment Minister, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, says that in the past licences for lighting fires have been given away very cheaply to all kinds of people. During last year's crisis, he called for tighter controls.
A list was drawn up of firms which were to lose their licenses, but some managed to escape the clampdown. Two of Mr Hasan's companies were originally on the list, but were removed a few days later.
The current financial problems faced by Indonesia could increase the harmful effects of the economy on the forests this year. Mr Kusumaatmadja said most of the recent blazes had been lit by farmers or by plantation companies desperately trying to recoup losses by clearing more land for cultivation. He added that poor people who could not afford fuel were also chopping down trees.
El Nino
Although Indonesia is used to forest fires breaking in the dry season, it was caught out by the severity of the 1997 inferno.
The blazes were made much worse by prolonged drought, exacerbated by the century's most severe El Nino weather event, which dried out the usually lush rainforests and left them more susceptible to fire.
So-called greenhouse gasses released from the fires may in turn have contributed to the increased severity of El Nino producing what the WWF describes as a vicious cycle of destruction. The environmental group estimates that six months of fires in Indonesia could release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the combined annual production of cars and power stations in Western Europe.
To make matters worse, last year's fires set alight peat deposits that will remain burning deep underground for months or even years and surface during the dry season.
| Human rights/law |
The following is a summary of two messages (translated) received today from a group in West Papua.
Military harrass villagers in search for OPM - March 4, 1998 A military operation has been underway in the Wissel Lakes area of West Papua (L. Paniai, Tigi and Taga) since August 1997. Troops from a S. Sulawesi unit are huntung for Thadeus Yogi -- one of the OPM leaders who they believe to be hiding in the forests. Hundreds of soldiers are spread out through the forests where local people use for collecting firewood, hunting and other activities. They are now completely unable to use the forests and are living in fear.
The problem not only affects people in the Wissel Lakes area, but also as far as Kamu (Moeanemani) and Mapia. Anyone going to the interior of the Paniai area who is not carrying a travel warrant is questioned or even struck by the military.
The troops sometimes raid local people's gardens or take their livestock. It is not uncommon for them to "pester" (lit) women and others. They have also held a number of people who they accused of protesting against their raids. The victims were beaten and accused of being supporters of Thadeus Yogi. These include Rufus Giay from the village of Diyai and Videlis Bukega from Okomokebo (in Waghete) who were arrested for apparently having false documents. The two men who only have primary education have no idea who these are or who prepared them. Nevertheless, they are still in detention at the millitary headquarters in Waghete.
There are many other similar cases, but people are afraid to speak out due to intimidation by the military.
Although the army is searching for Thadeus Yogi in the forest, he may be moving from village to village. The remains of tinned food and imported cigarettes plus an incriminating letter bearing the signatures of Thadeus and the local military commander have been found in places where he is supposed to have stayed. Locals suspect that the military may be using Thadeus for their own purposes -- such as seeking promotion or supplementing their incomes -- at the expense of innocent civilians.
Community leader shot by military after family row
A family row resulted in bloodshed by the military in the village of Utekini, Tembagapura, West Papua on 3rd March 1998. Pegabus Waker (47), who is a leader of the Dani community and a LEMASA supporter, lost his temper with some young men in his family because they had been womanising. He stormed out of his house with his bow and arrows shouting and threatening his relatives.
However, he was confronted by dozens of troops and Freeport workers who have been trying to force some 350 families from that village to undergo immediate resettlement to a transmigration site. These people thought he was threatening them. Without any warning, military commander Dan Ramil took out his revolver and shot Waker in the foot. The victim collapsed in pain and was rushed to hospital in Tembagapura. Dan Ramil claimed he was aiming for the ground, but eye witnesses dispute this.
A member of the community who did not want to be named said "Pegabus Waker is a leader of our community and has consistently strongly opposed the forced resettlement of the inhabitants of Utekini and Pindah Baru by Freeport who are working with the army and the local government. This is just a warning to other community leaders in order to silence the people's opposition".
Jakarta - Police will question the chief editor of an Indonesian magazine that was rapped by the government for a "degrading" cover on President Suharto, the Jakarta Post reported on Saturday.
National Police spokesman Brigadier General Da'i Bachtiar said his office would start questioning the editor, Margiono, on Monday about the March 7 issue of the weekly magazine Detektif dan Romantika (D&R) which portrayed Suharto as the King of Spades on its cover.
"Margiono will be summoned as a suspect in a case of alleged defamation against the president. The cover of his magazine has allegedly violated Articles 134, 136 and 137 of the Criminal Code on defaming the head of the state," the newspaper quoted the spokesman as saying.
Indonesia is in the midst of meetings of its highest government body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), that will culminate in presidential elections next Wednesday. Suharto is expected to be re-elected for a seventh five-year term.
Earlier this week, Information Minister Hartono slammed the magazine cover, saying, "In my opinion it is very degrading because Suharto is not a king and we do not have a kingdom here."
Director General of Press and Graphics H. Dailami also weighed in, saying the cover and reporting of the magazine had misled readers.
"Portraying the president on a game card...suggests that Bapak Suharto becomes president because he was treated as a king, whilst (in reality) he was elected as president through a constitutional mechanism," Dailami said in a statement to D&R's Margiono, the newspaper reported. Meanwhile, the government-sanctioned Indonesia Journalists Association has suspended Margiono from the association for two years.
Accordingly, the magazine would have to appoint a new editor, the official Antara news agency quoted association chairman Sofyan Lubis as saying.
Suharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana has said her family did not intend to sue the magazine.
In June 1994, Suharto banned three weeklies -- Tempo, Detik and Editor -- after they gave extensive coverage to an internal cabinet row between Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad and Research and Technology Minister Jusuf Habibie over the purchase of second-hand German warships.
Habibie is expected to be elected vice-president next week.
A number of D&R staff formerly worked on Tempo magazine, which had won a wide following for its reporting.
[An article in the independent news service SiaR dated March 6, said that in Medan, Bandung, Surabaya and Yogyakarta, copies (if they could be found) were selling for 30,000 to 50,000 Rupiah. SiaR also reported that at the prestigious Hotel Indonesia in Central Jakarta, it was selling for as much as 100,000 Rupiah. Last year, the magazine was forced change the cover of its June 5 edition (even though it had already been printed and the cover had been advertised in a number of newspapers) which had a picture of a polling station official looking at and invalidated ballot paper. The title "Criticising the Elections" and the lead story on election fraud also had to be dumped. The Minister of Information, Hartono told the daily Suara Karya that the governemnt was "considering" revoking or suspending the magaiznes licence - James Balowski.]
123 demonstrators who took part in a 'Red-and-White Brigade' demonstration in Jakarta on 11 February are to be charged under Law No 5/PNPS/1993 regarding involvement in political activities, according to the public affairs officer of the Jakarta police force. The law allows a maximum penalty of five years.
The demonstrators were protesting against the sharp increase in prices.
The police officer said that the cases had been handed over to the public prosecutor for trial.
They are deemed to have been carrying out political activities without seeking prior police permission and moreover, their activities caused public disorder,' he said.
He said he was not sure whether the 123 defendants would be charged under Article 3 or Article 5 of the 1963 law.
Law 5/PNPS/1993 was a presidential decree introduced by Sukarno in 1963 and enacted into law by the New Order in 1969. It defines political activities as activities that can directly or indirectly influence the basic state policy or its implementation.
[Having been introduced under Sukarno, the language used is that of his Guided Democracy. Its stated purpose is to safeguard the basic tenets of the Indonesian Revolution and Sukarno's Political Manifesto introduced in 1960.]
Article 3 states that anyone engaging in political activities such as organising meetings or gatherings or demonstrations is required to inform the police as well as the local National Front at least 72 hours in advance, specifying the objectives and nature of the activities planned. Article 5 relates to political activities involving display material.
The law gives the police powers to disperse, halt and take measures against any political activities which are deemed to be in violation of this law.
| Arms/armed forces |
Jakarta -- According to SiaR sources, General Wiranto, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces is to be replaced in mid-March. Wiranto will fill a post in the new cabinet as Minister of Defence and Security. The source mentioned that General Subagyo, presently Chief of Staff of the Army (KSAD), will replace Wiranto, while the post of KSAD will be filled by Lieut.Gen. Prabowo.
Besides Wiranto, Head of the Armed Forces Social and Political Affairs Department, Lieut. Gen. Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a general supporting Wiranto, will also be pushed aside. There is as yet no information as to where Soesilo is to be posted. There is a possibility that he will be appointed ambassador. The SiaR source said that Soeharto decided to replace Wiranto and remove his supporters because of the fear that Wiranto and his group might force through political reforms.
"Pak Harto has become increasingly worried after the oath of loyalty to Wiranto issued by armed forces commanders during the ceremony installing Wiranto as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces," said the source.
[The commanders were required to each give a verbal oath of allegiance to Wiranto which was seen by analysts as a rebuff against Kopassus chief, Prabowo who is Suharto's son-in-law - James Balowski.]
Wiranto's supporters in the regions, according to this information, will also be moved to non-command posts to isolate them from access to field troops.
Maj.Gen. Agum Gumelar, the Wirabuana Commander who initiated the oath of loyalty, will, in the near future, be appointed Governor of The National Defense Institute (LEMHANAS). Even though he is a lieutenant general, Agum will be removed from command access to troops. In the same way, a number of commanders who supported Wiranto, such as Johny Lumintang, who was previously predicted to be appointed to the post of General Staff Head of the ABRI (Kasum ABRI). is to be removed. The Brawijaya and Diponegoro commanders are also soon to be replaced by people more loyal to Soeharto.
Jakarta -- The Indonesian military Monday formally denied persistent rumours an army battalion had deserted its base on the outskirts of Jakarta and accused an outlawed leftist group of trying to stir up trouble.
He told the state Antara new agency that the outlawed People's Democratic Party was suspected to be behind the rumours. The party was earlier accused by the military of involvement in a Jakarta bomb plot.
Nachrowi, Jakarta military spokesman, insisted the rumour of hundreds of infanty troops deserting their post in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, was groundless.
The rumours, along with scores of others about planned or actual riots, bomb plots and other incidents of unrest, have been swirling through Jakarta for weeks.
| International relations |
Jenny Grant, Jakarta -- Jailed trade unionist Muchtar Pakpahan warned a senior US State Department official yesterday against donating aid to Indonesia without demanding political reforms.
The Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Stanley Roth, met Pakpahan for one hour at a hospital where he is receiving medical treatment for a lung tumour.
"I told him that the US should not give IMF money without reformation. If they do give money without democracy and the rule of law here they will not help the people but the corruptors," said Pakpahan, who heads the outlawed Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union.
The United States is one of the main donors to the International Monetary Fund's US$43 billion (HK$332.82 billion) aid package.
"Who made the crisis of nepotism and collusions? It was [President] Suharto, his family and his close circle," said Pakpahan, who has been in hospital under military guard for 12 months.
Mr Roth told the unionist his political trial and health were becoming a "central focus" for Washington's human rights policy on Indonesia.
The hospital visit was a closely guarded secret. Mr Roth is part of the entourage of special US presidential envoy Walter Mondale, who met Mr Suharto yesterday.
Pakpahan is serving a four-year jail term for inciting labour unrest in April 1994 in Medan, North Sumatra. He has also been charged with inciting riots in Jakarta in 1996.
Opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri snubbed a major address yesterday by Mr Suharto and told the veteran statesman to reassess his time in power.
[Remarks by Pakpahan from other sources suggest that his views on Suharto and how to overcome the crisis are either contradictory or are being quoted selectively. Excerpts from a Vancouver Sun report dated March 5 quoted Pakpahan in an interview as saying "...a popular uprising is now the duty of every Indonesian" and "If the mass of people mount demonstrations, then they are speaking like in the Philippines and it is entirely constitutional". Then in a South China Morning Post article dated March 2, he was quoted by an Associated Press reporter as saying "...only foreign governments could push Mr Suharto into allowing democratic reform." and "He will never hear his people, he only hears on the international level." - James Balowski]
| Economy and investment |
Jakarta -- Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves dropped to 16.33 billion U.S. dollars at the end of February from 17.07 billion dollars Feb. 16, and from 28.85 billion dollars in June 1997, before the country began to face its current economic crisis, the central bank said Tuesday.
Miranda Gultom, the central bank's director for monetary and economic statistics and research, said in a statement that current foreign exchange reserves will be enough to finance the importation of non-oil and gas products for four months.
In addition, she said, Indonesia has 1.87 billion dollars in standby loans.
Currency dealers said the central bank may have used the reserves to defend the battered rupiah, the country's currency.
The latest announcement from Bank Indonesia, the central bank, was issued amid criticism over Indonesia's plan to set up a currency board to peg the rupiah to the dollar.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and world leaders have opposed the idea, saying it would plunge the country's economy deeper as it needs to maintain its large foreign exchange reserves.
Local newspapers quoted the Central Bureau of Statistics as saying that rising commodity prices pushed the country's monthly inflation rate to 12.76% in February, compared with 1.05% in the same month last year.
The figure marked the highest monthly inflation rate in the 30 years of President Suharto's government.
It also pushed the rate for the 11 months of the current fiscal year, which will end March 31, to 28.73%, much higher than the 5.29% cumulative inflation rate recorded in the same period in the previous fiscal year.
The bureau said that in February, food prices increased by 16.07%, housing by 10.03%, clothing by 15.62%, and miscellaneous goods and services by 9.31%.
The government projects the inflation rate for next fiscal year to reach 20%.
| Politics |
Jenny Grant, Jakarta -- Indonesia's Golkar party says it will trust President Suharto with sweeping new special powers - but was at a loss to describe what they will entail.
"We will give the powers and it means we trust the President to report it to Parliament," senior Golkar member Marwah Daud Ibrahim said yesterday.
The armed forces and Golkar are seeking to introduce broad presidential powers allowing Mr Suharto to act against any group or individual threatening the state.
But the Golkar members were unable to explain exactly what the special powers were.
"They are special powers and no one knows what kind of powers will be given, but they will be used during any time they are needed," Ms Ibrahim said.
Mr Suharto, 76, last year suggested a 1966 decree be revived to give him more power to ensure national security.
A provisional parliament gave the powers to Mr Suharto to restore order after a failed coup in 1965.
Details of the powers are unclear, but human rights activists say they will give the President the authority to declare a state of emergency, silence political opponents and arrest individuals at whim.
Golkar representatives said the planned "umbrella" powers would be in line with the constitution and existing laws.
The new powers are expected to be passed by the Peoples' Consultative Assembly next week.
"We want to give the President the right to decide on our behalf," said Ms Ibrahim.
Mr Suharto is expected to be appointed to a seventh term on Tuesday.
[During a press meeting with four Golkar representatives, a March 7 report in Kompas, described them as having to "resort to text books and hurried huddles before responding to questions from a gallery of mostly foreign journalists." It went on to say that when questioned about the nature of the decree, one of the representatives, Marwah Daud, said "It's a special power, but nobody knows what kind of power this is." Her response was met with a roomful of laughter - James Balowski.]
Jakarta - The essential qualifications to be Indonesia's vice- president are a low profile and a good supply of jokes to entertain President Suharto, outgoing Vice-President Try Sutrisno has said.
Try, who is retiring at the end of a five-year term in March, was quoted by the Jakarta Post on Saturday as telling local reporters that Suharto was like a "ship's captain."
"There is only one sun for the whole earth," he said when asked how he had handled his relationship with the autocratic Suharto, 76, a former army general who has ruled Indonesia since the mid- 1960s.
"Suharto loves jokes," Try, 62, added. "I told him jokes, especially during his spare time. But of course not dirty jokes."
None of Suharto's vice-presidents has lasted more than one term and Try said he wanted to continue that tradition.
Try, who was head of the armed forces before becoming vice- president, said when he retires, "I will work as a security guard for my wife, who manages a social foundation and a school."
Jakarta -- Muslim politician Amien Rais, a longtime critic of the Suharto administration, yesterday said that he was withdrawing his bid for the presidency and supporting the re-election of Mr Suharto for a record seventh five-year term.
Speaking on the privately-run SCTV television station on a day when students from the University of Indonesia demonstrated for a second day for political and economic reform, he backed Research and Technology Minister B. J. Habibie as the next vice-president.
Mr Amien, who in recent weeks mounted a vocal campaign against Mr Suharto and the government for failing to produce a credible response to the economic crisis, did not say what made him withdraw his bid.
In any case, his chances were remote given that he lacked support in the People's Consultative Assembly which meets next week to elect a president and vice-president.
But he asked the government to make sure that food did not become too expensive -- an issue which an estimated 5,000 students at the University of Indonesia were also concerned about.
Asia: As the Indonesian president prepares for a 7th term amid social and financial upheaval, the White House decides that pressing for radical change could lead to chaos.
Jim Mann, Washington -- The Clinton administration has decided to stick by Indonesian President Suharto rather than press for the aging leader to step down or make far-reaching political changes in his authoritarian regime, administration officials say.
Over the past month, the administration has grown increasingly worried about the deteriorating economic and political situation in Indonesia, which is the fourth most populous nation and next to some of the world's most important sea lanes.
With unemployment rising and the currency plummeting in Indonesia amid the region's economic crisis, one senior administration official said, "You have the potential for a really explosive mix."
Against a backdrop of riots and social unrest, Suharto, 76, is about to stage-manage another term as president. Despite growing calls for political reform, a special assembly that opens today is virtually certain to name Suharto -- Asia's longest-serving leader -- to a seventh term.
Nevertheless, in a series of top-level meetings, the Clinton administration has rejected the idea of a "Manila scenario," in which Suharto might have been encouraged to yield to democratic forces, as was done with the late Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
One reason has been the fear that any such American effort might backfire and produce a wave of repression in Indonesia similar to the late 1980s crackdowns in China and Myanmar (formerly Burma), U.S. officials say. Another factor is concern that Suharto's departure would produce a power vacuum with an unpredictable outcome.
One senior administration official said the highest priority for the United States in Indonesia now "is stability, which is in a true sense a political matter... If you start trying to pull the plug on Suharto now, the question is, what could happen?" Weighing these factors, the administration has decided to support Suharto during the current crisis and delay any concerted effort to encourage a political liberalization in Indonesia, where Suharto's repressive regime has endured for more than three decades.
Some critics have been arguing that the administration, as part of its response to Indonesia's economic crisis, should push Suharto to loosen restrictions on dissent and to bring political opponents into his government.
"I'd be prepared to play a little more hardball," said Paul Wolfowitz, a former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia. "The United States ought to position itself to some degree in the direction of evolutionary change. Somehow the message ought to get across [to Suharto] in a non-offensive way that the government ought to have a broader base."
Administration officials, however, have concluded that Suharto's political opponents are too weak and splintered to have much political impact.
"There's no unified opposition movement," one U.S. official said. "There's an unprecedented amount of criticism [of the regime], but there's no organization to pull this together into some kind of movement."
Instead of pushing for political change now, administration officials are hoping for a more gradual democratization in Indonesia over a decade-long period, as happened in Taiwan.
Over the past few weeks, the administration has been far more preoccupied with Indonesia than it has acknowledged.
One administration official termed the situation "a crisis that no one knows is a crisis."
Senior members of the administration, including the foreign policy team and domestic advisors, have gathered regularly in meetings chaired by White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles to keep track of unfolding developments in Indonesia.
Internal disagreements over policy
According to two government sources, U.S. policy toward Indonesia has been plagued by internal disagreements between the State and Treasury departments.
Treasury has been seeking to press Suharto to phase out subsidies, end monopolies -- mainly held by his cronies -- and take other steps toward economic reform. The State Department is said to be more worried that some of these changes -- such as an end to subsidies for cooking oil, a basic foodstuff -- could lead to greater political instability and thus undermine Suharto.
"There's a fairly substantial divide between the State and Treasury departments," said one U.S. official familiar with the inter-agency meetings. But administration officials deny the existence of such friction. "There has not been serious disagreement between the State and Treasury departments on Indonesia," insisted one senior administration official, who, like others, did not want to be identified.
There has been little internal debate, however, about the political strategy of continuing to support Suharto -- although, with Indonesia in need of economic help from the IMF and the international community, it might appear that the United States has greater leverage than it has had in the past.
U.S. officials point out that Indonesia has had only two changes of political power in its history.
The first was when the nation won its freedom from Dutch rule nearly five decades ago. The second was in 1965-66, when then- President Sukarno fell and was replaced by Suharto amid bloody upheavals that led to the killing of an estimated 300,000 Indonesians, including ethnic Chinese and those suspected of being Communists or sympathizers.
Since then, Suharto has effectively suppressed political opposition.
Administration officials fear that, if Suharto is challenged by some sort of "people power" movement like the one that toppled Marcos, he might respond by unleashing the military to crack down on demonstrators.
Administration officials flatly reject any equation between the situation in Indonesia today and that of the Philippines in 1985-86, when the United States ended its long-standing support for Marcos and encouraged the opening that led to his dramatic departure from the country.
At the time, the Philippines had not only an active, organized political opposition led by Corazon Aquino but also a reform movement within the armed forces willing to challenge Marcos. By contrast, U.S. officials say, the Indonesian military seems relatively united behind Suharto.
Moreover, administration officials privately argue that the United States has far less political influence in Indonesia than it has in the Philippines, where the U.S. was once the colonial power. And they believe that none of the close U.S. allies with influence in Indonesia -- including Japan, Germany and Australia -- would support any effort to force or nudge Suharto from power.
The U.S. approach was symbolized by its handling of Suharto's recent selection of his close friend B.J. Habibie as Indonesia's next vice president. Habibie's record suggests that he would not favor liberalization of the Indonesian economy. Although the administration made clear its unhappiness with the choice, it did not challenge it.
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Jakarta's vice-presidential battle may help Soeharto save face, suggests George J. Aditjondro
Indonesia's central bank governor, Dr Sudradjad Djiwandono, who closed banks linked with the First Family last year, was "honourably discharged" by President Soeharto. He had already tendered his resignation the previous week in protest at Soeharto's plan to peg the rupiah to the US dollar.
This latest confrontation with the IMF, and the military's endorsement of the vice-president candidacy of Technology Minister B.J. Habibie, overshadowed another political event in Jakarta. A day before Djiwandono's sacking, former Indonesian environment minister Professor Emil Salim decided to challenge Dr Habibie's for the vice-presidential post next month.
Outstanding among Salim's hundreds of supporters is Sumitro Djojohadikusumo. The founder of the University of Indonesia's Faculty of Economics, he is the father-in-law of the sacked central bank governor, and also the father of the 47-year-old rising army star, Prabowo Subianto, who is married to Soeharto's second daughter.
Interestingly, while his father and brother-in-law seem to disagree with Soeharto, Prabowo himself was promoted last week to Lieutenant General to command the powerful Army Reserve Unit (Kostrad). He is a strong Soeharto loyalist.
To divert the public's anger from his father-in-law, Prabowo and his clique of Army officers have instigated anti-Chinese and anti-Christian sentiments among Indonesian Muslims. They have accused a Sino-Indonesian tycoon Sofyan Wanandi of funding the underground left-wing People's Democratic Party (PRD), and encouraged demonstrations at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, ironically Soeharto's main support group before he began to woe Muslim support with Habibie's assistance in the late 1980s.
These dirty tactics have raised eyebrows among relatives of Prabowo, whose mother is a Christian. Prabowo's younger brother, Hashim, who runs the family's multi-billion business empire with Prabowo's wife, works closely with many Chinese business partners.
So, Djiwandono's opposition to the currency board, his father-in-law's campaign for Salim's vice presidency, and Prabowo's Chinese scapegoating campaign can be seen as emerging cracks in the Suharto's oligarchy.
On the other hand, the Salim campaign can also be seen as a face-saving tactic for Suharto himself. It is mainly addressed at Washington, which has not made up its mind whether to continue supporting the ailing 76-year old dictator, or to dump him.
There is much support for Habibie as Suharto's running mate -- and potential successor -- from US aircraft industries and airlines. The Miami-based Gulfstream International Airlines bought four airplanes made in Habibie's aircraft industry, IPTN. Habibie's son, who directs IPTN's national jet project, did his apprenticeship with Boeing in Seattle in 1995.
After a recent meeting with Soeharto in Jakarta, Boeing boss Philip Condit said: "We have worked over the years with IPTN, we are supporting the current development of the N-250, and we will continue to assist that airplane proceed toward certification."
Promoting Salim to vice-president may prevent conflicts between the White House and Capitol Hill with the powerful US military industrial complex, while still prolonging US support for the Suharto oligarchy.
Salim was a Berkeley-educated economist prepared by the CIA to assist Soeharto's take over from Sukarno in 1966. In 1978, after the student movement opposed Soeharto's presidency, Salim saved Soeharto's image among the young activists by supporting Indonesia's emerging environmental movement. As Environment Minister for 15 years, Salim discouraged Indonesian environmentalists from applying Greenpeace tactics, and encouraged them to develop a non-oppositional style of environmentalism instead.
Without an explicit agenda to restructure Indonesia's political and economic system, Salim's vice-presidential candidacy may become a new sugar coating on the bitter pill of Suharto's oligarchy.