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ASIET Net News 21 – May 24-30, 1999
East Timor| Democratic struggle |
Vaudine England, Jakarta -- For the many thousands of rural Indonesians who have begun reclaiming their land by direct action, the country's new-found enthusiasm for democracy means more than a succession of noisy parades.
From East Kalimantan to Medan to Java and beyond, dispossessed farmers or forest-dwellers are organising themselves against large plantation, logging or industrial companies to protect their rights to land, livelihood and culture.
The latest land conflict to become violent was near Medan, Sumatra. On Tuesday, police opened fire on 5,000 protesters who had converged on the headquarters of state plantation firm PTP II, demanding the return of land they said had been illegally taken.
Earlier this month, in West Java, hundreds of farmers claiming rights to land developed by another state plantation company burned crops, houses and a copra processing plant.
The Legal Aid Institute and the National Commission on Human Rights reported that the reoccupation of land and labour conflicts over rising unemployment were the two issues most regularly complained about.
In each case, the underlying issue was the same: the virtual absence of an inalienable right to the ownership of land.
Around this central problem lies almost every other controversy in the way economic and political power is distributed in Indonesia -- corruption and the lack of rule of law, the decentralisation of power from Jakarta to the regions, the uneasy coexistence of different ethnic groups and the fate of the environment.
"People are not opposed to cash crops, but they want their own control," said a foreign forestry specialist in Kalimantan.
People have disappeared or died after pitting themselves against large corporations which are usually protected by the security forces.
No political party contesting the election on June 7 has a detailed programme on land management.
Formally, land rights did exist but "tenure security is very low", said a land expert at the World Bank. Land is divided into two types, "forest" and "non-forest" land, where "forest" land is under the management of the Ministry of Forestry, covering 70 per cent of the country, and is not subject to individual land titles.
The ministry issues concessions in a process at best erratic. "Non-forest" land can be held through individual title, but in practice this is warped by a similar lack of transparency.
Communities can also hold land according to local "adat" law, or people can acquire title by possession. Such deals have been part of history for generations and known to all, but are legal now only if notarised.
"It's a mess. It's open to
all sorts of abuse and misuse," said the land expert. "If you own a piece
of land, anyone with power or money can leave you with nothing."
| East Timor |
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili -- United Nations officials arriving in East Timor yesterday complained of a hostile reception from pro- Jakarta supporters as fresh violence erupted in the territory's second-largest town, Baucau, where a man was shot dead by Indonesian soldiers as he took part in a religious ceremony.
The UN's spokesman, Mr David Wimhurst, appealed to people on all sides of the conflict to apply for 4,000 UN jobs open to East Timorese after hundreds of residents of the capital, Dili, most of them independence supporters, crowded the gate of the UN's just-established headquarters.
The residents became angry when about 20 heavily armed Indonesian police blocked their entry to the complex on the outskirts of the town, prompting UN officials to ask them to scale-down their presence.
Student leader Mr Francisco Fernandes told reporters amid cheers from the crowd: "The people want the police to go away from here -- they don't trust the Indonesian police." Most of the police left soon after. Mr Wimhurst said that although the UN had to remain neutral ahead of an August ballot to decide the future of the former Portuguese territory, offers of support from independence supporters had flooded in, while the supporters of integration with Indonesia were hostile. Mr Wimhurst said the UN had received information, although no direct threats, that some people in East Timor wanted to attack UN staff.
Julio Caetano Ximenes, 25, died after being shot in the back of the head as he tried to flee more than 100 soldiers who had surrounded the religious procession in Baucau on Thursday, AAP reported relatives as saying.
Relatives said there was no motive for the attack. Even as they wept on Thursday over Mr Ximenes, Indonesian soldiers came to their house and demanded to take his body away.
Mr Wimhurst said the UN had been told about the attack, the latest in a series during which up to 100 independence activists have been killed since Indonesia's President, Dr B.J. Habibie, announced in January that he would give 800,000 Timorese the choice between autonomy or breaking away from Indonesia.
UN officials have confirmed another attack this week on three representatives of the main independence group, the National Council for Timorese Resistance, in the coastal town of Liquica, 40 kilometres west of Dili. The men were beaten and tortured.
With the UN's blue flag now flying over the headquarters of the UN Assistance Mission for East Timor, the main pro- independence leaders are still hiding, demanding UN protection before agreeing to campaign openly for the ballot.
Mr Wimhurst said the UN was trying to find the location of centres outside Dili where church and aid workers estimate that 48,000 displaced people are living in intolerable conditions and are forced to swear their allegiance to Indonesia every day.
Mr Wimhurst dismissed a request by Indonesia to change the ballot date to August 7 because August 8 is a Sunday.
[In an exclusive interview with The Jakarta Post, the co- winner of the 1996 Noble Peace Prize, Jose Ramos-Horta, reiterates his support for the New York agreement on a United- Nations-supervised ballot. However, he reserves strong criticism for the planned security arrangements, which will be the responsibility of Indonesia.] Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam -- In an attempt to clarify the position of East Timorese resistance to the New York agreement, Special Representative of the National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT) Jose Manuel Ramos- Horta, has accused the Indonesian Military (TNI) of supporting the prointegration militias. However, he praised President B.J. Habibie for paving the way toward independence in the province.
"President Habibie is doing his very best, within enormous constraints and difficulties. I respect him. Like former French president Charles de Gaulle, Habibie has the courage to want to get out of 'Indonesia's Algerian war'," Ramos-Horta told The Jakarta Post in The Hague recently.
The interview was given only a few days before Minister of Information Mohammad Yunus suggested that proindependence Timorese exiled leaders could meet with Xanana Gusmao and with the prointegration camp in Jakarta.
Question: Are you planning to go home for the Aug. 8 vote?
Ramos-Horta: I wouldn't go just for the vote. One clause of the (unpublished) memorandum (from the UN secretary-general on May 5) is for complete freedom to campaign for everyone concerned. That means CNRT leaders abroad or inside the country should be able to campaign freely. It is seizing on that memorandum that I intend to request the UN to offer me the guarantee and facilities to go to East Timor. Obviously this applies also to Xanana Gusmao. It will be a demonstration of bad faith if Jakarta releases him only after the Aug. 8 ballot.
The Indonesian government seems serious about giving an opportunity to the East Timorese to decide on their future. You have the New York Agreement and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas met with both camps in Bali. Do you trust the efforts?
Everyone knows, the Irish Foreign Minister knows with his own eyes, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Australian Ambassador and the Americans know, they all know how the Indonesian Army has actively promoted violence in East Timor. Indonesia has an illegal occupation army in East Timor. It is a bit like asking Saddam Hussein to meet with all Kurdish factions, or to trust Milosevic to meet with the Kosovars. (Gen.) Wiranto went to Dili a few weeks ago with the two bishops, with some CNRT people, and signed a so-called cease-fire. And what happened? On the same day, the same people whom they gave weapons to continued the killings till today.
But Indonesia has a lot at stake to be trusted by the international community. The country is in transition. It is changing a lot. President Habibie's adviser Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar said that if the referendum fails because of insecurity, Indonesia could become a Myanmar or Serbia.
Yes, you have President Habibie, Dr. Dewi Fortuna Anwar and maybe Minister of Justice Muladi and many others. They are reform-minded people, people with a sense of dignity of what Indonesia should be as a respected member of the international community. But the Army is still there. They are the ones who are defying and challenging their own President and the foreign minister who made a commitment to honor the agreement in New York. As long as we have to depend on the Indonesian Army for peace and security in East Timor, it will be like depending on Saddam Hussein to guarantee peace and security in Iraq. That's the tragedy of Indonesia. Yes, there are extraordinary courageous people on the civilian side, in the media, in student [groups], in the academy. But Indonesia will go through a very tragic fate, as Dewi Anwar said, maybe like Myanmar or Serbia, if the Army continues to operate with total impunity.
So if you go to East Timor, would you meet with President Habibie in Jakarta?
Of course, I respect President Habibie. He is doing the very best within enormous constraints and difficulties; I respect him and his advisers for that. So obviously I would be pleased and honored to see him.
What would you say to him?
I would thank him for having had the statesmanship to make the policy changes. President Habibie reminds me of Charles de Gaulle, the former French president, because de Gaulle is a great French patriot who told France to get out of the Algerian war. De Gaulle was a great statesman because he knew the best interests of France. The dignity and honor of France was not to continue the colonial war in Algeria. And Habibie is doing the same. Why should Indonesia stay on in East Timor? What is at stake? The national interest of Indonesia! So, I say, there is a similarity to De Gaulle in Habibie's courage to want to get out of "Indonesia's Algerian war".
But France at that time, unlike Indonesia now, was not in transition. And President Habibie considers Gen. Wiranto a reformist...
Well if Wiranto is a reformist, I would say Habibie must be a Jeffersonian democrat. If so, Milosevic must also be a reformist, and Saddam Hussein must be the most liberal politician in the world.
The current issues are still the disarmament of militias and other groups carrying weapons. But the New York agreement does not indicate any mechanism for disarmament. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan only asked Indonesia to control and discipline, not disarm, the militias. So this is still a big problem, isn't it?
Of course, if violence continues, there will be no vote, and everyone knows whose responsibility [that would be], because Indonesia said they are the ones to supervise the security. They insisted on it, and it is in the agreement. Can the Indonesian Army truly play an independent and neutral role and provide the security, or not? If they cannot, then let the UN Security Council meet to send an armed peacekeeping force to East Timor. As Ali Alatas said recently, if the Indonesian Army is not capable of disarming the militias, pressure is going to mount from Portugal, the European Union, the Americans, and by us (CNRT) for a UN Security Council mandate for a UN peacekeeping force.
So, would you consider Alatas also a reformist like Habibie?
Well, I would say that Ali Alatas was a very loyal supporter of Soeharto for many years, he is a loyal supporter of Habibie maybe, I don't know what I would consider Alatas at the moment.
You really don't know?
I don't know ... If at this stage the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas realizes it's time for him to gain some credibility before he retires, if he has the courage to speak out, yes, he would go down in history as a man of courage and honor. But, he has to make a break with those who are ruining the name of Indonesia, and that is the Indonesian Army.
What if in the next few years Alatas will be mentioned again as a candidate for secretary-general at the UN. Would you support him?
In three to five years, who knows, I myself might also be a candidate for secretary-general of the UN, so I certainly could not support Alatas.
You would obviously advise the East Timorese to reject the autonomy proposal, but what reasons are you going to give them?
Knowing how the Indonesian economy is, with millions of Indonesians unable to go to school and US$160 billion in external debt, do you think the East Timorese will see any material incentive to join Indonesia? We don't even have to talk about invasion, occupation, the two hundred thousand people killed, the raping of women, the continuing torture, even if we look from the pragmatic point of view, who would want to join Indonesia? What is the material incentive?
Anyone who votes for autonomy has to take full responsibility for the future. Because once the issue is off the UN agenda, it will be far more difficult for economic justice, political justice and social justice to be implemented in East Timor. Those who vote as such are condemning East Timor into a situation of no more opportunities for the future.
But, at the same time I'll be campaigning for nonviolence. I do not agree with many things that many elements in the resistance have done as well.
Many people in Dili use the name of the resistance. I don't know whether they are the resistance or not, but one day they will have to explain. I will also ask the UN to investigate what the role of the resistance in Dili has been in the last few months, of provoking people, insulting people, of taking away or extorting money. I said, even before Soeharto fell, that I don't want to see one single Indonesian migrant abused.
There are now about 26,000 Indonesian migrants in West Timor. The Indonesian government said they are there because of threats from the resistance groups, months before the pro-Jakarta militia's came [on the scene].
No, no, the leaders of the resistance have been very clear. The Falintil [guerrillas] never once attacked an Indonesian migrant. What happened was essentially things by young people in Dili, who were angry with what has happened for 23 years and seized the opportunity. It is still wrong. Indonesian migrants who decide to stay in East Timor in the future must be respected and protected.
Hamish Mcdonald -- Even before the UN Assistance Mission to East Timor (UNAMET) is fully deployed, diplomats and political leaders of concerned countries are discussing the option of postponing the autonomy-or-independence vote scheduled for August 8.
"The logical next step is to start talking about postponing," agreed one senior diplomat, after condemning what he saw as "an awful lot of chicanery behind the scenes" in Jakarta about support for the pro-Indonesian militias.
But the diplomat thinks postponment can only be a matter of weeks at most. The problem is that mainstream Indonesian politics imposes its own tight deadline on the East Timor vote.
In August, the new Indonesian Parliament (DPR) will have taken shape following the June 7 elections. It will form the core of the new People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) which will select a new president and vice-president in November.
The president, Dr B.J. Habibie, who made the dramatic policy switch in January which conceded the independence option for Timor, is given only an outside chance of retaining the leadership. He may even be dumped as presidential candidate by the divided Golkar party. Dr Habibie already faces obvious resistance by the Indonesian military to his Timor policy.
After June 7, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri's party, PDI-Struggle, will be one of the main players in government formation. It has formed a loose coalition with two other new parties, but also has lines out to the military (which has 38 seats in the new 500-seat DPR) and has expressed unhappiness at letting Timor go. The President's pledges would start losing their currency immediately if the election makes him a lame duck, and would pass their sell-by date by November.
"If consultation [the Timor ballot] slips too far into August, you get the new MPR session and all bets are off," the diplomat said. The tight timetable therefore adds to the pressure on the UN to bring the Indonesian army and police into line with Jakarta's pledges to the world body. Security will be the top priority for UNAMET.
Because we are closest to the scene, Australian police and officials will probably be first on the ground in large numbers, calling on their Indonesian counterparts to crack down on the trigger-happy, truculent militias.
Mark Dodd, Dili -- The United Nations mission in East Timor will remain until the vote on self-determination for the violence-prone province is completed successfully, a senior UN spokesman said yesterday.
"We're here until it's done, even if it is postponed," said Mr David Wimhurst, the spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission to East Timor.
Mr Wimhurst said there was no question of the historic referendum being cancelled but the scheduled August 8 date could be changed if UN monitors decided the security position was not conducive to the holding of a "free and fair" election. One of the biggest worries for the UN mission is the persistence of violence and intimidation, mostly perpetrated by pro-Indonesian militia groups who have vowed to defend at all costs autonomy within Indonesia. More than 100 people have died as a result of political violence since January when President B.J. Habibie first raised the prospect of an act of self-determination for the 800,000 people in East Timor.
The UN-organised ballot offers voters on this half-island territory a choice of a wide-ranging autonomy or, if that is rejected, outright independence subject to approval from Indonesia's new Parliament.
On Tuesday, senior UN officials in Dili met the political leadership of the pro-Indonesia umbrella group, FPDK.
Mr Wimhurst said that under the UN accords on East Timor, signed by Portugal and Indonesia on May 5, campaigning for either independence or autonomy will run from July 20 until August 5. "We've made it very clear to them there can be no campaigning on the question of autonomy [until July 20]," Mr Wimhurst said. "We believe they have understood that message. It was a useful meeting.
"We've already met with the students and explained our impartiality. We ran through the same scenario with the FPDK as the people on the independence side." The UN has also complained to Indonesian police about pro-autonomy banners erected across Dili streets linking the UN with support for the pro-Indonesian side. "We want those banners to come down," Mr Wimhurst said. "Wherever they may be, we want them removed."
Meanwhile, the UN mission continues to gather strength and form. A widespread voter education campaign has begun with television and radio broadcasts explaining the UN mission to East Timor. This will be extended to include the print media with information carried in Indonesian, Portuguese and the local Tetum language.
Eligible voters will be registered between June 13 and July 17 in 200 centres across East Timor. Voters must be at least 17 years old, born in East Timor or have at least one parent born here or be married to someone born in East Timor.
In the main warehouse at Dili port, spray painters are busy fixing UN markings on 25 four-wheel-drive vehicles which arrived from Darwin on Monday. Another giant Russian cargo jet is expected to arrive at Baucau military airport tomorrow with 25 tonnes of equipment. However, the arrival of a UN helicopter from Australia has been delayed because of Indonesian bureaucratic delays over its intended flight path.
A flag-raising ceremony outside the new UN headquarters at a teacher training college in Dili is scheduled for Monday. The head of the UN mission, Mr Ian Martin, arrives on Saturday.
Lisbon -- Pro-Indonesian militiamen launched a manhunt for an East Timorese resistance activist in the territory's capital, Dili, Monday night, with paramilitary groups surrounding four of the city's neighborhoods.
Independence activist David Ximenes told Lusa by telephone that militias were attacking houses in the Becora market zone, trying to caputure a member of the resistance, identified only as Joao Bras.
A member of UNAMET in Dili told Lusa the UN mission had been alerted to the incidents but said he had no further information.
A Dili resident, also contacted by telephone from Lisbon, said anti-independence militants had surrounded the southern neighborhoods of Pite, Suricmas, Delta Comoro and Fatumeta.
Using masks and armed with pistols and traditional weapons, the militias set up roadblocks and were controlling all movement in and out of the area, forcing residents to remain in their houses.
The militia action followed the firing of four gunshots in the zone, the source said, adding that the Indonesian military appeared to be aiding the paramilitaries. The source did not know the origin of the gunfire.
Mark Riley, New York -- The United Nations proposes sending a team of military advisers to East Timor in the face of continuing violence. The team would join a 280-strong UN police contingent ahead of the planned autonomy vote in August.
The move was flagged in New York on Monday in a strong report to the Security Council from the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, criticising the Indonesian Army for failing to crack down on the armed militias. "Truckloads of pro-integration militia are able to roam about freely in the towns and to set up checkpoints along the roads without any intervention from the army or the police," Mr Annan said in the report. He raised concerns about the safety of pro-independence leaders, most of whom have gone into hiding.
UN officials said later that Mr Annan would decide possibly by early next month whether it is safe enough for the UN-organised vote to go ahead. At this stage it intends to proceed, despite the violence and the tight time-frame.
The UN has accepted Australia's offer to include 50 Australian police in the East Timor contingent, along with an undetermined number of electoral advisers and administrative assistants.
Australia's military attachi at the UN, Colonel Gary Bornholt, said the police would have no enforcement powers but would help supervise the transport and security of ballot boxes to and from the polling sites. Mr Annan's report criticises Indonesia for not honouring repeated assurances to clamp down on political violence in the territory, and rejects Indonesian Government claims that the fighting has involved pro-independence as well as pro- integrationist militia.
"Credible reports continue to be received of political violence, including intimidation and killings, by armed militias against unarmed pro-independence civilians," he said.
"Furthermore, there are indications that the militias, believed by many observers to be operating with the acquiescence of elements of the army, have not only in recent weeks begun to attack pro-independence groups but are beginning to threaten moderate pro-integration supporters as well."
Mr Annan also said he was deeply concerned that the violence had prevented the new Commission on Peace and Stability from beginning its work.
The commission was created in the landmark agreement between Indonesia and Portugal on May 5 that established the framework for the ballot. It was intended to set a code of conduct for all parties and to oversee an agreement on the surrender of arms by the militia.
Mr Annan said the violence had forced all but one of the independence leaders on the commission into hiding.
UN officials said yesterday that the proposal to include a team of military advisers to the East Timorese mission would supply a first-hand reading of the army's relationship with the militia. They said the current level of liaison with the Indonesian Army was "zero".
Peter Cole-Adams writes: The Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Downer, yesterday backed Mr Annan's sharp criticism. He said the Government shared Mr Annan's concerns about the security situation, and that the Indonesian military and police needed to do much more to bring paramilitaries under control. A spokesman for the minister said Australia had not been approached by the UN to provide military liaison officers, but would certainly consider such a request if it came.
Mr Downer said: "Indonesia's armed forces must act to restore security, bring those responsible for the violence and killings to account, and take action to create an environment in which the East Timorese can vote free from ... intimidation."
Jose Manuel Tesoro, Dili -- While 110 million Indonesians decide the future of their nation, the 850,000 residents of its youngest province await their own fate -- in conditions that are far more uncertain, and far deadlier. On May 14, the first permanent members of the new UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) arrived in Dili. Their task: to begin implementing the May 5 agreement between Indonesia and Portugal, which grants East Timor a referendum on Aug. 8 between special autonomy within Indonesia or outright independence.
Two days after they arrived, UNAMET members were dining at a seaside restaurant, when pro-integration militiamen attacked the area, burning some 10 homes and sending 15 families fleeing. In the smoldering ruins the next day, student Anselmo underlined the tragic irony: "The UN says they are here. But the militias are still shooting."
On May 17, UNAMET issued a strongly worded statement -- its first -- condemning the militias. But words are the only weapons the UN brings to troubled East Timor. The mission eventually will consist of 600 civilians organizing the referendum, as well as 270 "police advisers" to assist local cops and to supervise the transport of ballot boxes on the day of the vote. Full responsibility for keeping the peace during the vote remains with the Indonesian military and police. Yet those are precisely the parties responsible for arming the militias which, having failed to stop the referendum, are now hell-bent on intimidating the population to choose continued integration.
Despite military denials that it aids and supports pro- integration militias, the evidence on the ground says otherwise. Militia members carry military-issue arms. In the hamlet of Hera, east of Dili, the local Aitarak militia leader shares a command post with soldiers. Eyewitnesses report mobile police units backing up militia assaults on civilians. Soldiers and police were seen participating in the April 17 attack on the home of pro-independence figure Manuel Carrascalao, which resulted in the massacre of at least 20 people, including Carrascalao's son. Since then, militias have been hunting pro-independence figures, many of whom are now in exile or in hiding.
Pro-independence guerrillas also have recently taken the lives of pro-integrationists and soldiers. But there is little doubt which group represents the greatest threat to security and order. Asiaweek has learned of a secret memorandum to the May 5 agreement that deals specifically with the militias, which now occupy all of the countryside west of Dili, as well as most urban areas. In it, the UN expects Indonesia to "maintain armed civilian groups under strict control and discipline," and "create immediately a process of disarmament."
Yet what Indonesia's civilian government may pledge, its military may be reluctant to deliver. The former Portuguese colony has been a key posting for influential former, retired or serving generals. The list includes former intelligence chief L.B. "Benny" Murdani, who led the 1975 invasion, and former special forces head Lt.-Gen. Prabowo Subianto, who advanced the use of paramilitaries.
Jakarta wants the vote out of the way fast so the policy- making People's Consultative Assembly can approve autonomy, or consider separation, when it meets Aug. 29. But the deep ties many military figures have in East Timor means haste in Jakarta is answered with resistance -- even undeclared revolt -- in Dili.
Meanwhile, old divisions have re-emerged in East Timor, even among pro-integrationists. Young firebrands have formed the Forum for Unity, Democracy and Justice (FPDK). The older generation of pro-Indonesia East Timorese have their own group, the People's Front for East Timor (BRTT). The former claims an "advisory relationship" with the militias, while the latter has been struggling to get the militias under legal control. Indonesian ambassador-at-large in East Timor, Francisco Lopez da Cruz, is a founding member of BRTT. He frets about the harm the militias have done to the process "precisely when all of us are trying to do our utmost to have a peaceful vote."
If the militias are complicating moderate pro-integrationists' ability to persuade a traumatized population that autonomy within Indonesia is the best option, they are preventing altogether the pro-independence side from making their case public. David Ximenes, coordinator of the pro-independence National Council for the Timorese Resistance, told Asiaweek he can only emerge from hiding if UNAMET establishes security. And that can only happen, he says, "if the Indonesian military is withdrawn from East Timor."
That brings us back to the
starting point: the same group entrusted with ensuring the safety of the
vote is answerable for the danger now surrounding it. Despite this, the
UN mission believes the referendum will happen. "There will not be a cancellation,"
says its spokesman David Wimhurst. Still, less than three months remain
before the scheduled vote, and the more East Timorese who fall prey to
armed marauders, the fewer the number of voters.
| June 7 election |
To her growing legion of fans, Megawati Sukarnoputri can do no wrong, but her critics are not so sure, as Louise Williams reports.
"Be quiet, stop jostling and listen," commands the "princess" of Indonesian politics from atop a makeshift stage in Bogor, West Java, her thousands of sweaty, thirsty devotees packed so tightly into the dusty football field below that the undulating crowd has become one.
Her tone seems a little bossy and patronising, considering the torturous hours the throngs have already spent under the punishing tropical sun, begging desperately for water from the self-important, black-clad security guards ringing the stage.
"Diam, diam, diam," she continues. A less generous translation would suggest she is impatiently telling her people to "just shut up".
But, Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno and political victim of former president Soeharto, can do no wrong in the eyes of the hundreds of thousands of people who have spilled out onto the streets this week to show their support for her Partai Demokrasi Indonesia - Perjuangan (Democratic Struggle Party) in the lead-up to the Indonesia's first democratic polls in more than four decades.
The huge, jubilant crowds, she says, are the product of her long years of building her political credibility by struggling against Soeharto, a particularly personal battle with the man who brought her father down when she was just a teenager.
Her critics, though, are less kind. They attribute her enormous popular appeal not to her own skills or record, but to a dangerous and growing personality cult which has turned Megawati into the "symbol of revenge" for all the excesses, abuses and repression under the Soeharto regime.
This is "short-cut" democracy, laments political scientist Chusnul Mar'iyah from the University of Indonesia.
"This is about populism, not policies. But, Indonesia is facing a very complex and difficult situation. We have 30 million people who have lost their jobs in the last two years; we have seen $US16 billion drained from the nation in capital flight. Whoever is the next president is facing many, many problems. Do we really want to give away a blank cheque based on personality?"
Megawati's critics consider her less than smart. They say she lacks both the charisma and intellect which propelled her father to power and is merely borrowing his legacy. Megawati herself constantly harks back to her father's political ideals and is said to communicate with him using a Javanese mystic as a medium. She has already refused to join in public presidential debates, claiming such direct confrontations do not fit in with Eastern culture, despite the very Western democratic nature of the June 7 polls. In recent months, too, she has adopted a somewhat "diam" policy with the press, turning down virtually all interviews except those facilitated by her inner circle.
The gates of her modest home on Jakarta's outskirts, formerly open to all during her years in the political wildness under Soeharto, are now locked. Another black-clad security guard is posted outside, all puffed up with his new proximity to power. "This is a very traditional power model, especially now that she is the rising star everyone wants to be identified with Mega," says one of her own senior party insiders, of her apparently massive support.
"This personality cult concerns me very much. She is not even in power yet and I am already worried about the potential rise of nepotism. We have to be concerned about who are really the democrats and who are the profiteers, the opportunists attaching themselves to the party."
Her personal lifestyle too, some complain, is not exactly presidential. Fifty-two-year-old Megawati is extraordinarily ordinary. She likes to sleep in, spend her mornings at the hairdressers, take Spanish lessons at home in the afternoon, and attend diplomatic functions in the evening. She formerly worked as a florist and says she enjoyed her years at home raising her now-adult children.
But Megawati is a woman who is comfortable with the label "housewife", and, as such, brings a motherly authority to the political stage. It is possible that this is part of her popular appeal -- the tantalising ordinariness of one born into the elite in a society marred by a vast gap between the rich and the masses of the poor.
"Mega will be motherly, composed, full of perceived integrity. With Mega we can replace the evil king [Soeharto], with the benevolent queen. As a symbol she is very strong and the average people in Indonesia still like to feel a distance from their leader, to feel their power," says political commentator Wimar Witoelar.
"Mega is for us, she is for justice, she is for the little people," insist her exhausted supporters, who have been standing in the heat since early morning. That Megawati arrived by helicopter, and lunched at the golf club, matters not at all to Indonesia's "orang kecil", the little people, those so accustomed to being ignored and abused under Soeharto.
"The lower class, the grass-roots level, is so tired of being repressed by the police and the military, and Mega represents struggle to them. The appeal of the anti-[Soeharto]-establishment is very strong," says one member of the Election Commission.
Says Wimar: "It doesn't matter if she takes an afternoon nap, gets up late, goes for her hair-washing or shopping for her special hand cream. She is still the front runner. She is not dumb; she is smart. She doesn't have to say anything, so she doesn't risk making any mistakes. Now, she feels she deserves to be President; that her suffering is her legitimacy."
So is Indonesia in danger of moving another step backwards as it looks to the past for a solution to the problems of the present? Megawati is a traditional, dynastic political leader in a nation in the throes of a painful transition towards democracy. To break with the personalised and corrupt political system built around Soeharto, Indonesia must not only democratically elect a legitimate government, but must rebuild all its main civilian institutions around professionalism and justice.
"Leadership is about managing smart people, not about being the smartest person yourself. People trust her. She had no interest in Soeharto's New Order, she was a victim, and now people are casting around for someone who had no links," says one political analyst.
"If she has a modern, professional group around her and her function is symbolic then she could be a good, unifying president. The biggest worry would be if she tries to play politics herself," says another.
But both her supporters and detractors agree that Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDI-P is the most likely to get the biggest single share of the votes in a fractured, multi-party field in the polls. Megawati has always been an Indonesian princess of sorts. As a young girl she spent much of her time at her father's side in the turbulent '50s and '60s, an experience she says taught her about courage and the reality of politics. When her father was sidelined by a young, ambitious military officer called Soeharto, then forced to step down only to die under house arrest, the Sukarno family made a secret pact never to enter Indonesian politics again.
But, in the early '90s the Partai Demokrasi Indonesia (PDI), one of only two alternative parties permitted under Soeharto law, began to woo Megawati as its leader and the family gave in. Despite numerous attempts to bribe and bully party officials, the then President Soeharto failed to prevent her from being elected to the top party position; and so the Soeharto/Sukarno battle lines were redrawn.
In 1996, however, Soeharto made a major tactical error. His Government convened a blatantly fraudulent PDI Congress which sacked Megawati, allowing Soeharto to ban her and her followers from the 1997 general election. In the process, the Indonesian military stormed the PDI office in central Jakarta, killing scores of Megawati's supporters and sparking serious rioting in the capital. Thus, Megawati the martyr was born.
At the time, confined to her Jakarta home and banned from politics, she merely said: "Politics is a long-term game; this is just one setback." And so she waited.
Megawati herself was not at the PDI offices during the bloody assault, nor was she out on the streets during the demonstrations in 1998 which finally brought Soeharto down. So apparently reluctant was she to rouse protests against the Soeharto regime that she became known as a "figurehead" rather than a leader, and many more-active pro-democracy campaigners were infuriated by her reluctance to take a higher profile - and riskier - position.
But, say party insiders, her absence was part of the strategy. As Sukarno's daughter and a political martyr she was just too valuable a symbol for the party to risk her getting killed on the streets. "When they were attacking her headquarters she was crying, and we were preventing her from going," says one source.
Megawati has been written off many times by political observers as having lost the power struggle against Soeharto. But she just kept on plugging on. She played doggedly within Soeharto's rules; filing court cases in his courts she could never win, complying with his constant bureaucratic harassment and refusing to break the law and give him an excuse to arrest her. As such she displayed a keen political "intuition", and a very deep understanding of the power games behind the scenes in Soeharto's political elite, says an observer.
The problem is that Megawati has always been defined by Soeharto's rules and now Indonesians are looking for a new political system. On issues such as justice and corruption she is widely trusted, but few believe she is a radical reformer.
"What we will probably get from Megawati is much the same kind of system, but it will be cleaner and more accountable," the observer says.
Megawati is comfortable, for example, with the military's prominent role in society, and it is likely the powerful armed forces will swing behind her if she comes out as the single biggest winner in the elections.
She is a determined nationalist and does not necessarily favour a vote on independence in East Timor. In the case of East Timor no-one can now prevent the ballot, but separatist pressures are rising in the northern province of Aceh and in Irian Jaya. Without a fairer system for Indonesia's resource-rich outer islands, any new Government will have trouble keeping the nation together.
And what her own role might be in running the country is unclear. Those close to her say that she relies heavily on experts around her and listens well.
"She seeks advice widely and she trusts her advisers. She is not an intellect like her father was, so she has to trust other people. The problems will arise if she trusts the wrong people, and if she is not able to resist people who are trying to influence her," says one party official. Right now, he says, Megawati's husband is busy trying to put his people in power, a move which could seriously discredit her clean image.
"After the election there will have to be the classic patronage payback; supporters will expect rewards in terms of positions for their loyalty," says a diplomat. "This is not about changing the character of Indonesian society."
Says the party official: "The problem is that if you want to build a democracy, your loyalty has to be to the ideas, not the person, and that is not the case."
Barry Porter, Ujung Pandang -- Armed supporters of the Golkar party ran amok in South Sulawesi yesterday, stoning opposition party offices and hurling insults about their leaders.
"Kill Amien Rais. Kill Amien Rais," yelled one small gang carrying machetes outside the National Mandate Party's (PAN) office in Ujung Pandang, as they lobbed missiles while police lamely stood by.
Security forces moved in to break up a similar disturbance outside the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle office, where Golkar supporters changed their chant to "Megawati is a whore". The city's party chairman had to restrain Megawati Sukarnoputri's followers from reacting.
In a separate incident, a supporter of the Indonesia Uni Democratic Party was attacked and left with a serious head injury.
The ugly scenes followed what had been a peaceful 1,000-strong rally for Golkar, which has governed the country for more than 30 years and for which Sulawesi is a key heartland. Golkar chairman Akbar Tanjung gave a speech in which he appealed for order.
One of Indonesia's independent election watchdogs has been investigating reports Golkar supporters carried guns during a weekend rally in Ujung Pandang.
The party has already twice been warned it may be barred from further campaigning if its supporters continue to bear arms.
Golkar has been the subject of more than half the complaints received by election watchdogs. As well as complaints about its arming of campaign officials -- with machetes and spears as well as guns -- party workers have been accused of bribery.
Independent political analyst Wimar Witoelar said: said: "This is very dangerous. If Golkar wins at the polls the public will remember [it cheated], which will be inflammatory."
There have been many cases of voter registration fraud, with some company bosses registering their staff in order to get multiple votes at their employees' expense.
In Sumenep and Mojokerto in East Java, thousands of ballot papers were found already punched. Teachers assigned to sort ballot papers were suspected of taking them home to mark. And in North Sumatra, 11 plastic bags containing 44,000 ballot papers were found drifting down a river.
Panwaslu, the general election supervisory committee, served Golkar's Jakarta branch with an official warning letter on Wednesday threatening to ban it from campaigning if it did not disarm its civilian security team.
The committee has also given Golkar and most of the other 48 parties contesting the June 7 vote written warnings for staging countless illegal street rallies.
So far the campaigning has been conducted largely in good spirits, often in a carnival-like atmosphere.
Yang Razali Kassim -- Is the Indonesian opposition's dream of a united front as good as shattered?
Amanat Demokrat Bangsa -- for the Nation's Democratic Mandate -- is a clever slogan to rally the diverse ranks of the opposition. But the aim of forging a strategic alliance among Indonesia's three emergent opposition heavyweights has taken a setback from which it may not recover.
The word amanat comes from the National Mandate Party (PAN) of Amien Rais. The word demokrat is borrowed from Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party Perjuangan (PDI- Struggle).
And bangsa obviously is in deference to the National Awakening Party (PKB) of Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as "Gus Dur" -- the man who pulls the PKB strings from his powerful position in the influential Nahdatlul Ulama (NU).
It was Dr Amien who partly made the alliance possible. When it was first announced last week, it created a stir, raising hopes among those who have longed for an effective opposition as a check against self-serving government.
It is a most unlikely marriage of convenience, given the mutual apprehensions among the three, especially between PAN and PKB and between PAN and PDI-P.
Naturally, the announcement of the alliance -- called Paso communique after the place it was born -- raised high expectations that finally, a new force is emerging with the substantial clout to match or even replace the ruling Golkar.
Some go so far as to predict the birth of a new architecture in Indonesian politics. But a week into the Indonesian hustings, the cynics are being proven right. Those who hope for Golkar to be toppled through the ballot box on June 7 are now having second thoughts.
Even before the emerging alliance can take root, let alone grow, the leaders of the Big Three are already arguing in the open. The acrimony stemmed from a unilateral move by Dr Amien to extend the Paso alliance to include the crucial Islamic constituency, with whom PAN has strong links through its roots in the Muhammadiyah social movement.
The Kartika Chandra pact, as it is known, saw PAN forming a pact with the United Development Party (PPP) of former investment minister Hamzah Haz, and the Justice Party (Keadilan).
The trouble is, that link with PPP turned out to be too sensitive for Gus Dur and his party. When BT met him yesterday, the NU chief, whom Asiaweek ranked as one of the 50 most powerful men in Asia, made no bones about how rankled he is.
He accused Dr Amien of only informing, but not consulting, him about the plan. Gus Dur blasted the PAN leader of being "carried away with his presidential ambition".
Whether or not this is needlessly harsh, Dr Amien should have known better how sensitive Gus Dur's PKB is about "the PPP factor". The PPP is a traditional rival. Though many of its members also come from the NU, the PPP has for many years been used by the Suharto regime to neutralise NU's political muscle -- and the scar still remains today.
In the hustings, PPP and PKB supporters have even clashed, leading to some deaths. Both sides are still smarting from this.
Clearly, under the circumstances, a direct linkage between the PPP and PKB is unthinkable. Dr Amien bridged that gulf, and in that sense made a shrewd move to work around the minefields blocking a wider opposition united front.
And in so doing, Dr Amien achieved two other objectives. The first was to reconcile the Islamic and nationalist/secularist constituencies within PAN itself so that the party will remain pluralist -- and potent at the same time.
The second is to bridge the other gulf: the one between the nationalists/secularist streams that the PKB-PDI alliance represents, and the Islamic/nationalist bloc that PAN can claim to represent.
It is important for Dr Amien's PAN to do this. For without its Islamic support base, it will be in danger of being marginalised by Gus Dur's PKB or Ms Megawati's PDI-Struggle. But PAN has come to be too identified with the core of the reformist movement -- thanks to Dr Amien's pivotal role in the May 1998 uprising -- to dwindle into insignificance.
Unfortunately, the leaders of PKB and PDI do not see it this way. Hence Gus Dur's caustic comments, perhaps unfairly, of Dr Amien's presidential ambitions.
But the real problem for the Indonesian opposition is the historical baggage and competing ambitions that keep getting in the way.
Gus Dur, Ms Megawati and Dr Amien all see themselves as the rightful claimant to the mantle of national leadership now being held, precariously, by President B J Habibie. The three opposition leaders, or their lieutenants, share one thing: they believe they are the ones with the largest following and who therefore deserve to lead.
But that said, coalition politics is an idea whose time has come in Indonesia. It need not face a still-born death if only the key opposition players can overcome their oneupmanship and mutual suspicions.
If the Big Three cannot do this, they will find themselves upstaged by dark horses and other newcomers. It may well even be the New Golkar Party that will steal the thunder from them -- and that will really be an embarrassing blow to the nascent opposition.
Hermawan Sulistyo, Jakarta -- Golkar's nomination of B.J. Habibie as its only presidential candidate has sparked heated debates. But what are his chances of winning the presidential seat? A glance at the expected voting structures reveals the possibilities for the presidential election to take place in September or October. This analysis focuses only on the hard facts of seat allocation in the House of Representatives (DPR) and ignores intervening variables such as the role of money politics.
In the elections, political parties are competing for 462 seats in the House, as 38 seats are already allocated for representatives of the Indonesian Military (TNI). If a winner, say the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI Perjuangan), could garner 30 percent of the vote, then the party would secure about 160 seats. This is far from enough to secure the presidential seat.
The president and vice president are elected by members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) which has 700 seats. Thus, in order to secure the presidential seat, a party needs at least 351 seats. Of course, this is not the minimum seat number required to elect the president. If the DPR lacks a majority, the winner of the elections may take the presidential seat at the MPR sessions with a reduced number of seats.
A counterargument for the above assumption on the voting structure would put forward the "fact" that out of 200 additional MPR members, 135 seats are allocated to representatives of regional legislatures. These representatives are elected by members of the local legislatures. It must be emphasized that a party's voting structure in the regions is not necessarily the same as its vote structure at the national level. There is a high possibility of differences between votes garnered for the DPR and votes obtained for local (provincial and regional administrations) legislatures (DPRD I and DPRD II). Thus, if PDI Perjuangan wins 30 percent of the vote for the national DPR, the party does not necessarily obtain the same percentage for regional and provincial legislatures.
Who obtains the benefits from representatives of local legislatures in the MPR? The answer is easy: Golkar. Golkar is the only party with three- decades of solid infrastructure backing, not to mention its financial standing.
Mayors (walikota), regents (bupati) and subdistrict heads (camat) would prefer to stay with Golkar. Because of strong public pressure, only a few will openly support Golkar. But they themselves remain strong supporters of the party. It is not possible that Golkar will win 50 seats for its regional representatives to the MPR. If Golkar wins 25 percent of the votes in the general election, the party would secure about 120 seats in the DPR. This means that in the MPR Golkar would have 170 seats.
In addition to the 135 seats for regional representatives in the MPR, another 65 seats are allocated for appointed MPR members. These members represent various "groups" in society. The largest breakdown of this grouping is 20 seats for religious leaders; the rest of the seats are distributed to intellectuals, students, journalists, workers, farmers and others. This means that Golkar could sweep another cluster of seats. The party would at least save another 30 seats or even more with this prediction. Without playing dirty, the system has generously provided Golkar with more than 200 seats.
As mentioned before, Golkar relies for support mainly on the regional administrations. Although the system does not use this level of administration as the unit of constituency -- the constituency is at the provincial level -- out of the 462 seats up for grabs, 327 are regional-based allocations, with only 135 counted on the basis of a "pure" proportional system.
This ballot framework in turn will provide Golkar with ample opportunities to mobilize its strongest support, that is the regional administrations. The system itself will probably pave the way for Golkar to win more than the moderate prediction of 25 percent of the vote. If this assumption proves true, then Golkar will easily secure 250 votes.
With the ammunition of 250 seats in the MPR, Golkar would still need a further 100 seats to obtain the majority seat requirement of 351. Again, ignoring the possibility of money politics in the MPR, Golkar may make a strategic alliance with one or more factions within the MPR. The most probable partner is, as expected, the military faction. Some small parties may join Golkar's bandwagon, enticed by the offer of various postings, such as positions other than that of Cabinet ministers. There may be dozens of first-echelon positions available, such as director generalships within the ministries. The military has already secured 38 seats. From the local legislatures, this faction may increase its standing to between 70 and 100 seats, enough to support Golkar in its bid for the presidential seat. Under this scheme, a Habibie-Wiranto partnership would make such a strategic alliance profitable for both factions.
Understanding this possible pattern of voting brings us to the conclusion that technically speaking Habibie has a high chance of winning the presidential office. With the not unlikely addition of money politics in the MPR -- a not unfamiliar practice for Golkar -- the party will unfairly seize the new administration.
If this scenario takes place, there is only one possibility left: prolonged and unending conflicts. The winning party in the elections, let us say PDI Perjuangan, with 35 percent of the votes will lose the battle. The party's supporters will not accept the fact that they have been cheated in a "democratic ballot." How come winning elections cannot mean winning an administration? How come a popular vote that perhaps obtains 60 percent of the vote will only obtain 40 percent of seats in the House?
Benefiting from such a "democratic system", Golkar must nevertheless face a potential loss in these elections. Considering an expectation that there will be no majority faction in the MPR, the number of seats alone will not be enough to secure the votes. MPR requires two-thirds of its members as a quorum to vote. If several big parties, for example the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and PDI Perjuangan, along with one or two more parties, decide to walk out of the MPR's ballot room, then a political deadlock will become a reality. The situation will, in turn, provide more disappointment for the masses, who have in the past suffered disillusion with elections' results.
It would appear that the post-election period will be as dangerous and potentially explosive as the pre-election dangers of conflict. It also seems that, unfortunately, no effective remedy is available to prevent such a situation. The best option is then, to let political morality and ethics overcome the temptation of power. Those who have failed in their service to the nation should "quit", just as Soeharto did. In other words, Habibie should reject his nomination as president. Otherwise, he will be responsible for more blood stemming from future conflicts.
[Dr. Hermawan Sulistyo is executive director of the Research Institute for Democracy and Peace, Jakarta.]
Jakarta -- Supporters of Indonesia's ruling Golkar Party clashed with campaigners of a main opposition party in two West Java towns, leaving nine people injured, reports said Friday.
Golkar supporters, armed with machetes hacked five supporters of the Indonesian Democracy Party Struggle (PDI-S) of Megawati Sukarnoputri in Serang, some 70 kilometres west of here on Thursday, the Antara news agency said.
In Purwakarta, some 80 kilometres southeast of here, Golkar supporters attacked a convoy of PDI-struggle backers passing in front of their chapter office, injuring four, the agency said. The Purwakarta incident lead to a stone-throwing battle that quickly emptied the streets of the town, Antara said.
In Serang, five victims were hacked as their PDI-struggle convoy passed a local Golkar chapter office. The attack angered thousands of PDI supporters who surrounded the office. But no major violence ensued after local security forces dispersed the mob, which had pelted the office and burned several party flags.
Jakarta -- The only Indonesian political party leader behind bars, Budiman Sujatmiko, was allowed to campaign Wednesday inside the walls of Jakarta's high-security Cipinang jail.
The 29-year-old leader of the once-banned People's Democratic Party (PRD), who is serving a 13-year term for subversion handed down when Suharto was still Indonesia's strongarm leader, had a limited audience for his views on the June 7 general election.
Allowed in were two wardens, two other jailed PRD officials and party supporters who negotiated their way past the guards throughout the day in groups of 30 or so at a time.
Outside the jail, Sujatmiko's followers draped the prison's metal gates with the party's red flag. The guards also screened journalists wanting to get in, allowing some in but barring foreign TV crews and most cameras.
The former student democracy activist, appearing as vigorous as ever despite two years in Cipinang and a week-long hunger strike which ended after he was hospitalised, outlined his party platform in a prison hall.
Also sitting in for part of the rally was Abdul Latief, a former jail-mate who served three decades behind bars for his involvement in an attempted coup in 1965, blamed on the communists.
Sujatmiko, whose party was banned under Suharto's rule, launched the PRD campaign platform by saying it championed a democratic state and parliamentary government.
He also came out strongly against the long-standing political role of the Indonesian military.
"There are only few parties that put heavy stress on immediate elimination of the military's dual function. And we can begin with them," he said.
"Civilian supremacy is a minimum prerequisite to democracy. If we failed to uphold this, democracy fails," he added. "The parliamentary system is important so that the executive becomes flexible and responsive." he said.
Commenting on a possible coalition with other parties, Sujatmiko said his party would only join parties that reject the political role of the military and support self-determination for East Timor.
He said among his party programs was the empowerment of a people's economy through cooperatives, and encouragement of foreign investment "as long as they don't control 100 percent of the ownership." Sujatmiko also blasted popular opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, of the Indonesian Democratic Party for Stuggle -- one of the strongest contenders for the presidency -- for never raising the issue of political prisoners.
"To the best of my recollection, Megawati never talks about political prisoners, not only PRD, but all political prisoners," he said of the woman who his party defended when Suharto tried to put her in political limbo.
Sujatmiko, party secretary general Petrus Hari Haryanto and six other party activists have been in jail since being sentenced to between nine and 13 years in 1997. They were accused of inciting riots in Jakarta on July 27, 1996, when Megawati was fighting for her political life.
He and his followers have rejected offers of a presidential pardon, which would imply they were guilty and they would accept nothing but amnesty. "We reject the pardon because Habibie has not corrected Suharto's policy," he said.
The PRD is among the 48 political parties -- all but three made legal since the downfall of Suharto a year ago -- contesting the June polls.
Purwokerto -- Police here dispersed hundreds of Democratic People's Party (PRD) supporters who attended a night campaign rally on Monday. The party supporters had flocked to Saudagaran square on Jl. D.I. Panjaitan when about 100 police came to disband the gathering on grounds that it violated campaign rules. The police insisted that the party branch here had failed to notify them of the event beforehand.
An overhead projector, a screen and sound system set belonging to the party were seized.
During the night campaign rally, the party planned to show supporters videotapes of the Trisakti tragedy, in which security troops fired on student demonstrators at Trisakti University in Jakarta in May of last year.
"The police have ruthlessly infringed our political rights. This is indeed a repressive act," Arif, a PRD legislative candidate, said.
Chief of local police, Lt. Col. Johnny Hutahuruk, defended the police move, saying the gathering was illegal. "A campaign rally plan must be informed of to the police and it cannot be held in the evening," Johnny said.
Tim Dodd, Jakarta -- Indonesia's Golkar party is under fire for using bribery to win votes, but the chief of the Jakarta chapter is very upfront about his tactics.
"Money politics is something normal for a political party. We give staple foods, we give money to the poor people. But I don't force these people to choose Golkar," said Mr Tadjus Sobirin, whose party ruled supreme under Mr Soeharto but faces its first democratic test at the parliamentary election in 12 days.
Mr Tadjus a short, fat, balding ex-bureaucrat is a case study of the old, rigid Soeharto-era Golkar trying vainly to market itself as "New Golkar" for the democratic age.
At his press conference he was wearing a polo shirt with broad red and white horizontal stripes topped by a black beret, looking like a Parisian street-caf#aace waiter who had been misplaced to the world of Indonesian politics. In front of his party headquarters, crowded with party acolytes wearing their trademark yellow jackets, was a yellow campaign car covered with slogans.
One read "Yaho!" which loosely translates as "Hey!". Another said in English: "It's fun to be friendly!"
Despite of Mr Tadjus' best efforts, few people in Jakarta are choosing Golkar. The party, to its confusion, has found that its time-honoured tactic of giving away money is not working.
Indeed, the traditional largesse is causing problems, rather than solving them. On Monday, Mr Tadjus was forced to give the press conference after some of his party's hired hands pushed their case for more money.
They were from a garbagemen's association that belonged to Golkar, and claimed to have been promised food, 50,000 rupiah ($10) each and a yellow shirt. All they got was the shirt, and in their anger they stoned Golkar's national chairman, Mr Akbar Tandjung, as he arrived in his car, and police opened fire to restore order.
The incident made Golkar a laughing stock in Jakarta, but that is among the least of the party's problems.
People are not coming to party rallies in Java, where more than half of Indonesia's population lives, despite the lure of attractive pop queens. The party has given up having street parades -- which are a staple of Indonesian political campaigning -- because they only attract opprobrium and well-aimed missiles.
It is also riven by a factional dispute between Mr Akbar and President B.J. Habibie, who is the party's official presidential candidate. And there are strong indications that Golkar is running out of the commodity that is its lifeblood: money.
According to a Jakarta-based political commentator, Mr James Van Zorge, an effort by Mr Akbar to prevent President Habibie from winning the party's nomination two weeks ago failed because the party chairman, and his dominant Golkar faction, ran out of money to bribe the party delegates. President Habibie, who has other sources of funds, won the day.
"I think Golkar is short of cash from its own coffers," said Mr Van Zorge yesterday. But he warns that the bribery, or "money politics" as it is called in Indonesia, will go on because individuals in Golkar have access to other caches of money.
Two of the key people for coming up with the cash are Habibie ministers: the Minister for State-owned enterprises, Mr Tanri Abeng, and the Minister for Co-operatives, Mr Adi Sasono and there are ways to disburse it so that Golkar gets the credit.
The Far Eastern Economic Review recently documented how Mr Tanri's ministry ordered a State-owned workers insurer to release 100 million rupiah ($20,000) in small business loans in a district of West Sumatra, timed to coincide with a Golkar rally in the area. And Mr Sasono has a 10.8 trillion rupiah ($2.2 million) subsidised loan program for small enterprises.
The loans are difficult to trace and, according to Mr Van Zorge, reports abound that they go to political backers of Mr Sasono and President Habibie.
Last month the World Bank suspended a $US600 million payment for its Social Safety Net program until after the election, after being presented with evidence that, in the field, money was being channelled by Golkar operatives who were using it in an attempt to win votes. Last week, the deputy head of Indonesia's National Development Planning Agency, confirmed that funds from the Social Safety Net program had been used to benefit Golkar as well as Mr Sasono's People's Soveignty Party. Although people of Jakarta, and most of the other 120 million in Java, appear to be turning deaf ears to the Golkar message, there are still ways for the party to spend money effectively for the June 7 election.
Golkar does appear more popular in Sumatra and other outlying islands, which will supply nearly half the seats in the new Parliament. In these regional areas, the Golkar party structure is still functioning well and "money politics" is likely to pay off.
But the big prize is up for grabs in October or November when a 700-member electoral college (500 of them members of Parliament) will choose the new president. The coffers will open wide for this vote, maybe wide enough to re-elect President Habibie.
Jenny Grant, Jakarta -- Golkar will be hoping its election day support will prove more steadfast than that offered by the motley crew bussed in yesterday for its first campaign rally, held in a dirty industrial wasteland in north Jakarta.
The 800 supporters brought in by local Golkar officials hurriedly pulled bright yellow party T-shirts over their clothes. This was a rent-a-crowd at best.
Pahing, 19, looked bored sitting at the back of the empty field waiting for the music to start. He was paid 20,000 rupiah to come.
"Yesterday was much better. I joined in the Megawati rally, but I wasn't paid for that," said Pahing, who has been unemployed for a year.
Middle-aged housewives from a small neighbourhood in Johor Baru fought over a list to be given to the wife of the local Golkar candidate.
"Neti, Epon, Pipien, Muriati, don't forget Dede. Have we forgotten anyone?" asked Ibu Alima. The list was proof of who turned up at the rally, later ensuring a lunch box, free T-shirt and payment for the day.
Ms Alima said her group would immediately take off the yellow T-shirts they were given once they left the field, fearing violence from the public.
Even the entertainers felt it was an imperfect day. Maria, 34, who gyrated in front of the mostly male crowd in a lime green blouse and tight pants, complained: "Last campaign I made 400,000 rupiah per show. Now I won't get anywhere near that."
Dancing to Maria's songs was Iman, 23. He admitted that five days ago he was among those who attacked a group of Golkar floats on the opening day of campaigning.
Party chairman Akbar Tanjung told the crowd his party did not engage in money politics. There was no more corruption in his new Golkar, he said. In the back row of the rally, Ms Alima clutched her handbag and laughed quietly.
Peter Symonds -- Only a few days after its formation on Monday, the alliance forged between three of the major opposition parties standing in the Indonesian elections on June 7 is showing signs of disarray.
The deal between Megawati Sukarnoputri, Amien Rais and Abdurrahman Wahid and their respective parties -- the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Struggle, National Mandate Party (PAN) and National Awakening Party (PKB) -- was announced just prior to the start of the formal campaigning on Wednesday.
In their joint statement, the three sought to establish themselves as the champions of "democracy" and "reform," warning "the reform process has not yet been completed". The statement went on: "The power of the status quo,' which does not want to see changes, is still trying to maintain power. Therefore, we hereby unite to move the reform process forward."
By distancing themselves from President B.J. Habibie and the ruling Golkar Party, Megawati, Rais and Wahid are hoping to capitalise on the widespread hostility to the military-backed regime that erupted over the last year and led to the forced resignation of Suharto last May. All three, however, were very much part of the "status quo" under Suharto. They retain close links with the military and state bureaucracy, and, in the course of the last 12 months, have played a crucial role in containing and suppressing the opposition of students, workers, small farmers and others to the Habibie regime.
While presenting a common front against Habibie, the opposition leaders have not reached any common agreement on policies, nor will they campaign together. Megawati has publicly opposed any form of autonomy or independence for East Timor, expressing the fear in layers of the ruling class that such a move would lead to the disintegration of Indonesia. Rais, on the other hand, has called for the devolution of more power to provinces such as East Timor and Aceh through the transformation of Indonesia into a federation.
Differences also exist on the role of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) with Megawati favouring the continued direct involvement of the army in politics. Rais has called for the military's extensive political role at national, provincial and local levels to be gradually phased out.
The three leaders have indicated that the party winning the greatest support in the June poll will have the backing of the other two for its candidate in the contest for the presidential post in November. Already, however, prominent figures in both PAN and the PDI-Struggle have raised doubts over the agreement.
Influential PAN supporter Umar Juoro said policy differences may mean that the party would support Habibie for the presidential position. "If Amien Rais can't get the majority to become president, then I think a large number of members from PAN will prefer to support Habibie than Megawati," he said.
Senior Megawati adviser Laksamana Sukardi described the deal as only "preliminary" and not a promise to share power. "It will pave the way for a coalition. But we don't yet know how many votes they will have, so we can't call it a coalition yet," he said.
Earlier in the year, Abdurrahman Wahid publicly opposed Megawati becoming president because she was a woman and a non- Muslim. Both the PKB and PAN are based among the supporters of the country's two largest Muslim organisations -- Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhummadiyah respectively.
According to a recent opinion poll published by the Kompas newspaper, more than 40 percent of voters support the three opposition parties as compared to only 14 percent for Golkar. The elections, however, only decide 462 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives (DPR) -- the remainder being military appointees. Another 200 appointees -- 135 by provincial legislatures and 65 from social organisations -- join with the DPR to form the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which is due to choose the next president and vice-president in November.
Habibie and Golkar are no doubt counting on significant support from the military and civilian appointees. The Electoral Commission or KPU, which is chaired by retired General Rudini, a former army chief-of-staff and home affairs minister under Suharto, has substantial powers in presiding over appointments, particularly from social organisations.
Golkar, previously the only party permitted to organise in rural areas, has an extensive organisational structure throughout the country and can count on strong backing from sections of the military, state bureaucracy and business dependent on its favours in the past.
According to a report in the May 20 issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review, Golkar is distributing billions of rupiah in low interest loans from state-owned companies to voters across Indonesia. "In the subdistricts, party cadres have been instructed to identify loan recipients and help fill out forms. The paperwork is sent on to the state firms which are controlled by Jakarta's State-Enterprise Ministry. Later, applications are followed up by well-connected party functionaries in the capital. If the loans are approved, the cadres sometimes even help disburse them."
Although the scheme was frozen after Suharto was forced out, it was restarted in March at the request of State Enterprise Minister Tanri Abeng. Since 1994, state firms have given out about 200 billion rupiah ($US25 billion) worth of loans each year. In early April, the release of 100 million rupiah in small loans in West Sumatra's Tanah Datar district was timed to coincide with a major Golkar rally led by its chairman Akbar Tanjung.
Despite its control of a huge apparatus and funds, the Golkar leadership is deeply concerned at its close identification with the Suharto junta and the low level of public support. In the past, Golkar gained between 70 and 80 percent of the vote in elections that permitted only two other state-controlled opposition parties -- the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the United Development Party (PPP).
Golkar Deputy Chairman Marzuki Darusman, who is also head of its parliamentary wing, has publicly criticised the party for choosing Habibie as its presidential candidate, claiming that he was too closely connected to Suharto. The entire party, however, is the creation of the military dictatorship that emerged from CIA-organised 1965-66 coup which ousted former president Sukarno and resulted in the genocide of at least half a million workers, peasants and supporters of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI).
Whatever their political differences, Golkar and the opposition parties all seek to preserve the "status quo" and the state apparatus which was shaken up by the forced resignation of Suharto last year. The three opposition leaders expressed the hope in their joint statement that "the election [will] bear fruit in the form of a legitimate and respectable government in both the public as well as the international view". That is exactly the outcome being sought by the ruling class in order to press ahead with the program of economic restructuring and austerity measures demanded by the IMF. All the major parties are pledged to carrying that out.
Jakarta -- If the general election results in a change of the country's leadership, what will happen to foreign investments?
The question is crucial in light of the fact that foreign investments have played a dominant role in the country's economy.
Foreign investments which dominated the oil and gas and mining sectors before the crisis have expanded into other sectors. Some major foreign giants have expressed their commitment to enter the banking sector, while several others might soon take over some of the country's debt-laden conglomerates.
Foreign investors' dominance has sparked jealousy in many local businesspeople. Most political leaders, however, are not really bothered by the foreigners' paramount role.
PBB's deputy chairman, Farid Prawiranegara, PDI of Struggle's secretary general, Laksamana Sukardi, and PAN's economic expert, M Nawir Messy, said they could accept the reality.
If anything, they said, foreign investment was needed to speed along the country's economic recovery.
"For us, ownership is not an important issue. Soeharto's administration made it an important issue, to allow his children and cronies to acquire some shares in the companies for free," Farid said.
"What is more important for PBB is that workers should have their representatives in companies' management -- be they foreign companies or local companies -- to allow them to participate in the companies' supervisory board," Farid said.
PBB would propose for an amendment of the Corporate Law to make the participation of workers in the supervisory board as obligatory.
PDI of Struggle vowed to promote a sound market economy in the country to lure global capital market.
"As [PDI chairwoman] Megawati [Sukarnoputri] said in a recent meeting in Singapore, 'We share the market [that is] interlined together'," Laksamana said.
Laksamana said PDI of Struggle has made "Restoring Confidence" as its main economic platform given the fact that the country has lost the confidence of the international business community as a result of economic and political turmoil.
Under the Restore Confidence agenda, PDI of Struggle will seek to provide legal certainties, create social stability and promote clean governance.
"This is, in fact, a long-term program but it must be carried out in tandem with any short-term and middle-term programs given the urgency of handling the issue," Laksamana said.
Nawir said PAN's team of economic experts realized the importance of foreign investment, but "Indonesia should not be too dependent on foreign capital".
Indonesia should also make a regulation to prevent foreign investors from controlling all aspects of the country's economy.
For PAN's economists, Nawir said, the government should find novel ways to increase income from domestic resources to finance its developmental programs rather than asking for more loans from foreign financial institutions and governments.
Social damage
The three political leaders supported the IMF's role in helping Indonesia survive the crisis. But they criticize the agency for giving "too much" instruction to the government.
Laksamana praised the IMF for its "successful efforts to contain the damage caused by the crisis on the country's economy."
"So far, so good," he said, crediting the country's currency stabilization and the decreasing trend in the country's inflation rate to the IMF, which has arranged billions of dollars in bailout funds to cover Indonesia's worst ever crisis.
But, Laksamana said, the government's high interest rate policy as dictated by the IMF has caused "social damage".
He also criticized the privatization program being carried out by the government on the IMF's instruction, saying the timing was not right to sell the assets of state companies.
"Offering the assets now is only wasting time because no one is going to buy them. The privatization should be carried out systematically and with the right timing," Laksamana said.
Laksamana said the IMF had always consulted with PDI of Struggle before signing any letter of intent with the government, and the IMF had mostly "heard" the party's opinions, except for the privatization issue.
Farid blamed the IMF for the economic hardship currently being experienced by the country.
"If the Crescent Star Party wins the election, we shall face IMF in a different way. We shall not ask it for money but demand it be held responsible for all that has happened in the country," Farid said.
Farid blamed the IMF for making blunders in carrying out its economic recovery program since it was not backed up with a good political analysis of the situation in Indonesia.
He accused people like Coordinating Minister of Finance, Economy and Industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita, PAN's chairman, Amien Rais, the People's Awakening Party's chairman, Abdurrahman Wahid, and Megawati -- with whom IMF has often consulted with -- as giving misleading political judgments to the IMF.
"The IMF is an experienced organization. Why has it made mistakes in Indonesia? Undoubtedly because it received wrong the input from the wrong people," Farid said.
Jakarta -- Indonesia's opposition parties are certain to win parliamentary elections next month and to take the presidency later in the year, according to an opinion poll published yesterday. But none of the parties had anywhere near a commanding enough lead to form a government on its own.
The poll, published by Tempo weekly, put the ruling Golkar party and President B.J. Habibie well down the list.
The results come as Golkar kicked off its official election campaign in Jakarta, hinting it might reconsider its choice of Dr Habibie as its presidential candidate. Dr Amien Rais, leader of the National Mandate Party (PAN), was the top presidential candidate with 21.2 per cent, according to the poll. Just behind him with 20.1 per cent was Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P). Dr Habibie, who took over the presidency a year ago, managed only 10.1 per cent.
Above him with 15.1 per cent was Sultan Hamengku Buwono, a largely apolitical figure who is seen as a possible compromise presidential candidate if the main opposition parties cannot agree on one from among themselves. The presidential election is set for November.
For the June vote, the poll showed Ms Megawati's PDI-P in front with almost 25 per cent. Dr Rais's PAN came second with almost 20 per cent, while Golkar was just over 10 per cent.
PDI-P and PAN are two of the three major opposition parties which signed an agreement last week for an alliance to defeat Golkar. Tempo said that the poll was based on 931 replies from 19 provinces.
Tim Dodd, Jakarta -- Troops fired into the air in Jakarta yesterday to disperse an angry crowd which claimed the ruling Golkar party had broken a promise to give them money and food in return for acting as a rent-a-crowd at a party rally.
The security forces intervened when the mob chased the Golkar chairman, Mr Akbar Tandjung, to his car and began to stone it. No deaths were reported.
The incident came as Golkar, once the all powerful political machine of former President Soeharto, becomes increasingly split and disorganised as it attempts to fight its first democratic election campaign.
The poll, on June 7, is less then two weeks away but the party is constantly the target of allegations that it is using the huge funds accumulated in the Soeharto years to fight a dirty election campaign.
It is also deeply split over it recent decision to back President B.J. Habibie for another term as president. Mr Tandjung, a key party powerbroker, let his frustration with the decision surface at the weekend when he told a party rally that Golkar would not necessarily support the Habibie presidential bid.
Mr Tandjung, who harbours his own ambitions to be Golkar's presidential candidate, said the party delegates would not support Dr Habibie in the presidential vote unless he mounted a serious investigation of the wealth of former President Soeharto. However, Mr Tandjung faces a credibility gap on this issue since he is a former Soeharto minister and his party apparatus used to be a slave to wishes of the former president.
Soeharto's wealth has become an election issue since a Time magazine report last week claimed it was worth $US15 billion.
Golkar's re-election campaign is not going well in Jakarta. Yesterday was an official campaigning day for Golkar and it fell very flat in comparison with the enormous crowds drawn on Sunday by a key opposition leader, Mrs Megawati Soekarnoputri, which blocked all of Jakarta's major arteries for most of the day.
However, Golkar is expected
to do better in rural areas where the party's machine survives more or
less intact.
| Aceh/West Papua |
Jakarta -- At least 4,000 people have fled their villages in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh fearing violence following a deadly rebel ambush which left four dead, officials and police said Saturday.
"There are about 3,000 refugees from six villages in the Biruen sub-district now sheltered at the Teupinmaneh mosque, 10 kilometres from here," said an official of the Bireun sub- district administration in North Aceh.
A further 1,000 refugees arrived in Lhokseumawe, the main town in North Aceh on Friday, the Antara news agency said.
The Bireun official, who declined to identify himself, said the refugees left their village fearing violence following the ambush in Alue Kuta in neighbouring Peudada sub-district on Tuesday, which left two policemen, a doctor and a nurse shot dead.
"They fear violence if security operations look for the attackers," the official said. "They are mostly Javanese settlers who are fleeing intimidation and terror of groups advocating a boycott of the elections," Bireun sub-district police chief First Lieutenant Trunoyudo told AFP.
The Antara news agency said an estimated 450 families, from four government migrant resettlement units in Bireun and Peudada subdistricts, arrived in Lhokseumawe Friday.
"They have fled not because they were expelled by the rebels but just to avoid the possibility of armed contacts between the rebels and the PPRM," an official of the state resettlement program was quoted as saying by Antara.
He was referring to Mass Riot Control Troops (PPRM) which were deployed in Aceh earlier this month. Two PPRM troops were killed in Tuesday's ambush.
Aceh is home to the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) movement which has been fighting for an Islamic state since the mid 1970s.
The separatist movement there has prompted Jakarta to conduct a decade of anti-rebel military operations in Aceh which were only halted last year.
Resentment and hatred against the Indonesian military and government has since escalated following alleged widespread human rights abuses by soldiers during military operations.
Raphael Pura, Krueng Geukueh -- In his crisp safari suit and gleaming black shoes, sub-district officer Marzuki Muhammad Amin looks the very image of local authority as he strolls this dusty hamlet. With Indonesia's first free election in 44 years less than two weeks away, he says he should be exhorting fellow citizens of Aceh province to vote.
Instead, Mr. Marzuki is describing how the Indonesian army almost killed him a few weeks ago. "Two people died here," he says, pointing to a row of rickety roadside coffee shops. "And another one there, and a child over there." Gesturing toward a bullet-pocked mango tree, he says, "I hid behind that."
Free Aceh movement keeps up fight for independence
Political violence -- fueled by years of neglect and abuse by the central government and the military -- is sweeping Aceh, making this province Indonesia's most-worrisome separatist threat and a guaranteed headache for whoever wins the election. Indeed, the election itself might be in jeopardy in Aceh because of low voter registration and mounting unrest. On Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Syarwan Hamid suggested the turmoil could force postponement of balloting in the province, according to The Associated Press.
The heart of the matter is economics and oppression. Aceh spent most of the 1990s under de facto military rule. Now, alienated Acehnese are demanding redress for the killing, torture or disappearance of thousands of people during that period. And they bitterly blame Jakarta for plundering the province's resources, ranging from natural gas to timber.
Automatic-weapons fire
The May 3 massacre that Mr. Marzuki describes is the worst incident to date. Soldiers with automatic weapons opened fire on several thousand Acehnese who were protesting abusive treatment by the army. The shooting went on for 30 minutes, according to eyewitnesses, killing 41 villagers and wounding more than 100. Medical workers say at least 15 people were shot in the back.
Aceh's top military commander, Col. Johnny Wahab, a wiry infantry officer who brandishes a silver-tipped swagger stick, contends villagers threatened his men with clubs and knives. He says his troops fired in "self-defense."
Mr. Marzuki, who was trying to defuse the confrontation, has another word for it. "Kosovo," he says softly.
Unlike Kosovo, where the Yugoslav government has brutally purged the ethnic-Albanian population of a rebellious province, Aceh is more likely to fester than explode. Separatist groups lack the muscle to sustain an armed revolt, and many citizens probably would settle for increased autonomy within Indonesia.
"An independent Aceh isn't wanted by the entire population," says Darmansyah, the editor of Aceh's main newspaper, Serambi Indonesia.
But the mood is sour and the stakes are high. In contrast to East Timor -- which was annexed by Jakarta only in 1976, and will be allowed to vote on independence in August -- Aceh has deep, rich roots as a vital part of Indonesia. The fertile, forested province is also a greater economic asset than arid East Timor, which has some offshore oil and gas deposits, but little else.
Thus, letting Aceh break away isn't an option for President B.J. Habibie, the powerful Indonesian military or even the leading opposition presidential candidate, Megawati Sukarnoputri, an ardent nationalist.
"Aceh is more critical to Indonesia's concept of itself," says Sidney Jones, executive director of Human Rights Watch Asia. "It is vital to Indonesia politically, strategically and economically."
Proud, devoutly Muslim, Aceh -- located 1,700 kilometers northwest of Jakarta at the northern end of the Malacca Strait -- has a special place in Indonesian history. Descended from Arab and Indian migrants and indigenous people, the feisty Acehnese stubbornly resisted Dutch colonization in the 19th century.
Aceh was also a bastion of Indonesia's independence struggle after World War II. Local merchants raised cash to buy the fledgling Indonesian military's first airplane, which was used to airlift vital supplies past the Dutch, who were trying to reoccupy the province.
Military is faulted
Today, however, Acehnese complain that integration with Indonesia has brought more pain than gain. De facto military rule lasted nine years until 1998, when former President Suharto was driven from power. Human-rights groups in Indonesia and abroad blame the military for the killings, torture and disappearance of several thousand Acehnese during that time.
When Mr. Suharto quit, Acehnese hopes rose. New President Habibie and armed-forces chief Gen. Wiranto acknowledged past military abuses and promised redress. But there is no sign that any serious investigation is under way, and no cases have been prosecuted. Instead, military-related violence has increased along Aceh's 400-kilometer eastern coast, home to half of Aceh's 4.1 million people.
Jakarta's complacency is radicalizing the Acehnese, says Hasballah M. Saad, a politician and Islamic intellectual. "The Acehnese want to be appreciated by the central government," he says. "If this doesn't happen ... you will need more and more water to put out the fire."
T.S. Sani, a burly businessman, leads a local-government team trying to document human-rights violations in North Aceh district in the past decade. He displays a thick dossier compiled from interviews in 600 villages. The findings: 346 killings, 723 cases of torture, 494 disappearances and 272 homes burned. It is only a partial count, he says.
"No one has ever been brought to trial for any of this," says Adek Lataikham, whose coffee shop was sprayed by bullets in the Krueng Geukueh massacre. One round slammed through the shop's inner wall and ripped a gash through a cooking pot just above his wife's head. Another slug lodged in a framed photo of Mr. Adek's seven-year-old daughter.
"The government always says 'we will do something, we will do something,' but nothing happens and the anger grows," he says.
Digging too deeply could be embarrassing for Mr. Habibie and the armed forces. Mr. Habibie's current home-affairs minister, Mr. Syarwan, was the military commander in Aceh in the early 1990s at the peak of the army crackdown. Other military brass during the 1990s include Try Sutrisno, a former vice president under Mr. Suharto, Feisal Tanjung, the current coordinating minister for politics and security; and Gen. Wiranto, the current military chief.
Workers are imported
In the 1970s, Mr. Suharto promised to industrialize the province. A joint venture between Indonesia's state oil company, Pertamina, and a unit of Mobil Corp. operates a $2.75 billion liquified natural gas plant near Lhokseumawe; fertilizer, paper and plastics factories went up in the same neighborhood. But only a tiny portion of revenue generated by the industries has remained in the province. And since locals didn't have the skills for many of the jobs, most of workers were brought in from other parts of Indonesia, where they live and work in modern, walled enclaves.
Behind the walls, "they even imported the bananas," rather than buy locally, claims sociologist H.M. Hakim Nya Phu of Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh, the capital.
Today, Aceh's per-capita gross domestic product is among the highest of any Indonesian province, but local income and consumption levels rank among the lowest.
"All the corruption, collusion and cheating of the Suharto era entered Aceh," Dr. Hakim says.
A few months ago, Indonesia's Parliament passed new laws granting provinces such as Aceh a bigger chunk of income from their resources. But critics in Aceh say it is too little, too late. The province's gas resources are running down; the LNG plant will close one of its six production units next year and four more by 2005. "We would like compensation for all the years past," says Mr. Sani, the businessman.
Separatist movement grows
Jakarta's failure to address the deep grievances gave new life to separatists allied with the long-dormant Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or Free Aceh Movement. It has begun operating openly in eastern parts of the province, where cadres regularly surface at village mosques to give political lectures that draw crowds. Images of the red, white and black Free Aceh flag -- taboo and immediately expunged in the Suharto era -- are painted on roadside signs, walls and buildings, and even on government offices. Nominally, the movement is a revival of a campaign begun in 1976 by Hasan Tiro, an intellectual who is now aged and ailing in exile in Sweden. But today the group has no acknowledged local leader, and it isn't clear whether or not cadres take orders from Mr. Hasan. Col. Wahab blames Free Aceh cadres for pitting Acehnese against the army.
Indonesian and foreign military analysts doubt the movement has enough weapons or organization to wage an all-out guerrilla war. Indeed, Free Aceh operatives assert that their military strategy stresses defending villages against army incursions.
A separate, student-led drive for a referendum on Aceh's political status also has spread along the eastern coast. The highway from neighboring North Sumatra province to Banda Aceh is lined with elaborate, colorful graffiti demanding a referendum. Banners bearing the same message flutter outside almost every village and town.
Although Indonesia's constitution provides no legal basis for such a referendum, the idea has won adherents. Last week, Abdurrachman Wahid, the leader of a major Islamic national political party, publicly suggested the proposal be considered, while saying he personally opposed independence for the province.
Disenchantment has even breached the walls of the industrial enclaves. At the housing compound for the LNG plant's workers, several high-school students recently ran up the Free Aceh flag, unnerving residents. Some workers say they might need to flee, and have quietly packed their belongings. "We don't feel safe," says an Indonesian engineer who has worked there for 20 years.
Military presence increases
Jakarta's response has been to pour in more soldiers. At least 500 anti-riot troops have arrived since the Krueng Geukueh killings. Col. Wahab, the local commander, calls it a temporary assignment to safeguard the election.
But many Acehnese are skeptical. They say the riot squad -- reportedly composed of police officers -- has been laced with hated army special-forces troops, who Acehnese fear might try to reimpose military control.
It adds up to an atmosphere rippling with paranoia and counter-accusations. Dissidents claim the army has inserted double-agents and provocateurs into local political groups, including the Free Aceh movement. Army leaders retort that the secessionists are intimidating people and fomenting trouble, and actually have little or no popular support. It happened again on Tuesday, when at least six people were killed by unidentified gunmen. Free Aceh blames the army; the army blames Free Aceh.
"There is a kind of psychological war going on here," says Yusuf Pase, who leads the Indoensian Legal Aid Institute in Lhokseumawe. "There are people being kidnapped, being killed," he adds. "Houses, schools, government offices being burned. Nobody knows by whom."
Jakarta -- Voting in Indonesia's June 7 general election may be delayed in troubled Aceh province by up to a month because of recent violence, a report said Thursday.
"There is a possibility the elections will be delayed for security reasons," Home Affairs Minister Syarwan Hamid was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.
Three Aceh districts -- Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh -- have born the brunt of the new violence. All were badly affected by a decade of harsh anti-rebel military operations halted only last year. "It will be impossible to hold elections if the people there do not feel safe," Hamid said.
The June 7 election is the first since the fall of former president Suharto who ordered harsh anti-rebel military operations in Aceh in the late 1980s. The operations were halted last year by Suharto's successor, President B.J. Habibie.
Indonesian military and officials have said voters in the three districts were being intimidated and terrorized by supporters of a referendum on self-determination in Aceh.
They have blamed the intimidation for low voter registration and calls for a boycott of the polling there. But an independent electoral monitoring network, JAPPIN, has blamed the low turnout on the presence of the Indonesian military, especially at registration centers.
While the military said guards were necessary to prevent intimidation of voters when registering, the network said the presence of the soldiers discouraged voters from registering.
Party campaigns in the three districts have been subjected to attacks, with at least three party vehicles torched last week.
Attacks, allegedly by alleged separatist rebels, in Peudada district in North Aceh on Tuesday left six people dead, including two policemen.
On May 3 soliders near Lhokseumawe, the main town in North Aceh, shot into a crowd of civilian protestors leaving 41 dead.
The 38 political parties registered in Aceh have said they would skip campaigning in areas in Aceh where security could not be guaranteed, election officials have said.
Soldiers were widely accused of human rights violations during the decade of military operations that fueled local resentment and hatred against the government and armed forces.
The Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) movement has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the staunchly Moslem province for decades.
[On May 27, Agence France Presse reported that an office of the Indonesian ruling Golkar party was torched in the North Aceh district police in Lhokseumawe. Police said that two unidentified men threw gasoline at the two-story building in a predawn attack but they were no casualties - James Balowski.]
Terry Friel, Wamena -- Indonesia's first democratic election in four decades has hit trouble in remote Irian Jaya, where separatist passions have prompted some voters to boycott the poll and some ballots may not be delivered in time.
Separatists say they cannot accept the election and are prepared to die for their cause.
"If there's a war with Indonesian soldiers, we are ready to kill," one former war commander with the Free Papua Movement (OPM) told Reuters at a secret location in the isolated Baliem Valley in the vast province's central highlands.
"We are ready to die for freedom -- many already have and so are we," said the man, a relative of OPM leader Mathias Wenda, asking that his name and the name of his village not be published for fear of reprisals.
Independence supporters, including ordinary Irianese, are using the election to focus attention on their demands to split from Indonesia 30 years after the Dutch handed over control.
On Monday, an election gathering of more than 3,000 Lani tribespeople at Pirime, 80 km west of the central highlands district capital Wamena, erupted into a spontaneous rally for independence with many saying they would boycott the poll.
Many people on the streets of Wamena and in surrounding highlands villages angrily accuse Indonesia of widespread human rights abuses and of exploiting the province's vast mineral, gas and timber resources without giving back money or jobs.
Melanesian Irian Jaya is ethnically and culturally closer to Papua New Guinea than the rest of Indonesia, especially the dominant Javanese.
In the Baliem Valley, many tribesmen still wear only penis gourds and feathered head dresses and the women just grass skirts.
The OPM, numbering several hundred men, has recently stepped up its operations, prompting the Indonesian military to say it would declare the PNG border area a military operations zone.
The June 7 election will end the parliamentary stranglehold of the ruling Golkar party, once the unbeatable political vehicle of reviled former president Suharto.
Independence activists are seizing on the end of the Suharto era and new President B.J. Habibie's offer of independence to another restive territory, East Timor. They say whole villages throughout the highlands have refused to register for the election as a pro-independence boycott because no party supports a split.
Only a handful of red and green flags hang limply outside Wamena's main market, in contrast to the sea of flags and banners in the colours of the 48 parties contesting the election that dominate many Indonesian cities in the countdown to the poll.
Wamena's daily campaign rallies, allocated according to a roster, rarely attract more than a truckload of party faithful, who drive around the town of 2,000 a couple of times, singing and chanting.
But district officials say more than 200,000 voters have enrolled, 85 percent of those eligible.
However, two weeks out from polling day, all Wamena district's ballot papers for the national, provincial and district elections remain piled in a government warehouse, awaiting distribution across a region where getting supplies to some villages can take weeks.
Many villages in the rugged area can only be reached by foot or by riverboat from towns that in turn can themselves only be reached by plane.
Election officials are counting on a massive airlift to deliver the ballots in time, but are at the hands of the notoriously bad and unpredictable weather.
"We need good weather from now until election day so that our programme can be done on schedule," said deputy chairman of the local election committee, Enky Nahuway.
But another official sitting among the more than half a million ballots warehoused in Wamena was more cautious. Asked if the papers could be delivered in time, he said: "We hope so."
Maskur Abdullah, Medan -- Violence flared on the Indonesian island of Sumatra Tuesday, with the military reporting six dead at the hands of separatists while a bloody confrontation also erupted between police and farmers.
A senior army officer in restive Aceh province said the Free Aceh Movement, which wants independence for the region at the northern tip of Sumatra, killed six people.
Colonel Johnny Wahab, military commander for the Liliwangsa command, told Reuters that four people were killed by rebels in the afternoon. Two others were killed in the early hours. The official Antara news agency said four of the dead were civilians and two were police.
No comment from Free Aceh was possible. Aceh's separatist rebels have long waged a low-level guerrilla warfare against Jakarta's rule.
In a separate incident on Sumatra, witnesses said police opened fire on students and farmers protesting about land rights some 30 km south of Medan, the island's biggest city.
Witnesses said police shot and injured at least 20 demonstrators, part of a crowd of about 5,000 people. Local hospitals said no one had been confirmed dead although several of the victims were comatose.
Both in Aceh and in Irian Jaya, at the other end of this vast archipelago, separatists are refusing to take part in the election campaign.
Separatists in Irian Jaya -- the western part of New Guinea -- say they cannot accept the election and are prepared to die for their cause. "If there's a war with Indonesian soldiers, we are ready to kill," one former war commander with the Free Papua Movement (OPM) told Reuters at a secret location in the isolated Baliem Valley in the vast province's central highlands.
Lee Kim Chew, Banda Aceh -- Fighting hard to protect its turf in deeply religious Aceh, the Islamic United Development Party (PPP) -- one of the ruling parties in Indonesia -- is going for the jugular.
Its leaders tell Acehnese voters that the other political parties vying for their vote in the June 7 general election are less Islamic than it is. Compared to the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) -- its two main Islamic rivals -- the PPP claims that it is greener than green, because the other parties subscribe to pluralism.
Mr Zaini Sulaiman, the PPP's chief in Banda Aceh, said his was the only truly Islamic party contesting the elections.
"All our members are Muslim. The PAN and the PKB are not Muslim parties. They have Christian members," he said.
At a PPP rally in Mounmata village outside Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, he thundered: "If PAN or PKB wins, Islam will be adulterated. We will become less Islamic. If PPP wins in Aceh, Islam wins. If PPP loses, Islam loses."
To this, Madam Nurdahri Ibrahim Nain, the PPP's MP for Aceh Besar, added: "I worry that there are many Christian parties now. If they win, Islam will be changed. Indonesia could become Christian."
Speaker after PPP speaker spouted the same line to drum home this message: "A true Muslim votes only for the PPP." The hard- sell, in Acehnese twang, comes with songs in praise of Allah. Politics and religion are inseparable in Aceh, and the PPP, like the other parties, uses Islam to tug at the heartstrings, particularly among the Acehnese, who believe that theirs is the land they call "the window of Mecca".
To the PPP, it matters not that among the 48 parties contesting in Indonesia's first free elections in over four decades, at least 17 are Islamic-based, and only a small handful are Christian. Its electioneering pitch at the extreme is just the stuff for fanatics, the ultra-conservatives, and illiterate peasants in rural Indonesia.
Too early to tell
It is too early to tell whether the PPP's tack will work, now that voters have many Islamic parties to choose from, unlike previously. Among the newcomers in Aceh are the Islamic People Party (PUI), which backs the popular call for a referendum in Aceh, the New Masyumi Party, and the Crescent Star Party (PBB).
In the 1997 election, Golkar took 11 of the 22 contested seats. The PPP won 10, and the Indonesian Democratic Party, one. The remaining five of Aceh's 27 seats in the House of Representatives were reserved for the military.
In this election, the PPP is under mounting pressure to preserve its gains. The vice-rector of Banda Aceh's Mohammadiyah University, Dr Fauzi Ali Amin, said: "People have experience with the PPP. It's like an old car that is not good enough anymore. It was part of the New Order regime. The PPP can influence only the illiterate in the rural areas, not the students and the educated class."
At a PAN rally here last Friday, Mr Muhammad Anas, a former PPP supporter, said he had switched allegiance because the new party promised change in the era of "reformasi". He has no clear idea what PAN holds out for him, but he is certain of this.
"Things had remained unchanged with the PPP for many years, and this is why I am changing parties. Many of my friends who had left the PPP to join the other new parties did it for the same reason," he said.
Mr Muhammad believes that most Acehnese will support the new parties as long as they are Islamic.
To underline its credentials, the PPP quickly emblazoned on its green party flag the symbol of the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, after former president Suharto's fall in May last year. The Kaaba to whip up religious passions among the faithful was one of several party symbols that was forbidden during the New Order regime.
Golkar's image suffered
Faced with the new challenge, the PPP's strategy is to hunt with the hounds and run with the hare. Mr Zaini said it was perfectly fine for the PPP to have worked with Golkar as part of a ruling triumvirate in the old system under Mr Suharto. "The PPP has worked with Golkar, but we are not a part of Golkar. We were never of the same party," he said, making a studied effort to distance the PPP from its besieged partner in government. "Golkar is finished in Aceh," added Mr Zaini, who thinks the PPP can win twice as many seats this time as it did in the 1997 general election.
Golkar's image has suffered badly after the fall of Mr Suharto, but the party is presenting a new persona to the voters, and its nationwide network, established over three decades under Mr Suharto, remains intact.
This is now being used to great advantage by Golkar's leader Akbar Tandjung, who has pledged to bring more economic development, jobs, higher income and yes, in Aceh's case, more autonomy for the Acehnese.
No party except Golkar Baru (the new Golkar) could deliver all these, he told a rally here. But he reiterated that his party did not support the call for a referendum on Aceh's independence, a subject close to the hearts of Acehnese.
The ruling party faces an uphill drive to sell its new image, but it has deep pockets and much patronage to dispense. Golkar is said to be offering personal loans of 40 million rupiah (S$8,000) to teachers. The loan, repayable over 10 years, is interest-free. What is left unsaid is that the loans will bear interest if Golkar loses in Aceh.
As usual, Golkar mixes politics with entertainment by deploying popular singers and entertainers to draw the crowds. Truck drivers get up to 60,000 rupiah for each load of supporters they bring to the party's rallies. Mr Akbar's flying visit to Banda Aceh last Friday was well-timed. He plunged straight into a street rally to extol Golkar's virtues, and then joined thousands of Acehnese to pray in Baiturahman Mosque, the city's largest, before doubling back to Jakarta.
The battle for hearts and minds in Aceh is fought largely on two grounds: Islam and Acehnese grievances. The locals have long felt exploited, abused and neglected by the central government, and their resentment is felt widely. This fuels the demands for an end to "Javanese imperialism". The separatist Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement) has been driven underground, but its fight for independence continues.
Acehnese alienation could translate into votes for PAN and the other new Islamic parties because the local feelings against Jakarta's rule run high.
Said tour guide Mahyadi: "The central government takes a lot from us, but gives very little in return. We have gas, timber, rice, everything. If we have an international airport, we will have direct flights to Mecca. We will not think much about Jakarta."
Riding on popular sentiments, the PPP is supporting the call for a referendum after the elections for Acehnese to decide whether Aceh stays as a province of Indonesia or go on its own.
Mr Nasri, the PPP secretary, said his party could not openly support the call for referendum in the last election because Mr Suharto had prohibited it. "Now, things are different," he said. "Now is the reformation era. If the Acehnese people decide to break away from Indonesia, then we want independence."
This sort of talk can only invites retribution from the Indonesian armed forces (ABRI). Already, there is much bad blood between the military and the Acehnese, who resent ABRI'S hard- fisted approach to snuff out their rebellion against central rule during the Suharto years.
Even now, talk of military intelligence operatives and agent provocateurs inhibit conversations and restrict the people's movements. The PPP's candidates contesting in North and East Aceh have been warned by the separatists not to campaign in these areas because their safety cannot be guaranteed.
Voters 'invited' to boycott
About two million voters in these "military operation areas" are likely to stay away from the polls. According to Mr Nurdin Rahman, director of Mohammadiyah University's Language Resource Centre, the Free Aceh Movement had "cordially invited" the people to boycott the June 7 election.
Mr Nurdin, who was imprisoned eight years for his involvement in Aceh Merdeka and set free last October, said: "If there is a referendum, the people in Aceh will vote for freedom and independence from Jakarta."
The alternative is decentralisation to give more rights to Aceh, which already has special status as a province in matters of religion, education and culture. New autonomy laws are in the works to give Indonesia's 27 provinces more funds and powers over they way they are governed. But this may not prove enough to satisfy the four million Acehnese, who have never accepted Javanese domination kindly.
Said Mr Nurdin: "I agree with the moves on decentralisation. But what about the military atrocities against the people? Why are those guilty not brought to justice? The Aceh people don't believe the government is serious about punishing the perpetrators.
"They have been cheated many times before. I can accept greater autonomy for Aceh, but many Acehnese will not agree to it. If they are denied a referendum, the road to confrontation with Jakarta is clear. Acehnese are prepared mentally to accept the consequences. I know this because many people have spoken to me. I've been in prison for a long time."
Indeed, the demand for a referendum is scrawled everywhere in Aceh -- in graffiti, on banners, on the walls, across the roads, in the universities. The crescendo has risen since January after President Jusuf Habibie offered autonomy, if not independence, to the East Timorese.
So strong are the Acehnese feelings about independence that the PKB's presidential candidate, Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, was given the short shrift and bundled out of the province by students in Syah Kuala University in Banda Aceh last week, because he was dismissive about their calls for a referendum.
Said Dr Fauzi Ali Amin of Mohammadiyah University: "Pak Abdurrahman may be charismatic and well-respected in Java, but this is Aceh. He has not understood the feelings of Acehnese on the question of independence from Jakarta's rule."
Dr Habibie visited Aceh in January and apologised to the people for the military's heavy-handed approach in putting down the separatist elements. But the people are still not satisfied.
Said the PPP's Mr Nasri: "Those responsible have not been brought before the courts, and the promised troop withdrawal from Aceh was no more than troop rotation. The people in Aceh don't believe the government anymore."
At his party's rally in Lhoong, near Banda Aceh, the people were reminded in speeches and songs with this refrain: "The people will not forget about what the military did to us. Habibie's apology is not enough. ABRI wrongdoers have not been punished. The leaders in Jakarta do not understand Aceh."
Last week, Indonesia's first free election in the post-Suharto era was launched, appropriately enough, at Jakarta's National Monument, symbol of the country's unity. Whether it can stay as a unitary state is a question that will remain long after the polls are over, for Aceh at least.
Going by the current mood of the Acehnese, their demands will cause a headache for any government which takes over in Jakarta next month.
Vaudine England, Jakarta -- Prospects of a free and fair election in the troubled province of Aceh are fading by the day, and the presence of extra troops may be a hindrance rather than a help.
"Yes there are several areas in Aceh with problems," said a source at a main independent election monitoring organisation.
"We have reports of intimidation against our volunteers. The intimidation is by the TNI [Indonesian Defence Force] and by the civil service. They even pay visits to the homes of our volunteers."
Workers sent to Aceh by another election monitoring group, Unfrel, are reported to be requesting that their names be left off election ID cards to protect themselves.
Foreign election observers are also having second thoughts. The Philippines' National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has halved a planned contingent of 200 monitors, and they will not be sent to north Sumatra, which includes Aceh.
Namfrel chairman Jose Concepcion said "peace and order" were the main reasons for the turnaround: "We don't want to expose any of our volunteers" to danger.
The military claims members of the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) movement are trying to scupper the national elections in favour of a referendum on independence. But many other sources say it is the military which is opposed to a peaceful election in the province.
"The last thing they want is peace and stability," said a source at the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
"The military's aim may well be to make the area ungovernable, thereby justifying their continued presence."
Four days after troops killed at least 41 civilians near Lhokseumawe on May 3, another 400 special troops arrived in Aceh.
"[They are] for the election," said the local regent, Tarmizi Karim. We want to keep the people feeling free for the election."
It was announced that the
fresh troops would be helping people to register to vote. If independent
monitors are unable to do their job out of fear of the military, Aceh's
chance of participating in the national poll appear slim.
| News & issues |
Jakarta -- The replaced head of the official team investigating former president Soeharto's wealth, yesterday expressed doubt the Attorney General's Office will ever manage to complete the corruption probe.
"It's very difficult for the current government to settle the case," former junior justice for special crimes, Antonius Sujata, told private television network SCTV in a live interview. He declined to elaborate further.
The official investigation into Soeharto's wealth was commenced by the Attorney General's Office last year, but no results have been forthcoming.
Attorney General Andi Muhammad Ghalib has pledged to conclude the probe before the June 7 general election.
Legal experts and students have demanded that Soeharto be named as a suspect and put on trial. But Ghalib says that won't happen because his investigators are still continuing their probe into the disgraced ex-ruler.
Syamsu Djalal, a former junior justice of intelligence affairs, who spoke during the same interview, accused the government of President B.J. Habibie of having "no political will" to resolve the Soeharto case.
Disappointed by the slow pace of the Soeharto probe, Djalal said the Attorney General's Office, his former workplace, is like NATO: No Action, Talk Only. "I think there has been no follow-up of the investigation into Soeharto," he added.
Habibie removed retired Major General Djalal from Ghalib's office several months ago amid the corruption probe into Soeharto.
Sujata was officially dismissed yesterday, and replaced by Ramelan, a junior justice for general criminal affairs.
Another three attorneys were also reshuffled, including Suhanjono, who was dismissed from his position as junior justice for penal and state administrative affairs.
A handover ceremony, presided over by Ghalib, was held yesterday morning at the Attorney General's Office. Sujata and Suhanjono did not show up.
Apart from being replaced, Sujata was also demoted from echelon A to echelon B. Both Sujata and Suhanjono were offered new positions as Ghalib's expert staff, but Sujata decided to quit.
He bitterly accepted the president's decision, but admitted he was "disappointed" by his dismissal. Sujata said the reshuffle surprised him, because he has "worked hard" to investigate corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) practices, including those that involved Soeharto.
However, Sujata declined to reveal the real motive behind Habibie's decision to dismiss him.
He denied reports that his dismissal was linked to the leak of transcripts of Soeharto's questioning at the Attorney General's Office on December 9 last year. The transcripts were recently carried on the Mandiri Online news website and published by other national news organizations.
"It can't have been related to that because I had knew about my dismissal 10 days ago, while the media published the leaked transcripts only one week ago," he said.
Asked whether the reshuffle was linked to a land scam involving Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, Sujata said: "I don't know."
He said he has worked hard to finish the corruption investigation into Tommy, whose trail opened at South Jakarta District Court last month.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Ghalib denied there was a political motive behind Sujata's replacement. "It's only a normal modification for revitalization in order to optimize the work of the Attorney General's Office." Ghalib said there no links between the reshuffle and the leaked transcripts of the Soeharto sessions.
The dismissal of Sujata comes several days after Time magazine carried an article that said Soeharto and his six children amassed a US$15 billion (Rp120 trillion) fortune through abuse of power.
The US$15 billion assets include US$9 billion in cash that was transferred from a bank in Switzerland to another, probably safer, in Austria, shortly after Soeharto was forced out of power on May 21 last year, it said.
Ghalib and Justice Minister Muladi are set to leave for Switzerland and Austria on Sunday to trace the money. Political analysts say Habibie will only be able to boost his chances of winning the presidential election, if he manages to drag Soeharto to court.
A phone-tap recording released several months ago, featured Habibie instructing Ghalib to make sure the corruption probe into Soeharto was a "whitewash", reports said.
Vaudine England -- Up the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan, hundreds of Dayak farmers have been occupying the base camp of an oil-palm plantation company since November.
Now two of their number are detained by local police and several have gone missing.
The company arrived in 1996 as part of a plantation expansion project supported by the International Monetary Fund.
"Indonesian national policy sees the land as empty," says Niel Makinuddin, of the Institute for Environment and People Empowerment. "But the land is not empty -- it is full of indigenous Dayaks who are the natural protectors and managers of the forest.
"Its produce is their savings in the bank -- it is the collateral for their future."
In the district of Jempang, Kutai, upriver from Samarinda, huge fires were lit in 1996 to clear the land.
"Lots of protests were lodged but there was no response as usual," Mr Makinuddin said. "So by mid-1998, people were very angry. They decided to occupy the base camp and confiscate the company's equipment to force some negotiations. But still there was no response."
Matters came to a head in February when two village elders made the long journey to Jakarta to discover, at the ministries of agriculture and of forestry, that various company operations in their area were not yet legal.
Then on April 24, two community representatives were "kidnapped". A deputation to the local police post was eventually allowed to see the two men at a distance, one of them the apparent victim of beatings. They are still detained. On May 7, mobile police arrived at the base camp, disrupted a traditional ceremony and arrested seven people. Four remain missing.
Tangerang -- Dita Sari, jailed for subversion at Tangerang Women's Penitentiary, called for international organizations on Monday to press the Indonesian government for her unconditional release.
Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union secretary-general Sunarty, who visited the activist, said Dita Sari sent letters to the International Labor Organization, Canadian Labor Union (CLC) and the Philippine Labor Union (BATA) to ask for their help in pressing the government for her release.
"She also urges the government to stop worker dismissals and to respect the freedom of association among workers," Sunarty quoted Dita Sari as saying at the prison.
Dita Sari, 26, who recently rejected an offer of clemency from President B.J. Habibie, said she refused it because she did not commit any violations.
The Surabaya District Court sentenced Dita Sari to six years in prison in April 1997, a month before Suharto's resignation from the presidency, because she was found guilty of defaming Suharto and his government when leading a workers demonstration in the city.
She was moved from the Surabaya penitentiary to the Malang jail in East Java last year before being transferred to the Tangerang prison this year.
Chief of the union's women and child labor section Dian Dalimunte said her organization would continue holding demonstrations in Jakarta to urge Habibie's government to grant Dita Sari's unconditional release.