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ASIET NetNews Number 18 - May 18-23, 1998
Political/economic crisisProtests peaceful as troops take control
Human rights/lawHow the deal was done Soldiers go in to throw out students Soldiers roust out students in Jakarta Suharto's resignation speech Deserted city ringed by steel
PoliticsIndonesia's new information minister
Arms/armed forcesHabibie's cabinet Suharto's regime still rules Wiranto rejects probe of Suharto as divisive President's family among world's richest The Rudy Habibie empire After Suharto, who? army's backing crucial Students were shot dead with live bullets
International relationsSuharto's son-in-law moved from key post Elite unit suspected of torture
World leaders express support US ends awkward diplomatic dance
| Democratic struggle |
Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians marched against President Suharto across the nation Wednesday, while political leaders jockeyed for his ouster and the military took control of Jakarta.
With barbed wire and tanks, platoons of soldiers sealed off a park next to the Presidential Palace in Jakarta to block a huge antigovernment protest. Opposition leaders quickly called off that rally, fearing more bloodshed.
Activists had promised to stage big anti-Suharto rallies across the country to mark the 90th anniversary of the birth of Indonesia movement against Dutch rule.
Police estimated 250,000 people protested in Yogyakarta, Mr. Suharto's hometown, to demand that he step down immediately. Other witnesses said the turnout was twice that number.
Large but peaceful protests also erupted in a half dozen other cities -- including Bogor, Bandung, Solo and Ujung Pandang -- and students occupied Parliament for the third straight day.
In a speech Wednesday, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright urged Mr. Suharto to "preserve his legacy" of 32 years in power by stepping down and permitting a democratic transition.
Her comments were echoed by a leader of a faction of Mr. Suharto's ruling party, who said he would renew calls in the Parliament for the Indonesian president to step down immediately. Irsyad Sudiro, head of the Golkar Party, said the faction would push for a special session of the Parliament. Golkar dominates the 500-member Parliament, but it was unclear how much weight the appeal would carry as the legislature is largely symbolic.
Mrs. Albright also recommended that Mr. Suharto be restrained in dealing with the thousands of protesters.
Outside Parliament, some 150,000 troops poured into the streets Wednesday, helicopters swooped overhead and tanks lined up beside coiled wire and wooden barricades in a potent show of support for the 76-year-old autocrat.
"Stability in the city is a top priority. We are preventing any trouble," Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. Syafrie Syamsudin said.
Protests have skyrocketed this month since the government imposed austerity measures mandated by the International Monetary Fund in an attempt to stem Indonesia's worst economic crisis in decades. Last week, Jakarta was rocked by rioting, looting and arson in which more than 500 people were killed. Despite the overwhelming military presence in Jakarta Wednesday, 10,000 students swarmed over Parliament, turning the formal complex into the site of a wild street party.
Some students danced in the main assembly hall, waded in a ceremonial pool or climbed onto the roof. Others broke into offices, tearing up official papers or turning them into paper planes that were dropped off balconies. "Freedom!" yelled some. "Hang Suharto!" shouted others.
Heeding warnings of bloodshed, opposition leader Amien Rais first called off the rally Wednesday that had been expected to draw up to one million people. Later, students gave him a tumultuous welcome at Parliament, making it clear that he is now the focal point of anti-Suharto dissent.
Mr. Rais Wednesday accused the military of being ready to tolerate a "Tiananmen" situation -- a reference to the massacre of hundreds of pro- democracy students by Chinese troops in Beijing's main square in 1989.
"An army general [told me] he doesn't care at all if a Tiananmen accident ... will take place today in Jakarta," Mr. Rais said. "I was so shocked hearing this."
Jakarta residents faced another looming problem: food shortages. Stores and markets have been shut for days, many of them burned or looted in last week's riots.
The government said its state-controlled rice supplies remain adequate but cited problems with distribution.
Foreigners continued to flee the unrest in Jakarta, with 2,400 South Koreans returning home Wednesday on emergency flights. Malaysia tightened security along its border with Indonesia.
Mr. Suharto announced Tuesday he will end his rule -- but only after pressing through reforms and holding new elections. State secretary Saadilah Mursid said a reform council will be announced Thursday to draft new electoral laws and review the structure of Parliament.
Opponents say completing Mr. Suharto's reform plan could take months or longer and accused Mr. Suharto of prolonging his hold onto power.
Mr. Suharto, a retired general, came to power in time of turmoil in 1966 and has governed with little toleration for dissent ever since.
His iron-fisted rule provided stability and, until the financial crisis set in last year, economic growth for this sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago of 202 million people, the world's fourth most populous nation.
Critics accuse him of widespread human rights abuses and of lording over a regime riddled with corruption and nepotism.
| Political/economic crisis |
Louise Williams -- In the early hours of yesterday morning a deal was done -- the last deal for President Soeharto.
His old ally, Mr Harmoko -- the longest-serving Information Minister in Mr Soeharto's New Order Government, who helped manipulate and restrain the media to hide the realities of the President's rule -- reappeared as executioner.
As Speaker of the Parliament and chairman of Mr Soeharto's ruling Golkar Party, Mr Harmoko had that evening dealt his patron a fatal blow. He announced that the Parliament, a body filled with Soeharto crony politicians, would bow to the demands of the tens of thousands of student protesters occupying the building and grant a special session, effectively to commence impeachment proceedings against the President.
Mr Soeharto would be forced to account for the excesses of his Government before his peers -- otherwise he could resign. The powerful head of the armed forces, General Wiranto, would publicly agree to protect his wealthy family and promise to defend the constitutional process which hands power to another man whose career Mr Soeharto has built, Dr Jusuf Habibie.
"Now he does not need to submit a statement of accountability," said one insider. "His worry was that he was going to be humiliated appearing before a special assembly even if most of the members are his friends. For him this is a clear-cut exit."
But for the new leader, nothing is clear cut. President Habibie has no independent power-base, and without Mr Soeharto's backing few believe he will survive the power-struggle which his mentor's resignation will unleash.
While Mr Soeharto ruled, the many political factions -- some driven by their head's personal ambition, others by loyalty to religion or the armed forces -- were neutralised by their inability to win the top job. Now the guessing game in Jakarta is how political ambitions which have been stifled for more than 30 years will be played out.
Outside the elite power-struggle remain the students, the Islamic leader Mr Amien Rais, and the democracy figurehead Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, who are yet to endorse the new Habibie Government. They may yet see their demands for democratic change sacrificed to personal ambitions.
"Habibie is by no means in a strong position," said an Asian diplomat. "Many of the students think that if the President steps down the Vice-President should go as well -- they're a package. They want change and new elections as soon as possible." Another predicted early changes. "What we have now is a split in the elite. There are meetings going on already involving forces who want to try to get Habibie out."
Dr Habibie's power-base is in the Indonesian Council of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI), a Government-approved body set up to promote the interests of the majority Muslims and prevent Islam becoming a vehicle for opposition. Within the Parliament several prominent members of the military faction who support this camp are believed to be behind Dr Habibie.
But Mr Harmoko and other MPs are also positioning themselves. The 500-member Parliament is stacked with former Soeharto loyalists elected under a political system which permitted the Government to vet candidates and restrict political parties.
"The Parliament wants to capitalise on the momentum for their own gain. They know Soeharto is unpopular so they can use the situation to regain popularity themselves," an analyst said.
If the street protests continue, MPs retain the option of calling a special session to oust Dr Habibie, who is unpopular with the armed forces.
The insider suggested part of the deal for Mr Soeharto's departure was the speedy exit of Dr Habibie, rather than the drawn-out process of his presiding over political reforms. "I heard there was an unwritten gentlemen's agreement that Habibie would not stay too long -- the military is already circulating the names," the source said. "But Habibie's game plan may be to stretch this out. In the meantime he can make a deal with Amien Rais, because he too wants his share of the cake."
Mr Rais and Dr Habibie once worked together in the ICMI, and they share similar views on Islam.
For the armed forces to come back into the power-game constitutionally would require a special parliamentary session to remove Dr Habibie and replace his Government with a civilian- military coalition, possibly linking the armed forces commander, General Wiranto, and a pro-reform economist, Emil Salim, or former vice-president, Mr Try Sutrisno.
A member of the Human Rights Commission, Mr Marzuki Darusman, said the military was the key.
"The crucial factor will be the armed forces. If they are thinking of taking over, then that would be a misstep. But Habibie may not be able to mobilise the support and legitimacy needed for the new Government, and then there would be a temptation to take things further on the part of the armed forces."
Mr Darusman believes the armed forces will want to retain their security and political role. But he said prosecutions under subversion laws must be dropped and jail sentences for subversion reviewed, and that the Government must ease the restrictive media laws.
A Habibie aide denied the Parliament would move against the new President by calling a special session.
"The people will give him a chance," he said. "The military is professional and will respect the Constitution."
An Indonesian specialist, Mr Adam Schwarz, said the handover was "a fairly small accomplishment".
"Soeharto is gone but nothing else is resolved," he said.
"Habibie has to prove he can bring in something more. I am not convinced he will do that."
Indonesian soldiers entered the Parliament building Friday and ordered student protesters who have occupied the building for several days to leave.
After dark, dozens of military trucks arrived loaded with soldiers, who leapt out and started beating the students with sticks. The students had taken over Parliament to press their demands for political reform.
"Disperse, disperse," shouted military police carrying M-16 rifles, truncheons and tear gas canisters. Some students, many holding sticks, formed a barrier as the security forces approached.
The students had decided to stay at Parliament even though their main demand was realized Thursday, when President Suharto resigned, saying they did not trust his successor, B.J. Habibie.
Mr. Habibie, Mr. Suharto's hand-picked successor, faces an intimidating array of problems, from the selection of a cabinet to his handling of demands for retribution against Mr. Suharto, or financial restitution from Mr. Suharto's wealthy family members. Mr. Habibie moved cautiously in his first day on the job, appointing a cabinet consisting largely of the same officials who ran Mr. Suharto's government. He called it a "Reform and Development Cabinet," but one prominent political activist, Loekman Sutrisno, called it "change without change."
Pro-reform activists rejected the Habibie presidency within hours of his swearing-in Thursday morning. Protesters at parliament hoisted a banner: "Refuse B.J. Habibie as President." One speaker told a crowd of 8,000 people who had gathered amid the garbage left over from this week's occupation of parliament by protesters: "We have to get rid of Suharto's cronies, not just Suharto."
In his first speech as president, the 61-year-old Mr. Habibie tried taking a conciliatory line. Surrounded by the symbols of the presidency -- the red-and-white national flag and a golden Garuda, a mythic Javanese bird, on the wall above a large desk -- Mr. Habibie pledged on national television to make reform his top priority. He said his government will attack "corruption, collusion and nepotism," stark allusions to the widespread criticisms of Mr. Suharto and his cronies that surfaced in an escalating series of protests leading up to Thursday's historic transition.
Friday morning, he hewed to the same rhetoric when he announced a new cabinet that includes many senior technocrats, including economic officials who worked with Mr. Suharto. In a concession to student protesters in Jakarta, Mr. Habibie appointed Syarwan Hamid, a former general and parliamentarian who is popular, as interior minister. Mr. Habibie also replaced several key ministers close to Mr. Suharto, including Bob Hasan, a tycoon who had been put in charge of industry and trade earlier this year, and Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, Mr. Suharto's eldest daughter, who had been social minister.
Habibie's ties are questioned
But activists and many other Indonesians contend Mr. Habibie is tainted by his long, strong links to Mr. Suharto. That past, they say, may make it impossible for Mr. Habibie to significantly change Mr. Suharto's system or act against his 76-year-old predecessor and lifelong mentor.
Amien Rais, the outspoken leader of Indonesia's second-largest Muslim group, said Mr. Habibie should think of his regime as "transitional, provisional" and shouldn't expect to fill out the nearly five years left in the term Mr. Suharto began only this year. Mr. Rais and others want to see an early parliamentary election, followed by the selection of a new president.
In Washington, the US State Department urged the new Indonesian government to follow democratic principles during its transition and work with "all elements of Indonesian society." State Department spokesman Jamie Rubin said the US wasn't urging quick elections, though that was the undercurrent of his remarks. "I'm sure there will be elections at some point," he said, "The question is when."
At Thursday morning's swiftly arranged swearing in, the arrangements designed to protect Mr. Suharto were made plain. In televised remarks, armed forces commander Gen. Wiranto, whom many analysts believe isn't happy about Mr. Habibie's ascension, said the military "will guard the safety and the honor" of all former presidents, "including Mr. Suharto and his family."
Probe of Suharto urged
Calls for an investigation of the former president and his family's vast corporate holdings and wealth began immediately. "If the pressures are so strong, something might happen," said Parni Hadi, who heads Republika, an influential Muslim newspaper in Jakarta.
One of the hazards the Habibie presidency faces is the widespread feeling Mr. Habibie can't foster or deliver the change that Indonesia needs. "It was a constitutional handover. But what we have here is the same Indonesia as before," says Tim Condon, regional economist of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in Hong Kong.
Foreign analysts are focusing on Indonesia's economic woes, which worsen daily. Many Jakartans fear that food could soon run critically short. The banking system has been crippled by bad loans and deep depreciation of the currency, the rupiah. Unemployment is surging.
Less than 12 hours before Mr. Suharto stepped aside, the International Monetary Fund said it will need to delay considering the next planned $1 billion tranche from its $43 billion, twice-revised rescue package. This is due to last week's Jakarta riots and Indonesia's volatile politics, which sent IMF staff in Jakarta scurrying overseas, along with tens of thousands of other foreigners and well-off Indonesians.
Financial assessment
World Bank President James Wolfensohn told reporters it would take at least 48 hours to assess the country's financial system once the new government settles into place. The bank's country director, Dennis de Tray, said Indonesia's political paralysis has "thrown back three months" the country's economic progress, "unless something miraculous happens to the rupiah." The currency was trading at around 11,000 per dollar Thursday, little changed from the day before.
Mr. Habibie, in his televised remarks, said his government would work with the IMF. And political activists, notably Mr. Rais, said they recognized the necessity of working with the IMF. "We must swallow the bitter pill in order to be healthy in the future," he said.
The first sign of what he promised would be new effectiveness was his cabinet selection, which showed continuity though perhaps not inspiration. Respected Foreign Minister Ali Alatas will stay, as will all four "coordinating" ministers from the cabinet Mr. Suharto named in March, including senior economics minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita. But Mr. Habibie's advisors felt they had broadened the cabinet beyond figures from the ruling Golkar party and the military. Among those: the new finance minister, an experienced ministry official, Bambang Subianto.
Scrutiny of cabinet
The cabinet choices will be heavily scrutinized. Harsono, an activist and writer in Yogyakarta, site of huge anti-Suharto protests, said, "If the cabinet is good, then the people wait a while. Maybe a few weeks. If they don't like the cabinet, it will be bad."
Early indications are it's not going to be well received. "It's below my expectations," said Mr. Sutrisno. He noted that the cabinet includes no representative of Indonesia's Chinese minority, the target of rioting mobs in recent weeks.
Even if the cabinet subsequently gets good public reviews, Mr. Habibie faces a daunting task winning support from the critical Indonesian organization, the military, the springboard for Mr. Suharto and most of his previous vice presidents. "I doubt Habibie can get broad-based support from the army," one military analyst said. "Many officers don't like him, and they wouldn't mind at all if a civilian president stumbles, since this will help the army keep a big role in politics."
Political figures noted that Gen. Wiranto, the country's most powerful army figure, had appeared to oppose Mr. Habibie's ascension to the presidency as recently as Monday, when Gen. Wiranto blocked talk of a constitutional transition like the one that just took place. "I thought Habibie was finished" because of the army's move, said Adi Sasono, executive director of a group of Islamic intellectuals aligned with Mr. Habibie. "I think Suharto's influence was very crucial. He must have requested the army to support" Mr. Habibie. Mr. Suharto's endorsement doesn't necessarily bode well for Mr. Habibie.
Another matter any successor government to Mr. Suharto's is likely to feel pressure to examine is the Suharto family's reputed fortune. "The money must be returned to the people," says Yopie Azbandi, a 23-year-old student in a sweat-soaked headband emblazoned, "Reformasi" -- reform. "He must go to court."
The former president's wealth -- his six children and other relatives are widely thought to be worth billions of dollars, much of it accumulated through the operation of monopolies and other government-licensed businesses during Mr. Suharto's rule -- was one of the capital's chief topics of concern Thursday. A person close to the family said the six Suharto children plan to remain in Indonesia, though some may now be overseas. Looking stunned, Mr. Suharto left the palace for the last time as leader, helped into a waiting black Mercedes-Benz limousine by his eldest daughter.
Rod Mickleburgh, Jakarta -- Hundreds of armed Indonesian soldiers stormed the parliament buildings here late last night, ending a five-day occupation by university students demanding an end to autocratic rule in the country.
Troops burst through the front doors of the 10-storey building without warning shortly before midnight. Terrified students ran outside, their hands held high in surrender, as soldiers chased them with clubs.
Although some soldiers pointed rifles, no shots were fired.
Except for a few minor scuffles, the students offered no resistance. They displayed the same discipline and peaceful behaviour that had prevailed throughout their unprecedented takeover of the spacious complex containing the national assembly hall and several adjacent buildings.
"We can't fight the army because they have the guns. But we will win in spirit," said Goefron (his only name), moments before boarding one of several dozen buses brought in by the army to transport the students from the area.
There were about 2,000 students in the buildings when the troops charged in, well down from the 30,000 or so that had normally packed the complex during the day.
The students had vowed to stay until the country's iron-fisted autocrat, President Suharto, stepped down.
When Suharto did resign on Thursday, however, the students decided to continue their occupation, since he was replaced by his hand-picked successor, Vice-President B. J. Habibie.
They issued new demands that Mr. Habibie also quit and that a special session of Indonesia's consultative assembly be called to prepare for new elections.
Students were not alone in rejecting Mr. Habibie and his new 36- member cabinet. Only a few cabinet members made the jump from Suharto's team to Mr. Habibie's government. Dismissed by Mr. Habibie was Suharto's controversial daughter, Siti Hardijanti (Tutut) Rukmana, and several Suharto cronies such as tycoon Mohamad (Bob) Hasan.
Government opponent Amien Rais, who originally took a wait-and- see attitude toward the cabinet, adopted a harder line yesterday, arguing that there was too much nepotism in Mr. Habibie's appointments. Analysts found the makeup well short of the quality necessary to confront Indonesia's overwhelming economic and political crises.
"It's largely uninspiring," a Western diplomat said yesterday. "It's not all that different from the last Suharto cabinet, and members do not appear to have a strong sense of reform."
However, the diplomat said Mr. Habibie may take comfort in the fact that his opponents are split.
Some believe he should be given at least few months to demonstrate his ability to govern the world's fourth-most- populous country.
Meanwhile, General Wiranto, reappointed to his posts as defence minister and head of the armed forces, issued a warning to students to end their week-long occupation. When they ignored his warning, he ordered in the troops. "We had to do this because there was damage to the buildings and the members of parliament couldn't do their jobs," a military police officer told The Associated Press. "This was the best way."
Except for some minor ransacking of old parliamentary records that were torn up and used as confetti, however, there was very little damage to any of the areas occupied by the students.
Despite its well-earned reputation for ferocious attacks against political dissidents, the army displayed remarkable restraint during its dramatic nighttime operation, once the students had assembled outside.
After they'd been flushed out of the parliamentary buildings, the students refused to leave the grounds immediately, sitting down in large groups beside the plaza's large, floodlit pool. They demanded to be allowed to march, rather than ride, to the nearby campus. As they waited, they sang patriotic songs, waved flags and continued to call for Mr. Habibie to step down.
"I was a little frightened when the soldiers came in. We just hoped it wouldn't be another tragedy like Tiananmen Square," said Budi Kurniawan, a foreign-language student, referring to Beijing's crackdown on pro-democracy activists in 1989.
"Six students have already died [at Trisatki University] because of army shootings," he said. "Students have no power at all, just great numbers."
Another student said he did not feel they had won a victory during their occupation, despite helping to force Suharto's resignation.
"There's still a long way to go to achieve a glorious victory. We are demoralized right now, but we have time and commitment. We'll be back."
Finally, after a two-hour standoff, the army persuaded the students to leave in the buses, and they moved slowly through the parliament's gate. The students linked arms and sang Syukup , one of their country's most patriotic hymns. Many wept, while others bowed their heads as they sang.
Other critics of the government indicated that the end of the student demonstration is not likely to end the debate over Indonesia's political future and the controversial man currently in charge of it.
The old and new presidents "are two different persons, but they are the same package," said Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri, a University of Indonesia professor and a member of an influential group of intellectuals, lawyers, retired generals and former parliamentarians that helped galvanize public opinion against Suharto.
"So when Suharto stepped down and Habibie took his place, nothing changed. It's not acceptable. We also reject his new cabinet. What is needed is to hold national, democratic elections in as short a time as possible."
A Western diplomat said: "There will be continued turbulence for awhile. I can't see the situation continuing as just more of the same way it was under Suharto."
In another development yesterday, Suharto's son-in-law, Lieutenant-General Prabowo Subianto, was reportedly removed from his powerful post as head of the army's strategic command and given a job in Western Java. Mr. Prabowo was considered a far more ruthless military leader than Gen. Wiranto, and the two were considered fierce rivals within military and political circles.
Also yesterday, the International Monetary Fund, which pulled its staff out of Indonesia last week, announced it is sending its top Asia expert back to the country to review the situation. Hubert Neiss will meet with Mr. Habibie and his economic team next week and report back to the IMF with an assessment of the situation, an IMF spokesman said in Washington.
Following is an unofficial translation of Indonesian President Suharto's resignation speech.
My fellow countrymen. I have been following closely the recent developments in the national situation, especially the aspirations of the people for reforms in all aspects of the nation's life.
I deeply understand their aspirations and, convinced that reforms should be carried out in an orderly, peaceful and constitutional manner while maintaining the country's unity and carrying forward its development, I had planned to form a reform committee and reshuffle the cabinet.
But the facts today show that there has not been sufficient support for the creation of the reform committee and it cannot be formed.
I have concluded that the reform committee is not the best way to carry out the reforms and therefore a cabinet reshuffle is no longer necessary.
In view of this situation, I find it difficult to carry out my duty as the country's ruler and to push ahead with the nation's development. Because of that, based on Article 8 of the 1945 constitution, and having taken into consideration the views of leaders of the House of Representatives and its factions, I have decided to step down from office as the president of Indonesia, effective today, Thursday, May 21, 1998, as I read this statement.
My resignation from the office of the president of the Republic of Indonesia is also conveyed to the leaders of the House of Representatives, who are also the leaders of the People's Consultative Assembly, at this gathering.
As Article 8 of the 1945 constitution lays out, the vice- president, Professor Dr B.J. Habibie, will carry out the remainder of the presidential term from 1998-2003.
I thank the people for their help and support during my leadership of this country and I beg forgiveness for any mistakes and shortcomings and ask that the people will continue to believe in Pancasila (the state ideology) and the 1945 constitution.
From today, the 7th development cabinet is now a caretaker cabinet and to my ministers, I express my thanks.
As the situation does not permit a swearing in at the House of Representatives, the swearing in of the Vice President as President will be carried out now to prevent a leadership vacuum in the governing of the country.
John Hamilton, Jakarta - Jakarta is a city of fear ringed by steel as Indonesia hovers on the brink of rebellion and anarchy.
Yesterday I drove through the tense central city area where office buildings were locked and stores shuttered and barred.
Rolls of barbed wire blocked entrances to the plush Plaza Indonesia shopping centre while even the McDonald's outlet at the Sarinah department store complex was not only closed, but daubed with political slogans calling for "reformasi".
At every major strategic intersection there were armored personnel carriers, tanks, mobile howitzers and groups of heavily armed soldiers.
The scene at the National Monument (Monas) seemed to symbolically sum up the situation. The 132m marble column towers over Merdeka (Freedom) Square and can be seen from all directions.
Jakarta's principle landmark and a memorial to the extravagance of former President Sukarno, the column is topped by a glittering "flame" covered with 35kg of pure gold.
Usually, thousands of people queue in long lines in Merdeka Square at the weekend for the lift to the view atop the Monas. If they had made it yesterday, they would have seen fires smouldering in looted buildings. Instead, the square was deserted.
Nine armored cars, on which heavy machineguns drawn from the KODAM Jaya (national armory) were mounted, stood in line outside the monument. A squad of 20 soldiers in combat gear guarded the entrance.
North of the square is the huge white Netana Negara, the ceremonial palace of President Suharto, with its lush gardens, shady trees and fountains.
Five armoured personnel carriers were parked outside one entrance with a convoy of five tanks arriving to guard another entrance as I drove by. In the grounds, combat troops were spaced about 5m apart, facing outwards. Others crouched behind trees.
Steel-helmeted troops dotted Jalan Gajah Merdeka, a nearby road leading to Jakarta's Chinatown. This was the scene of fierce rioting and looting on Thursday. Many are believed to have died here.
Elsewhere in affluent inner suburbs, residents have erected makeshift flagpoles on front fences to fly the Indonesian red and white flag at halfmast. This indicates their Indonesian ethnicity and sympathy for the hundreds of people who have died since rioting began in earnest last week.
Commercial flights out of Jakarta are fully booked with queues of people sleeping at the airport while trying to obtain standby tickets.
On Friday scores of Americans and Canadians gathered at the US Ambassador's residence. They boarded a convoy of buses under armed guard for the 35km trip to the airport where they joined chartered jets for evacuation to Singapore.
The Australian Embassy - yesterday guarded by five red-bereted Indonesian soldiers - also has evacuation plans, but compulsory evacuation is not yet considered necessary.
Meanwhile, the Suharto Government is trying desperately to calm the situation.
Army leaders have appeared on television with assurances the armed forces (ABRI) are united. Student leaders have been summoned to discuss their demands for political reform with the president.
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta -- Indonesia's newly-appointed Information Minister Lieutenant-General Yunus Yosfiah said today there would be no problems with media freedom if the local media was responsible and upheld their code of ethics.
"I think press freedom should be in line with the journalists' code of ethics. I am sure the media understand this. I am convinced also that the media is responsible. I think there will be no problems," Yosfiah told reporters.
"Believe me, I don't want to disappoint the media world. I will help the mass media carry out their duties and have a good relationship with the ministry," he said.
A US-based human rights group today urged new Indonesian President Jusuf Habibie to rescind the appointment of Yosfiah, a general linked to the 1975 deaths of five journalists in East Timor.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the appointment of Yosfiah, named by Habibie yesterday, was alarming.
"The CPJ is deeply alarmed to learn that the Minister of Information in your newly appointed cabinet, Lieutenant-General Yunus Yosfiah, was implicated in one of the most brutal attacks ever on journalists, the October 1975 murder of five reporters during the Indonesian invasion of East Timor," it said in a letter to Habibie.
"It is difficult to see how someone with Yosfiah's background could gain the confidence of our Indonesian colleagues, who are anxious to work in a free press environment," it said in the letter, also sent to Reuters.
"We therefore call on you to rescind the appointment of Yosfiah. We hope that you will show your commitment to press reform by naming an information minister with a history of respect for the press."
Australia says Yosfiah commanded a special forces unit responsible for killing five journalists -- two Britons, two Australians and a New Zealander - in Balibao in East Timor.
The town in then independent East Timor was the target of a cross-border Indonesian raid in October 1975 ahead of the December invasion of the former Portuguese colony.
Yosfiah has never commented publicly on the incident.
| Politics |
Habibie's position fell to him as a result of intra-elite manoeuvreing. It was hardly a victory for people's power. Consequently, his cabinet is by no means revolutionary or even strongly reformist in policy terms. It remains a New Order creation. None of the most prominent among the opposition figures of recent months are included in it.
Nevertheless he has introduced many new especially Islamic faces, removed some of the more nepotistic Suharto appointments, and retained some talented figures from the previous cabinet.
The two main competing agendas - conflicting to some extent - are domestic political reform, and economic reform to satisfy the IMF and international markets. On both fronts Habibie should make some gains over Suharto, though on neither will the moves be enough to satisfy those demanding big changes.
On domestic reform he has moved some way towards popular demands. The two most obvious cronies are gone - Suharto's daughter Tutut and his wealthy golfing partner Bob Hasan.
Most of the new faces are drawn from the broadly Islamic wing of urban middle class civil society. This will win the cabinet support there. Indeed this list may have been the one that Habibie was pushing for when Suharto was lining up his March cabinet. At that time Habibie lost out to the influence of Suharto's daughter Tutut. In that sense this cabinet is a factional bureaucratic one, rather than a broad-based and popular reform cabinet.
For the first time in a New Order cabinet there are representatives from the non-Golkar minority parties PPP (United Development Party) and PDI (Indonesian Democratic Party).
New faces closely associated with the Islamic group ICMI include:
Adi Sasono (Cooperatives), secretary of Habibie/ ICMI think tank Cides, strong Habibie supporter with links to NGO movement.
Malik Fajar (Religion), presently in charge of Islamic section of Religion, respected academic, rector of Muhammadiyah University in Malang, put forward to replace Amien Rais within ICMI after the latter's resignation.
More broadly Islamic are:
Fahmi Idris (Manpower), Generation of '66 activist, former HMI member, son-in-law of Islamic leader Hasan Basri, heads Kodel (Kongsi Delapan) Group - indigenous businessmen given a hand up by government.
Hamzah Haz (Investment), Islamic PPP parliamentarian popular for outspoken opposition to cronyism and corruption. The first member ever appointed to a New Order cabinet from the minority parties.
Prof HAM Saefuddin (Food), German-trained Habibie supporter, PPP parliamentarian, one of two PPP members in cabinet. On the record as supporting regulations requiring cabinet members to expose their personal wealth.
Muslim Nasution (Forestry & Plantations), on the ICMI Board but regarded as closer to Ginanjar.
The only attempt at embracing secular nationalist opinion is clumsy. Panangian Siregar (Environment) is a PDI parliamentarian, but not Megawati's PDI, and therefore will not be popular. He is the subject of a Megawati lawsuit now running in the courts.
The secular wing of the opposition is poorly represented. Emil Salim would have been the perfect choice there but he is missing. This will certainly fail to satisfy that wing of the opposition, although a lot will depend on their determination from here on to redefine their agenda after Suharto stepped down.
There is a stronger military presence than before. Five serving officers are there, one more than before, including the politically sensitive posts of Interior and Information. This makes the cabinet look almost like a military-Islamic alliance. Besides Feisal Tanjung, Wiranto, and Hendropriyono retained from the previous cabinet, two new faces are:
Junus Yosfiah (Information), Kassospol ABRI and head of ABRI fraction in MPR.
Syarwan Hamid (Interior), replacing Hartono, also military but closely associated with Suharto's family.
In addition, Juwono Sudarsono (Education), formerly Environment, is a conservative intellectual, not military but close to them.
The five key domestic positions are the Interior Minister, Information, Religion, Justice, and Education. Three are filled by conservative or hardline figures out of touch with popular demands for reform.
Syarwan Hamid, a military man, as Interior Minister will provoke derision in opposition ranks. Indonesians remember him not for punching the air in support of Suharto's resignation last Monday but for being the brains behind Megawati's ouster in mid- 1996. That event was probably the trigger for the almost constant political unrest since then.
Juwono Sudarsono as Education will not please students.
Junus Yosfiah for Information puts an East Timor veteran best known for shooting dead Resistance leader Nikolau Lobato into an important post that controls the media.
The Religion post (Malik Fajar) and Justice (Muladi) are popular appointments and will boost support for Habibie if they can follow through their energetic reform agendas.
On economic reform the cabinet looks a little better. Bambang Subianto replaces Fuad Bawazier as Finance Minister. While both were Finance Department officials, Bawazier was seen as personally close to Suharto's business interests. Subianto was in charge of bank restructuring until Suharto sacked him last March even though he was doing a good job at the time. His appointment to this key position will be welcomed by the international financial community.
Retaining Ginanjar in the role of Coordinating Minister for Finance and Economy will also fall in good soil with the IMF. Ginanjar understands the global economic environment yet is keenly aware of the national interest. He has played an increasingly crucial role in recent months and should be watched as a potential presidential candidate if Habibie does not hold his own.
Among the minor or technical posts, new faces include:
Agung Laksono (Sport & Youth), parliamentary Golkar fraction chairman, Emil Salim supporter, Kosgoro leader, part- owner of ANTeve television broadcaster, financial backer of Target news tabloid, has been criticised by democracy activists for editorial interference in both media.
Zuhal Abdulkodir (Research & Technology), deputy head of Habibie's technical empire BPPT, former director at electricity board PLN fired because of his opposition to Tutut's investment strategy in power generation.
Soleh Solahudin (Agriculture), rector ITB.
Marzuki Usman (Tourism), Finance Dept official, replaces Abdul Latief, who resigned from Suharto's cabinet in that post & was not called back. Respected chairman of Indonesian Economists Association.
Yustika Syarifuddin Baharsyah (Social Affairs), replaces Suharto's daughter Tutut. Formerly Agriculture. One of two women in cabinet.
Akbar Tanjung (State Secretary), presently Housing, Generation of '66; Replaces Saadilah who was tainted by association with Suharto projects.
Hasan Basri Durin (Land), former West Sumatra governor.
Theo Sambuaga (Housing), Golkar parliamentarian, close to Tutut, possibly the only Protestant, formerly Labour.
Ida Bagus Oka (Population & Family Planning), formerly governor of Bali, enjoys a poor reputation among many Balinese for his close relationship with property interests.
Budiono (Development Planning Board = Bappenas), possibly the former director of Bank Indonesia, dismissed in March during battles between the Bank of Indonesia and President Suharto over a currency board.
Retained are all four Coordinating Ministers (Gen Feisal Tanjung as Coord Min Security & Politics, Ginanjar Kartasasmita as Coord Min Fin & Ec, Hartarto for Development, and Haryono for Health). Ali Alatas stays in Foreign Affairs and will bring stability there. Gen Wiranto stays as armed forces commander and as Defence Minister. Prof Muladi, a keen reformer, stays as Justice Minister. Rachmadi stays in Works. Giri Suseno, a Habibie man and respected engineer, stays on in Transport. Hendropriyono (military) stays as Transmigration. Farid Muluk stays as Health (Emil Salim supporter). Tutty Alawiyah stays for Women (respected, Islamic). Rahardi Ramelan takes on Trade & Industry (Habibie man, formerly Research & Technology). Kuntoro stays as Mines & Energy (Ginanjar man).
[Gerry van Klinken, editor, 'Inside Indonesia' magazine]
Jonathan Manthorpe, Jakarta -- As Bacharuddin Habibie announced Indonesia's new cabinet Friday, the question became whether former president Suharto had indeed stepped down or merely stepped aside.
The new ministry retained the mark of the old dictator after his appointed replacement failed to shake his association with Suharto and attract any significant new blood to his colors. Suharto was forced to resign Thursday after 32 years in power.
Also yesterday, newly reconfirmed military chief Gen. Wiranto, in a show of firmness, sent troops to the capital's legislature late yesterday to remove occupying students.
The students had taken over parliament to reinforce their demands for political reform and were continuing their protest after Suharto's resignation.
The students allowed themselves to be taken in buses to a nearby university campus but said they will not renounce their campaign.
"Our spirit remains high. We know our fight for reform will be realized," said one.
Mr. Habibie's new cabinet didn't immediately answer the students' demands -- 29 of the 36 cabinet ministers are Suharto veterans and only two minor ministers were brought in from opposition parties.
Reaction to the cabinet reinforced the growing belief that Habibie's presidency will soon come under the same pressure that toppled Suharto.
"The composition of the cabinet is quite good," said Frans Seda, a minister in the early years of Suharto's rule and also in the government of his predecessor, President Sukarno. " But it will not be enough for the students and that is the problem. Habibie's credibility is still lacking because he is linked to Suharto and if the students increase their pressure he will face troubled times."
It was significant, though, that General Wiranto retained both the command of the armed forces and the post of minister of defence.
Habibie wanted to remove Gen. Wiranto from the defence minister's post. But Gen. Wiranto, probably the key figure in persuading Suharto to resign, is too important to be dictated to.
Wiranto now stands out more clearly than ever as the only fulcrum of stability in the country of 200 million people wracked by a collapsing economy and political uncertainty.
Mr. Habibie did cleanse the administration of two of the faces from Suharto years which had marked it as corrupt and nepotistic: Suharto's eldest daughter Tutut, who was social affairs minister, and his golfing buddy Bob Hasan, the former trade minister.
But despite hours of negotiation leading to delays in the cabinet announcement, Mr. Habibie failed to attract any significant leaders from the opposition or outside the governing clique into the administration which he billed as a "development and reform cabinet".
In particular, Mr. Habibie was not able to land either Amien Rais, the Muslim scholar who heads the moderate Islamic organization Muhammadiyah, or Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's founding president who leads the Democratic Party.
Diplomats speculated that credible opposition politicians would be unwilling to join an administration which might only have weeks to survive.
Mr. Rais, who has emerged as the leading opposition figure during the weeks of protest, said he took "a neutral stance" after seeing the cabinet lineup. But he added: "In my opinion the cabinet will not last until 2003," the end of the five-year term Mr. Habibie inherited from Suharto.
Diplomatic analysts and observers said they expect Mr. Rais' opposition to harden in the next few days. The student protestors are expected to take their lead from him.
Opposition may focus on Habibie's failure to mention one of the key demands of the students and other opposition groups -- that a firm timetable be set for the free election of a new president and government.
Yesterday afternoon, convoys of coaches crammed with students waving banners demanding constitutional reform began appearing among Jakarta's traffic.
Emil Salim, the former environment minister who now leads the opposition group Gema Madani, said the main task of the Habibie government should be political reform.
"This is a transitional government and in only there to set up new elections. If this requirement is not met within three months, Gema Madani will demand that the MPR (parliament) is called into session to elect a new president and vice-president," Mr. Salim said.
In his speech accompanying the announcement of the cabinet, Mr. Habibie tried to give the impression of leading a new administration with a mandate for political and economic reform.
Mr. Habibie said the focus of his government would be reviving economic development. "We will develop a government which is free and clean from corruption, collusion and nepotism," he said.
Indonesia's economy had been in free fall since July last year when the downturn in Asian economies exposed the rotten underpinnings of the Suharto regime.
The currency, the rupiah, is worth only a fraction of its value nine months ago, inflation is running at 45 per cent and there are widespread food shortages and unemployment.
The International Monetary Fund offered $43 billion US in assistance in return for a massive restructuring program which concentrated on wrenching free the grip the Suharto family has on much of the economy.
Suharto balked at implementing some IMF demands, especially the removal of subsidies on such staple products as fuel and cooking oil.
When these subsidies were removed last week, it led to riots and looting in which at least 500 people died. The deaths and destruction of at least 6,000 shops and stores in the capital were the final blows to the ragged remains of Suharto's reputation.
But Mr. Habibie comes to the presidency ill equipped to restore confidence in the economy, as important an issue in the public mind as political reform.
"He may be a brilliant engineer, but he knows nothing about politics," was the judgement of one Jakarta citizen interviewed on the street yesterday.
Jakarta -- After pledging that his forces would protect ex- President Suharto and his family, powerful military chief Gen. Wiranto Friday rejected calls for an investigation into the former leader's wealth.
Since Suharto resigned Thursday, student protesters and other opponents have called for an inquiry into the fortune amassed by the Suharto clan during his 32-year rule.
It's been claimed that Suharto and his children used a web of state subsidies, monopolies and cartels to make billions.
However, Wiranto said an investigation would only add to national disunity during Indonesia's political and economic crisis.
"Let's leave it behind us," he said to reporters.
"There are more important things to do. This country needs stability to get out of its crisis. Just because a few people cry out for investigation, it does not mean we have to do it."
Earlier, Wiranto was retained as defense minister in a Cabinet lineup announced by Suharto's successor President B.J. Habibie.
The military under Wiranto have played a crucial role in the crisis. He ordered thousands of troops and dozens of tanks onto the streets of Jakarta earlier this week to stop anti-Suharto protests.
After Habibie was sworn in Thursday, Wiranto, a former personal aide to Suharto, said he would protect the former leader and his family.
By Friday night, many troops had gone back to barracks. However, squads of soldiers and armored vehicles were still positioned near strategic locations in the capital, including the presidential palace, the national monument and Suharto's home.
Bernard Estrade, Jakarta -- The Suharto family is one of the richest in the world worth up to $ US40 billion ($ A64 billion) according to some estimates.
That is similar to the figure that the International Monetary Fund and other countries pledged to help save the ruined Indonesian economy.
Between them, the six Suharto children control banks, car firms, power stations, motorways, forests, television stations and many of Jakarta's new skyscrapers. There is hardly a sector of daily life for Indonesia's 200 million people that the family do not touch.
But their empire is now at risk with the end of Suharto's 32-year reign as Indonesia's leader.
Suharto recently denied for the first time one Forbes magazine report estimating the family wealth at $ US16 billion ($ A25.62 billion).
A US CIA estimate in 1989 reportedly put the family worth at $ US30 billion ($ A48 billion).
The fortune accumulated by the man who has ruled Indonesia for 32 years was said to come from "investments".
Suharto's six children are in the super-rich class, with vast business interests.
Eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana, 49, a cabinet minister who until a week ago, was said to be eyeing an even bigger political role, has a 32 per cent stake in the Bank of Central Asia, Indonesia's top private bank which in 1996 had assets of $ US1.1 billion ($ A1.76 billion).
Her major investments are in toll roads, rail links and power stations as well as in some 20,000 hectares of sugarcane plantations in East Timor and two private television stations.
Eldest son Sigit Harjojudanto, 46, and Rukmana also have a 32 per cent share of Bank Central Asia, in addition to stakes in other banks.
Another son, Bambamg Trihatmodjo, 45, has a major stake in the transportation of liquefied gas, of which Indonesia is one of the world's major producers. He controls a petrochemical complex, hotels and power stations in addition to a television station.
Another Suharto daughter, Siti "Titiek" Hediyati Heriyadi, who is married to General Prabowo Subianto, head of Indonesia's strategic forces, has interests in real estate, telecommunications, Sumatran palm oil plantations and forests, banking and capital markets.
Hutomo Mandala Putra "Tommy", 36, a fast car freak who bought the Italian firm Lamborghini, launched the hugely controversial "national car" Timor Putra. The vehicle is made in South Korea but taxed at half the rate of foreign cars assembled in Indonesia.
That tax break went, by order of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with his monopoly on cloves, an essential ingredient in the sweet flavoured cigarettes that dominate the Indonesian market.
But he still has interests in shipping as well as the oil industry and property.
IMF experts deliberately targeted some of the concessions built up by the family over the years, according to analysts.
Under the bailout plan, a $ US1.6 billion ($ A2.56 billion) power plant sponsored by the eldest daughter was cancelled. A bank owned by the middle son Bambang was closed.
The family have always defended their business empire by saying it provided jobs for Indonesians and underpinned the economy.
Many experts say the family will not give up without a struggle and that could become a new focal point of protests.
The army leadership highlighted just after Suharto stood down today that it would protect the former president and his family.
Rudy Habibie is arguably Indonesia's most influential citizen, after President Suharto, of course. Although officially he only holds the humble position of Minister of Research and Technology in the cabinet, he is far more powerful than that. As Suharto's foster-son, Habibie's power seemingly knows no bounds.
Having Suharto's confidence and friendship is the key to Habibie's success, the gateway for the creation of an economic and political empire. At first, he was known simply as the high- tech czar of Indonesia, in charge of all its vital industries; since 1990 he has emerged as a political powerhouse, chairing ICMI, the Muslim Intellectuals' Union, as well as playing a vital role in GOLKAR, the ruling party. No wonder many of his supporters see Rudy Habibie as the next president of the Indonesian Republic.
The Suharto-Habibie liaison
The Suharto relationship with the Habibie family goes back to the early fifties when the young lieutenant colonel was sent to Sulawesi to crush a local rebellion. In his autobiography, Suharto speaks fondly about the Habibie family who lived near the garrison. Mrs. Tuti Marini Habibie, Rudy's mother was a native from Yogya and cooked delicious Javanese meals, the kind of food Suharto cannot live without. Bacharuddin Jusuf (Rudy) Habibie, born in Pare-Pare (South Sulawesi) on 25 June 1936, was a teenager at the time but those first contacts proved to be the start of a long relationship. Rudy Habibie graduated in engineering in Bandung and obtained his PhD in aero-engineering in Aachen, Germany. In 1974, Rudy Habibie, already in a senior position at the German aircraft company MBB, was summoned home by Suharto.
1974 was a hectic year for Indonesia. Huge demonstrations, the so-called Malari events, rocked the capital and threatened Suharto's rule. The regime was quite shaky and it took all the skills at Suharto's command to consolidate his rule. The Indonesian economy, primarily based on oil revenues, was in need of a new thrust. Habibie was the man chosen for the job. After a day discussing grand schemes to industrialise Indonesia, Suharto and Habibie agreed on a plan. From then on, Habibie had a free hand and unlimited funds were put at his disposal. The story goes that Suharto told the ambitious young engineer: "Habibie, you can do whatever you want short of fomenting a revolution". In Suharto's autobiography Habibie occupies a prominent place; Suharto explains at length why he shares Habibie's views and supports his methods.
Habibienomics For the first fifteen years of the New Order, economic policies were primarily designed by the technocrats, western trained economists nicknamed the 'Berkeley Mafia'. The thrust of this World Bank/IMF style economy is what is commonly called comparative advantage i.e. using a country's natural resources and cheap labour to the best advantage for its role in the world market. The Indonesian economy has been groomed along these lines: exploitation of natural resources and an export- oriented industry with semi-slavery conditions for the labour force. Habibie rejects this approach and argues that his economic policies will pave the way for industrialisation. He is scathing in his criticism of the fast-growing domestic manufacturing industry producing shoes and blue jeans for the world market. His views, nowadays called Habibienomics, can be described in a nutshell as, not the comparative advantage but the competitive advantage approach. Comparative advantage can provide rapid economic growth in the short term but will ultimately collapse as industries are relocated to other regions with even lower labour costs. The competitive advantage is based on technology which will give an added value to domestic production.
The high technology industries, Habibie argues, will not create growth in the short term, but will produce a beneficial spin-off right across industry in the longer term. Engineers and technicians sufficiently trained in their specialised areas will spread their skills and knowledge across the board. He firmly believes that the state should pioneer this process, given that private firms cannot provide the necessary re sources for research and development. Habibie often speaks highly of the success stories of Taiwan and South Korea, who used the state machinery to boost industrialisation.
The high-tech czar
So far President Suharto, although decidedly in favour of Habibienomics, has had to keep a balance between the two approaches. The World Bank/IMF approach promoted rapid economic growth in the second half of the eighties, helping to foster business tycoons, including Suharto's sons and daughters. The path taken by Habibie has predictably been thorny. He set up two important centres: BPIS and BPPT. BPIS, the Coordinating Agency for Strategic Industries, is the flagship of the entire strategic sector which includes ten state companies in all, among them: IPTN, the aircraft industry, Krakatau Steel, PT PAL, the shipbuilding industry and PT PINDAD, the weapon and ammunition factory. BPPT is the country's technological think-tank, providing jobs for hundreds of highly-trained engineers and technicians.
Besides being Minister of Research and Technology, he holds at least a dozen other prestigious positions, making him an Indonesian superman. Next to chairing all these agencies, he is the managing director of the strategic companies IPTN, PT PAL, PT PINDAD and chairs the Development Agency for Batam, the boom island close to Singapore. High cost economy
The Habibie way of running high-tech companies has been controversial from the start. The companies absorb huge amounts of state funds and are likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The lack of transparency about the finances of the companies has been a nightmare for ministers and bureaucrats in charge of financing. IPTN, the aircraft company, in particular has caused huge problems.
IPTN, located in Bandung, West Java, employs at least 15,000 highly trained people and is projected to grow to 60,000 by the turn of the century. It started as an air-force repair facility but now produces small aircraft, helicopters under license, aircraft components and weapon systems. Initially, Habibie undertook production in cooperation with foreign aircraft companies like Bell in the US, CASA of Spain and MBB of Germany but in 1989 he decided to develop his own aircraft, the N-250. The 70-seater is an ambitious project with highly sophisticated technology such as glass-cockpit avionics and a special flight- control system, for which IPTN has relied on foreign suppliers.
After major technological and financial problems, the N-250 was officially launched during APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic conference, in the presence of an array of world leaders. Although IPTN talks optimistically about selling 700 N-250s, there are no signs this will be achieved. Despite a host of financial disasters, Habibie remains confident and is looking ahead to another project, a 130-seat fly-by-wire, transonic speed twin-jet. At least US $1.6 billion state money has been sunk into IPTN, but the company has yet to become internationally competitive or genuinely profitable, argue economic analysts. In particular, the prestige-project N-250 has been at the centre of controversy. In 1993 Habibie became embroiled in a battle over state funding for the N-250. The new Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad reportedly refused to channel more money into the project and IPTN was forced to dig into its own capital reserves. President Suharto came to the rescue, instructing the Forestry Minister to release US$ 185 million from the reforestation funds to keep the project afloat. Several environmental groups tried unsuccessfully to prevent this.
Habibie's special status
PT PAL, the shipbuilding firm, illustrates vividly Habibie's special status: The tax audit discovered that PT PAL had under- reported income for a three-year period., 1985 to 1987. In a letter dated 10 October 1990, then Finance Minister Sumarlin informed Habibie that PT PAL was liable for past tax payments plus fines, which together amounted to about US$ 80 million. On 25 March 1991, Habibie wrote back refuting the audit and saying that payment of past taxes 'would be a burden for PT PAL and damage its future prospects'. He sent a copy of the letter to Soeharto. Two days later, State Secretary Murdiono passed on a terse, very un-Javanese message from Soeharto to Sumarlin: 'If the Minister of Finance has a problem with waiving PT PAL's tax payments, then the President will do it. PT PAL is a state-owned company, not a private Habibie enterprise, and it doesn't need to be squeezed of tax.' The subject was dropped. [A Nation in Waiting, Adam Schwarz, Allen & Unwin, 1994, pg 72].
As is often the case, promoting high-tech goes hand in hand with the promotion of technology for military purposes. The majority of Habibie's strategic companies are part of Indonesia's growing military industrial complex. While in the early period, top- ranking generals benefited from Habibie's industrial empire, in the past decade, sharp differences have arisen. Officers used in running their own affairs and buying their own hardware have been side-stepped by Habibie. The bottom line is money; everybody knows that the purchase of weapons provides plenty of kickbacks which now fill the pockets of the Habibie clique. Moreover, the generals resent being forced to purchase helicopters, ships and aircraft from Habibie's companies when better vehicles are on offer on the world market. It was the purchase of 39 naval vessels from the former East German navy that brought into the open the conflict between Habibie and the generals and technocrats. As Habibie's power has increased, he has gained more enemies. Now that he has built a political power base, the number of enemies has multiplied.
ICMI, Habibie's political vehicle
In December 1990 Habibie set up ICMI, the Association of Muslim Intellectuals, and became its chair. Only a nominal Muslim, Habibie was initially hesitant about taking it on but pressure from several influential Muslim intellectuals, and particularly from Suharto persuaded Habibie. Given the stalemate in politics, ICMI quickly became a powerhouse, a rallying point for at least three trends in political Islam: the natural Habibie allies, technologists and bureaucrats working within the Habibie empire; Muslim intellectuals, often called Muslim modernists, who have been searching for decades for a political umbrella and see his cosy relationship with the president as providing unprecedented opportunities. The rest joined ICMI for a variety of reasons: dissatisfaction with the obscure role of political Islam in Indonesia or the economic strength of the Indonesian Chinese or the over-representation of Christians within the Indonesian hierarchy.
While Habibie relies primarily on the first and third groups, it is the Muslim intellectuals who have a clear agenda for ICMI. A small group of Muslim intellectuals first had the idea of setting up ICMI and Suharto embraced it as it suited his need to broaden his political base, using it as a buffer against the military. Suharto rewarded ICMI quite generously with several posts in the cabinet and a number seats in parliament representing the ruling party, GOLKAR. ICMI people catapulted into high positions, all of them from the first group, the Habibie loyalists. The second group, often called 'the real ICMI', by no means unified in their views, have built an influential think-tank called CIDES (Centre for Information and Development Studies) and a well-run newspaper, Republika. To put it bluntly, tired of fighting the system, they opted to join it, in other words, translating clientelism through Habibie into more political power, as has already happened. In the political game of who is using who, thirty years' rule has made Suharto a past-master. It has become clear that Suharto distrusts 'the real ICMI' and will never allow them to become too powerful.
Habibie the politician
The Suharto-Habibie duo performed quite a political tango when they stage-managed two major events in 1993: the MPR (Congress) session in March that re-elected Suharto and the GOLKAR congress in October. On both occasions Habibie acted as the manipulator (with Suharto behind the scenes), curtailing the influence of the military and the technocrats and promoting ICMI bureaucrats and Suharto loyalists. For the first time the GOLKAR chairmanship was occupied by a civilian, Harmoko, the Minister of Information and known as the "censorship boss".
On many occasions, Habibie has boasted that he learned his ABC as a politician from his guru Suharto. The GOLKAR congress was typical of Suharto's craftsmanship with Habibie executing the plot. The outgoing board under ret'd general Wahono was humiliated over its successor board - Habibie was ready with his own list of candidates. The new board was nepotism and political clientelism at its crudest. Tutut Suharto became vice-chair while Bambang Suharto emerged as treasurer. Habibie installed eleven of his cohorts on the board, proving that ICMI has become the stepping-stone to higher realms.
Greed and nepotism
As a civilian, Habibie is the only non-military person in 30 years of Suharto's rule ever to have gained so much power. A remarkable achievement but, as analysts say, Habibie could only have come this far thanks to his special relationship with Suharto. In the past Suharto used different allies, General Ali Murtopo, General Benny Murdani or General Sudharmono. But their relationship with Suharto was fundamentally different. Suharto profoundly distrusts anybody who gets too powerful. At the peak of their careers, these generals were stripped of their powers.
His tie with Habibie is a different ball-game. Suharto has a complete trust in him and apparently does not see him as a potential threat. Their personalities differ markedly. Suharto is a bland, uninspiring man while Habibie has a dazzling style, with a reputation of engaging in hours'-long monologues extolling his technology dreams. But the two have a lot in common, not least their greed and favouritism for close relatives.
Political analysts in Jakarta say that Rudy Habibie's nepotism is unending. The Habibie family has become quite a dynasty with at least 40 companies involving brothers, sisters, children and in- laws. Rudy Habibie's private residence in the elite Jakarta suburb of Kebayoran Baru is an example of the burgeoning wealth of the Habibie dynasty. Starting with just a villa, the Habibie residence has spread to include all the houses in the block, an entire complex of affluence. Similarly, Suharto's residence in Jalan Cendana clawed up the entire block.
The majority of Habibie companies are known as the TIMSCO Group, named after Timmy, the nickname of Suyatim Abdulrachman Habibie, the youngest of Habibie's brothers. The TIMSCO Group consist of at least a hundred companies, including affiliates, many of which were set up to carry out special tasks, while thirty to forty have longer-term tasks. Many are joint ventures with the Suharto crony Liem Sioe Liong or with members of the Suharto clan, notably sons Bambang, Tommy, daughter Tutut Suharto and foster- brother Sudwikatmono.
The holding company is PT TIMSCO Indonesia whose activities range from trading, consultancies, plantations, chemical industries, pig and poultry farming to construction, tele-comunications, aerial mapping and tourism. According to official figures for 1993, PT TIMSCO had a turnover of Rp 630 billion (US$ 300 million) and assets worth Rp 290 billion (US$150 million).
Harold Crouch, Canberra -- President Suharto's three-decade rule seems about to end, but the succession is still far from clear.
Three months of student demonstrations demanding his resignation turned last week into mass rioting that has cost about 500 lives and caused enormous damage in the capital. The rupiah has collapsed again, much of the Chinese and international business community has fled and the International Monetary Fund's rescue package is in tatters.
Mr. Suharto, a former commander of the armed forces, has always relied on the military to support his regime. But there are doubts about how far the armed forces are willing to back him now. For some years many officers have privately believed that it was time for Mr. Suharto to step down, but they have been reluctant to move openly against him.
Mr. Suharto has maintained control over the military by ensuring that no single group of officers is dominant. Pursuing a divide-and-rule strategy, he has neutralized the military's capacity to take independent political initiatives.
Today the military leadership revolves around two centers of power. Mr. Suharto appointed his former adjutant, General Wiranto, as armed forces commander in February and then promoted his son-in-law, Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto, to head the 27,000-strong Kostrad, the army strategic reserve force. Several regional commanders, including the Jakarta commander, are allied with General Prabowo.
The rivalries in the top military leadership help explain its hesitance to put pressure on Mr. Suharto. It is difficult enough to gain the backing of all key commanders for a joint approach to Mr. Suharto to try to persuade him to step down, let alone to launch a coup against him. The last thing the military wants is to take precipitate action that might pit rival military units against each other.
Under the leadership of General Wiranto, the military has been remarkably restrained in confronting the current crisis. He has defended the right of students to express their aspirations (which included vociferous demands for Mr. Suharto to step down) provided they remained on their campuses.
And even during the massive rioting of last week, troops in many areas stood aside while mobs destroyed and looted shops, homes and banks. The deaths in the rioting were overwhelmingly caused by the rioters' actions, not by the military. The event that sparked the rioting -- the killing of six students with live bullets on Tuesday -- clearly contravened General Wiranto's orders that only rubber bullets be used.
Nevertheless, the army cannot stand aside and allow Jakarta, and other cities, to descend into chaos. It has become obvious to much of Jakarta's political elite that the restoration of order will be difficult to achieve as long as Mr. Suharto remains in office. If order is not restored in the next few days, the military leadership -- despite the rivalries in its ranks -- will be under great pressure to join civilian leaders in trying to persuade him to step down.
If Mr. Suharto were to resign, the Indonesian constitution makes it clear that he would be succeeded automatically by his recently elected vice president, B.J. Habibie. But the succession of Mr. Habibie might only take the power struggle into a second round. He has few supporters in the armed forces and was opposed by most leaders of the majority party, Golkar, when his candidacy was imposed by Mr. Suharto before the election in March.
It is likely that Parliament would call a special session of the 1,000-member People's Consultative Assembly, which elects the president and vice president, to replace Mr. Habibie by constitutional means. The military would exercise enormous influence on the choice.
Whoever emerges as the new president, one thing is clear. The new leader, military or civilian, will need the backing of the armed forces, which will continue to play a decisive role in Indonesian politics.
Armed forces commander in chief General Wiranto has confirmed that the six students who were killed during protests at Trisakti University, Grogol, Jakarta, had been hit by live bullets aimed from above.
"The use of live bullets was an act of indiscipline and a violation of the rules of engagement," he told a parliamentary commission Friday. He said that the investigation conducted by the armed forces had now established the location of the security forces at the time of the incident. "We hope to be able to disclose very soon who it was who was directly responsible for the shooting," he said.
He said that although the principle of collective responsibility is recognised in the armed forces, in the final analysis, the ABRI commander in chief/Defence Minister (ie, he himself) must take responsibility for the affair.
Major-general Syamsu, commander of the Military Police, who is supervising the investigations, said that the commanders in the field at the time have all been questioned and it has now been established that the troops under their command had only been equipped with rubber bullets, but the fact is that the casualties were caused by live bullets. The investigation is therefore continuing to discover what happened.
He said that the Jakarta military commander of Jakarta as commander of Koops Jaya (operational command for Jakarta) and his deputy, the Jakarta chief of police, had not issued orders for the security forces to open fire during the Trisakti protests. "The two commanders were very concerned to ensure that there would be no shooting with live ammuniation," he said.
Delayed reaction Asked why there was such a delay before the security forces arrived at the time of the riots in Jakarta on Wednesday and Thursday, Wiranto said that this was indeed true.
He said his forces were not capable of coping with mass riots which occurred simaltaneously in a large number of places and admitted tha troops were not present in many places. The size of the area is disproportionate to the number of troops available, he said. Under these circumstances, the decision had been taken to handle the situation by a show of force, bringing out tactical vehicles and combat vehicles.
When asked whether the riots had been instigated, he said: "We have not yet been able to investigate whether certain elements may have organised the riots which spread so rapidly." He said that this was now under investigation.
He said that the police had arrested hundreds of people during the riots and were now having problems finding places to put them and feeding them all. Some people had deliberately got themselves arrested because they would be fed if they were in police custody.
| Arms/armed forces |
Jakarta -- The son-in-law of former Indonesian president Suharto was relieved of command of the prestige after he had resigned as head of state a day earlier.
An army spokesman said Lieutenant-General Prabowo Subianto had been replaced as head of the 17,000-man strategic command (Kostrad) and named commandant of the Staff and Command College in the West Java city of Bandung.
Prabowo, who is married to Suharto's second daughter Siti Hediati, was replaced by Major-General Johny Lumintang, assistant for operations to the armed forces head of general staff.
Military analysts said the move strengthened the hand of armed forces commander General Wiranto, who is believed to have played a key role in persuading Suharto to leave office in Thursday after 32 years in power.
Suharto, who quit under intense political pressure amid economic crisis, was replaced by his vice-president Jusuf Habibie.
Habibie reappointed Wiranto to the armed forces command and as concurrent defence minister on Friday morning, hours before Prabowo was abruptly relieved of command.
Suharto had named Wiranto, a former close aide regarded as a highly professional soldier, as head of the armed forces in a military shuffle in February when Prabowo was also given the Kostrad command.
Military analysts had seen the appointments as a move by Suharto to put into the top military posts men he regarded as loyalists in competition with each other.
Prabowo had previously commanded and expanded the elite special forces.
Kostrad commander is a three-star position and Lumintang, a 50- year-old infantryman who has spent much of his career in remote Irian Jaya, was expected to receive promotion to lieutenant- general.
A fast rising officer with overseas training, he was the youngest district military commander when appointed to command the forces in Indonesia's troubled East Timor territory in 1993.
He is also a Christian in the mainly-Moslem nation.
Dana Priest -- US officials believe that an elite US-trained military unit in Indonesia has been involved in kidnapping and torturing political dissidents, and Washington is considering a permanent ban on ties with the unit, US defense and diplomatic officials said.
Shortly after a number of influential political activists began disappearing in February, the US ambassador in Jakarta, J. Stapleton Roy, met with Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, who headed the Kopassus special forces until March, to express US anger over the disappearances and to request that Prabowo try to gain the activists' release, sources said.
US officials said Prabowo denied that the troops were involved. But in the weeks following the US entreaty, government sources said, four of the dissidents were released and several others were transferred to the Metropolitan Jakarta Police Command, where they remain.
Prabowo was sacked yesterday by his military rival, Gen. Wiranto, the head of the Indonesian armed forces, who is consolidating his power after the resignation this week of President Suharto. US sources in the region said they have been told Wiranto is accusing Prabowo of ordering the shooting of students in demonstrations two weeks ago and of the disappearances. Prabowo, who is Suharto's son-in-law, declined requests for an interview.
"The US government has made it clear in public statements and private meetings with Indonesian officials that we were concerned about the disappearances, and we urged respect for human rights and the due process of law," said Pentagon spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon, who otherwise declined to discuss the allegations against Kopassus.
Despite the US concern about the kidnappings and Indonesia's deteriorating political situation, officials tried to maintain good relations with Prabowo and Kopassus. Even after Roy's meeting with Prabowo, US Special Forces troops held three training exercises with Kopassus -- in March, April and May.
Defense officials said the charges are particularly sensitive given the still volatile situation in Indonesia and the presence of Americans there. In several interviews here and in Indonesia, US officials confirmed their strong suspicion that Kopassus was behind the abuses.
Western sources said the United States became convinced that Kopassus likely was responsible for the recent round of disappearances, based on independent information gleaned in Indonesia and from public and private descriptions of conditions in captivity made by some of those released.
The possible involvement of Kopassus troops could become an embarrassment for the US military, which nurtured its ties with the unit through frequent training exercises involving America's most highly skilled guerrilla warriors and visits by senior military officers.
Prabowo, 47, whose ties to the US military are the closest of any among the US-trained officer corps, attended the Advanced Infantry Officers Course at Fort Benning, Ga., in 1985 and the Army Special Forces Training Course at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 1980.
In January, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen met with Prabowo and was treated to a display of Kopassus skills, which included unflinching contact with scorpions and bats. Since 1991, US Special Forces troops have conducted 41 training exercises with Indonesian troops, and at least 26 of those were with Kopassus. The training involved counterterrorism, mission planning, sniper skills and rapid infiltration of troops. US defense analysts in Jakarta said the training included discussions of the human rights standards of the US military.
The exercises were suspended two weeks ago because of the unrest in the country. High-ranking US officers have said they are hopeful the training will resume. But a senior State Department official said this week that a cutoff of all ties with Kopassus "is a likely outcome."
International human rights organizations have long accused Kopassus of human rights violations, especially in the outlying regions of East Timor, Aceh and Irian Jaya, where tiny, poorly armed insurgencies exist.
"The United States should ban any further cooperation with Kopassus until a full investigation has been completed and those accused have been prosecuted," said Sidney Jones of Human Rights Watch.
Fifteen political activists have been reported kidnapped since February. Four have been released and as many as seven are believed to have been transferred to a Jakarta police station. Seven of the men, including three who have been released, reportedly were held in the same detention facility and spoke to each other through cell walls at different times.
Some of the former captives have provided details about their surroundings that have been helpful in determining where they were held, officials said. The descriptions mention a daily military-style bugle call, the sound of particular aircraft close by, the sight of military pistols and a description of the road on which the detainees traveled on the day of their release.
The presence of several dissidents in the same place, Western officials said, indicates that their abduction was part of a centralized, organized operation and not one carried out by renegade troops or police. Some captives have also told Indonesian investigators that they overheard their captors talking about receiving foreign military training.
These and other details have given Western government officials reasons to believe that the detainees may have been held at a military base in south Jakarta used by Kopassus's Group 4 intelligence unit and its Group 5 counterterrorism unit.
Group 4 is responsible for interrogations and carries out clandestine operations around the country, according to Western defense officials.
The US Special Forces held a maritime exercise with Group 5 in August and September 1996. They have not conducted exercises with Group 4, but Western defense officials here note that members of Kopassus are routinely rotated from place to place and group to group, just like in the United States.
The captives held together include Puis Lustrilanang, chairman of the People's Alliance for Democracy, who told Congress two weeks ago that he believed the military was responsible for the abductions, and Desmond J. Mahesa, chairman of the Jakarta branch of the Nusantara Legal Aid Foundation, who described his ordeal at a Jakarta news conference last week.
Puis, who fled to the Netherlands after his release, testified that he was tortured.
| International relations |
World leaders have welcomed the resignation of Indonesian President Suharto, and have urged for a peaceful continuation of political and economic reforms.
"We welcome President Suharto's decision, which provides an opportunity to begin a process leading to a real democratic transition for Indonesia -- an opportunity for the Indonesian people to come together and build a stable democracy for the future," US President Bill Clinton said in a statement read by a White House spokesman.
"The United States stands ready to support Indonesia as it engages in democratic change."
Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said that Japan would continue to help Indonesia carry out reforms.
"We will continue to support the Indonesian people's efforts at reform," Hashimoto told reporters in Tokyo. Japan is the largest contributor to the IMF-led bailout programme for Indonesia, having pledged a $5 billion contribution to the $43-billion package.
Both Australia and Thailand stressed the need for the reform process to be carried out peacefully within constitutional boundaries.
"I believe Indonesia can work out its problems through the constitutional process as everyone favours a peaceful transition," Thai Prime Minster Chuan Leekpai said.
Chuan called on the ASEAN to help Indonesia through the transition.
Australian Prime Minster John Howard welcomed the change in leadership and said his government would cooperate with Habibie's administration.
"I welcome the fact that the changes are within the framework of the constitution. It (the transition) should be orderly, it should be without bloodshed and it should be within the framework of the current constitution that forms the Indonesian state," Howard told a news conference.
In Seoul, South Korea's foreign ministry said it welcomed the resignation of Suharto in accordance with the will of the Indonesian people.
David Storey, Washington, May 21 Reuters - The United States went through the final motions of an ungainly diplomatic dance as Indonesia's President Suharto, one of its old guard of allies from the Cold War days, slid reluctantly from power.
It is a dance that has been frequently rehearsed in recent years as time ran out for foreign leaders befriended more for their strategic value than their commitment to traditional American values of democracy and freedom.
Suharto, 76, who ruled for 32 years with hardly a pretence of democracy and with barely disguised nepotism rampant, was a classic example of such allies, recruited in the ideological battles that broke out around the world.
Last year Washington said an embarrassing farewell to Zaire's President Mobutu Sese Seko. One of Africa's most despotic dictators, he had been championed as an anti-Soviet force on a continent riven with proxy Cold War struggles.
Shunned by the United States towards the end of his rule, Mobutu died in exile.
That was the ironic fate of many strongmen. Chosen by the United States because of their iron grip as bulwarks against an ideological enemy, they were eventually ousted by popular forces acting under principles Washington espoused.
Some fell early, like the Shah of Iran, who was ousted 19 years ago after apparently misunderstanding, as Suharto has done, the dissatisfaction brewing among his people.
Others like General Augusto Pinochet in Chile or Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier in Haiti who also employed ruthless secret police control, maintained stability and enjoyed US tolerance saw left-wing movements undermine the old order around them.
A close, at least geographic, parallel to Suharto was President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, who ruled for 20 years until he was ousted in a 1986 "people power" revolt and was accused of stealing billions of dollars from the Treasury.
The delicacy of relations with such regimes was reflected in the US diplomatic dance with Suharto yesterday when officials gave contradictory interpretations of a speech by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Albright said in a speech that Suharto "now has the opportunity for an historic act of statesmanship, one that will preserve his legacy as a man who not only led his country but who provided for its democratic transition."
Reporters were briefed by one State Department official before the speech who said this was an implicit call for the president to quit. Another State Department official later gave what he called the "authoritative" interpretation that it was not a call for his resignation.
After Suharto announced his resignation, President Bill Clinton said he welcomed the move, saying it provided an opportunity to "begin a process leading to a real democratic transition for Indonesia".
Sidney Jones, a veteran Indonesia-watcher now with Human Rights Watch in New York, said there were similarities between the Suharto and Marcos situations "both cases of the US holding on too long".
"There is the same kind of harping on about stability and then you get to a point close to the end where the only way of regaining stability is for him to go," she said.
Suharto is a classic case of the close US ally whose friendship became awkward. An army general, he was strongly backed by the United States when he took power after what the government said was a communist-inspired coup attempt in 1965.
It was a time when Washington was becoming increasingly embroiled in Vietnam, across the South China Sea from the sprawling Indonesian archipelago. One of Suharto's first acts was to eliminate the Communist Party of Indonesia.
The United States turned a blind eye to the invasion by Indonesian troops in 1975 of the former Portuguese colony of East Timor and its incorporation as an Indonesian province. Washington strategists were, and remain, concerned that Fretilin, the main resistance movement, is a communist group that could provide a Marxist foothold.
In the 1970s and 1980s, when Suharto encouraged foreign investment and helped create rapid development, US concerns focused on security issues including maintaining regional shipping lanes and vital Indonesian oil supplies for Japan.
By the 1990s the United States was protecting big financial investments in Suharto's Indonesia and was working closely with the Indonesian military. But US concern grew over civil rights abuses and the crackdown in East Timor.