Indonesia/East Timor News Digest No 32

Jakarta -- Scores of people who witnessed and survived the 1984 massacre at Tanjung Priok, yesterday rallied outside the Attorney General's Office in Blok M, South Jakarta, demanding that action be taken against retired generals who ordered the slaughter of an estimated 400 Muslims at the North Jakarta port area.

Representatives of the protesters at 10.30am were granted a meeting with Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and submitted data and files on the case.

The demonstrators, who included relatives of the massacre victims, urged Marzuki to conduct a serious investigation into the case, reveal the facts, and take legal action against the retired military officials. Yesterday's meeting was organized by plucky human rights crusader Munir, who is the founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) earlier this year formed the Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Abuses at Tanjung Priok (KP3T). The investigation by KP3T concluded that there never was a massacre at Tanjung Priok.

Activists believe the investigation was a sham and part of a long running cover-up, because KP3T held talks with current and former military officials, and because it refused to unearth mass graves where the victims are believed to have been buried. KP3T head Koesparmono Irsan was present at yesterday's meeting but he didn't want to tell reporters about the commission's latest findings.

Relatives of the massacre victims said they are unsatisfied with the performance of the attorney general, because they have met with him many times, yet he has never bothered to take any concrete actions to take the perpetrators to court. KP3T has gathered a lot of new information on the case and submitted it to the Attorney General's Office.

Unconfirmed reports say at least 400 Muslims were shot dead by troops on September 12, 1984, at Tanjung Priok during an anti- government, anti-military protest against the regime of then- president Soeharto. The bodies were reportedly trucked away and secretly buried in mass graves, mostly in East Jakarta, near military bases.

Activists say the two retired generals most responsible for the slaughter are former military commander Benny Moerdani and former Jakarta Military chief Try Sutrisno. Try initially denied there had been any massacre but later said troops had merely been following orders, adding they had shot in self defense and to defuse potential riots.

Bandung students greet Megawati with rallies

Jakarta Post - August 12, 2000 (abridged)

Bandung -- Two groups of Bandung students greeted Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday with a demonstration, criticizing the government for failing to uphold law enforcement.

The students, grouped in the Bandung Young Indonesian Front (FIM-B) and Bandung Students' Movement Association (KPMB), criticized the government for failing to enforce the law properly. They demanded that Soeharto be brought to court soon. Economic recovery had also failed, the students said. Megawati visited here to attend graduation day at the State Administration Institute.

In her address she stressed that government officials must be responsive and intelligent in articulating the people's increasing demands. "People have become more critical and more demanding for democratic government which respects human rights.

"Their main demand is clean governance, wider [regional] autonomy, proper exploitation of natural resources and an equitable financial balance between the central government and provincial and regency administrations," she told the 624 graduates.

The state-owned institute, formerly located in Jakarta, is dedicated to producing government officials. In the past its graduates held district head level posts in the regions and had great loyalty to the ruling group, Golkar.

"People are no longer the object of the government. A leadership style which lets reduces the people being merely the objects of the ruler will make no progress," she said.

Seven of the 624 graduates are East Timorese, who have decided to become Indonesian citizens. The president of the institute, Marwoto Soewito said that six of the East Timorese would be posted to West, Central and East Java respectively, while the other one will be appointed to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

Student rallies at the Assembly on the rise

Jakarta Post - August 12, 2000

Jakarta -- The number of student rallies has increased since the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly opened on Monday with at least 300 students staging rallies in front of the Assembly complex here on Friday.

The differences in their demands were as varied as the backgrounds of the demonstrators. A group of students calling themselves the National Student League for Democracy (LND) demanded the trial of former authoritarian president Soeharto. The students also urged that Indonesian Military (TNI)/National Police not be given seats in either the House of Representatives or the People's Consultative Assembly.

Their protest comes as Assembly members are leaning toward supporting a draft article in the 1945 Constitution which could permanently enshrine the TNI/National Police presence in the Assembly.

Another group of students, the Islamic Student Front, supported the planned amendments to Article 29 on religion which would include an obligation to adhere to Islamic law (syariah) for Muslims.

The planned change, which was proposed by the Islamic-based United Development Party (PPP), has received strong opposition from major factions such as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Opposition toward the inclusion of Islamic law in the Constitution has also grown outside the Assembly with the nation's two largest Muslim organizations -- Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah -- also saying they do not support the change. Just as there were student demonstrations supporting the change in Article 29, another group, the Indonesian Nationalist Student Movement (GMNI), turned up to demonstrate changes to it.

They also warned all parties to be wary of the return of New Order figures, and called for those affiliated with the New Order regime to be excluded from government institutions. They also demanded that the trial of former president Soeharto be speeded up.

One reason the demonstrations have increased compared to previous five days is that Assembly members have now turned their full attention to draft decrees and constitutional amendments. Much of the agenda of the first three-days of the annual session had been dominated by the presidential progress report. Despite the plethora of groups and demands, no incidents were reported on Friday.

Jakarta Student Consortium criticises Gus Dur

Tempo - August 10, 2000

Jakarta -- Hundreds of youths who call themselves Jakarta Student Consortium (KMJ) were demonstrating in front of legislature complex on Thursday, at about 1pm. They demanded the People's Consultative Assembly to reject the progress report of President Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly called Gus Dur. The reported is considered not to answer problem faced by the nation systematically and substantially, particularly the reform agenda.

"Look at the new form of corruption-collusion-nepotism, Buloggate and Bruneygate, the fading nationalism by hoisting Papuan's Morning Star flag, and slow process in handling former president Soeharto's trial," said Erlan, field coordinator of KMJ that admitted to be a student of Jayakarta Economics School (Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Ekonomi Jayakarta).

In their written statement, KMJ criticized the proposal of sharing president's authority that indicate unaccountability and compromise or power sharing. "It doesn't conform with professionalism and moral ethic," Erlan said.

At the time of reporting, the students are negotiating with the apparatus. They insisted to enter the legislature complex, to meet Reform faction, Commission A that is discussing amendment of 1945 Constitution and Commission C that is discussing President's progress report.

Students demand the military, Golkar get out of politics

Kompas - August 11, 2000

On the fourth day of the annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) demonstrations were held by a number of organisations and students. As well as the student demonstrations which were demanding the abolition of the military seats in the parliament and for Suharto to be tried, other actions held yesterday's were supportive of issues being dealt with by the assembly.

Around 50 students from a number of campuses in Jakarta, grouped under the Islamic Student Front (Front Mahasiswa Islam, FMI) were supporting amendments to Article 29 of the 1945 Constitution [which would stipulate the implementation of the Islamic Law for Muslims - JB]. Representatives of the Preparation Committee for the Application of Islamic Law (Komite Persiapan Penegakan Syariat Islam, KPPSI) were received by representatives from the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP) fractions. H Noer Namry Noor and Chairul Anwar Lubis from PPP supported their cause while Idrus Marhan from Golkar said he would pass their suggestions to his fraction.

The last group to arrive were from the Independent Alliance of Students and Society (Aliansi Mahasiswa dan Masyarakat Independen). Also demonstrating was the National Student League for Democracy (Liga Mahasiswa Nasional untuk Demokrasi, LMND) and the Jakarta-wide campus based Independent Electra Monitoring Committee (Komite Independen Pemantau Pemilu, KIPP).

One of the banners supported President Abdurrahman Wahid's plan to carry out a cabinet reshuffle but called for it to be composed of independent members.

LMND and KIPP were calling for the abolition of the dual (social and political) role of the military and police and for the abolition of the military and police seats in the people's representative institutions. According to one of the KIPP activists, Dadi Achmad Zen, as well as the demonstration at the MPR building, KIPP organised demonstrations were also being held at four other locations; the Hilton Hotel, the Mulia Hotel, the Indonesia Bundaran Hotel and Semanggi. Demands for the abolition of military and police seats in the MPR was also called for by the Jakarta chapter of the Islamic Student's Association.

LMND was protesting against the annual MPR session itself which they accused of doing little more than playing power games and that it had forgotten the ordinary people. They also demanded the removal of Golkar members from the MPR and for the government to arrest, try and seize the assets of former president Suharto and his cronies. This demand was made before some 200 students from a number of joint actions held at Suharto's residence in Cendana Street and at the Golkar offices in Cikini, Central Jakarta.

[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski]

Students rally for snap Suharto trial

Agence France-Presse - August 9, 2000 (abridged)

Jakarta -- Some 150 Indonesian students rallied on Wednesday near the home of former president Suharto to demand that he be immediately put on trial for massive corruption and abuse of power.

The protestors, grouped under the City Alliance, marched through the plush Menteng area in central Jakarta before they were stopped by dozens of police in full riot gear about 75 meters from Suharto's sprawling bungalow.

"Jail Suharto and seize his assets," said one large sign waved by the students. They also demanded during the 30-minute peaceful protest that all state institutions be cleared of Suharto loyalists.

Prosecutors on Tuesday formally filed corruption charges against Suharto to the South Jakarta district court. The head of the panel of judges on the case said the trial of the former dictator could open before the end of this month.

Suharto, now 79 and in failing health, is charged with stealing 571 million dollars from the state during his iron-fisted 32-year rule. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment but Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has pledged to pardon Suharto should he be convicted. But he has insisted Suharto must first face a tribunal.

Suharto, who has vowed that he will not leave the country despite the legal pressure, is accused of misusing the money from several huge tax-free foundations he controlled by investing the funds in firms owned by his family and friends.

Reformist students, who helped topple Suharto in 1998, say the charges against Suharto are too lenient, and demand that the former autocrat be tried for human rights abuses as well.

Youth forum rejects military in Parliament

Detik - August 9, 2000

Hestiana Dharmastuti/Fitri & BI, Jakarta -- Eleven youth organisations have amalgamated together to form the Indonesian Youth Forum (FKPI). The amalgamation has firmly rejected Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI)/National Police (Polri) seat allocation inside the Parliament.

They believed the TNI/Polri seat allocation in Parliament is a great political set back, eventhough the allocation for TNI/POLRI has been greatly reduced after the down fall of Suharto Regime, from 170 seats to only 38 seats at present.

The statement was made by the Chairman of FKPI, Syaiful Bahri Anshori from PMII during a press conference at PMKRI (Indonesian Catholic Student Association) office, Central Jakarta, Wednesday.

FKPI have consisted of eleven youth organisations including the notable Indonesian Christian Student Association (GMKI), Indonesian Islamic Students Association (PMII), Indonesian National Students Association (GMNI), Indonesian Catholic Student Association (PMKRI) and NU Youth Association (IPNU).

"The Annual Assembly Session is supposed to solve substantial dilemmas and not to vent personal emotions. [The Session] is also the place to suggest a better life platform as well as deleting all New Order legislation which has legitimised status quo, non- reform, and discriminative," Syaiful said further.

Speaking at the same occasion, the chairman of GMNI, Bambang Romada, has said the new Forum will continue to prevent any new order relics to find a new foothold. "Eventhough many New Order member have not been punished [for their crime]. [And] if there are no mean to punish those who have been suspected to be guilty, that doesn't mean the general public are not aware of their crime and allowing them to commit more crime," Bambang explained further.

The chairman of PMKRI, Ignas Kikin Tarigan, said PMKRI will maintain the result of general election, also on their next schedule the forum will held a rally ."But the most important thing is, everything has to go back to the reform agenda because new order's financial system and network are a lot stronger than the reform group," Ignas said assertively.

The chairman of GMKI, Barita LH Simanjuntak, also criticized the current Annual Assembly Session. In his opinion, the assembly has failed to give political education. "They supposed to discuss on how to come out of the crisis, not to make some evaluation. Therefore, it is unnecessary to do an evaluation until Wahid administration period has expired," Barita said emotionally.

The Annual Assembly Session currently is preparing a new amendment which will maintain TNI/Police seats in the Parliament, as reported by the Jakarta Post. The new amendments has stated, if certain groups who do not have the right to vote in the general election are entitle to have representatives in the Parliament. There are strong reaction from many non government organisation and students who have opposed the amendments.

Military attacks student demonstrators

Green Left Weekly - August 9, 2000

On July 27, peaceful student protesters in the central Java city of Yogyakarta were attacked by baton-wielding thugs. At least 21 people were badly hurt. The students were commemorating the military-backed attack on Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) four years ago in Jakarta. The thugs are believed to be members of the Indonesian military. A separate attack occurred in the East Java city of Lamongan.

On July 28, the National Student League for Democracy (LMND) issued the following statement:

The New Order regime has three central pillars: the military, the bureaucracy and the Golkar party, each with their own roles. The military functions a tool of repression against the people, the bureaucracy acts to strengthen the legitimacy of the government and Golkar is a tool to centralise power and mobilise people to support it.

While the New Order regime was in power, millions of people lived under extremely oppressive conditions -- they were murdered, abducted, raped and tortured. All of this was to enrich a small handful of people, the leaders of the New Order regime. Naturally, this oppression and exploitation met resistance and in 1998, the movement to overthrow the Suharto regime could no longer be stopped.

The July 27, 1996, incident was one of the ways the New Order regime tried to destroy the pro-democracy movement. The regime was afraid that Golkar would not win the 1997 elections because of the popularity of PDI leader Megawati Sukarnoputri. They also feared the free speech forums at the PDI headquarters which continued for several weeks and drew huge crowds. Their actions against Megawati had no effect on her sympathisers and the democratic movement. The only course open for the New Order regime to save itself was to close down the free speech forums. What followed was the July 27 incident.

Four years on, the democratic movement still commemorates the July 27 incident each year, using it as a means of drawing together the movement to fight the remnants of the New Order dictatorship under the new political conditions.

The attacks against activists commemorating the July 27 incident in a number of cities proves that remnants of the New Order regime are still trying to maintain their power. They are trying to maintain their positions in the government and parliament and are also trying to return to power.

The attack on our comrades proves the remnants of the New Order regime have not become democratic as they claim. They continue to use violence by the military, the militia, paid thugs and elements which are involved in creating communal and religious unrest to strike at the pro-democratic movement's struggle for democracy.

The LMND calls for:

Golkar to be condemned for its actions against the commemoration actions, particularly in Yogyakarta and Lamongan;
Those who truly wish for genuine democracy and social justice to unite to confront the remnants of the New Order, that is former Suharto, Golkar and the military;
A full investigation into the involvement of the New Order regime in the July 27, 1996, incident and other cases of human rights violations; and
A statement from President Abdurrahman Wahid, parliamentarians and other state institutions on their commitment to the struggle for democracy in Indonesia.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

MPR slammed for maintaining TNIs presence

Indonesian Observer - August 8, 2000

Jakarta -- Representatives of about 20 non-government organizations yesterday visited parliament to convey their disgust with legislators for failing to terminate the militarys hallowed role in politics.

One of the draft constitutional amendments being discussed by the Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR) allows military and police personnel to maintain the positions allocated to them in parliament.

The NGOs slammed the MPR Ad Hoc Committee I, which had been given almost one year to draft constitutional changes, for ignoring one of the most serious demands of the reform movement: get the military out of politics forever.

The draft amendment of Article 2 of the 1945 Constitution states that members of the MPR can come from the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and National Police.

Among the NGOs at parliament yesterday were: the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), and Institute of Studies and Peoples Advocacy (Elsam).

PBHI Executive Director Hendardi said that if the MPR maintains the militarys so-called dual function, it will be a serious betrayal the national reform movement.

If the MPR passes Article 2 [on transitional rule], it will be the first time ever in Indonesian history that political power has been given to a party which has a monopoly on instruments of violence. [Such legislation] was not even seen during the New Order regime, he said.

Hendardi said that officially granting political power to the military will cause problems in the management of the state, because violence and repression will be sanctioned for the sake of certain political interests, as took place in the past.

TNI and the police are under the responsibility of the president. Therefore, they must not be given political power, such as positions in the MPR, which is the institution tasked to determine the presidents accountability. He warned that if the MPR endorses the article, it will be the first nail in the coffin for the democratization process in Indonesia.

In a joint statement, the NGOs said the draft amendments had been prepared by only a small group of MPR legislators who ignored the peoples aspiration to live in a country where the military is not involved in politics. I see the MPR is only serious about trying to protect its own interests, not the peoples. Therefore, it has not fulfilled the principles of transparency, democracy, peoples sovereignty, and a country which upholds the law, said Walhi Executive Director Emmy Hafild.

We are concerned by the draft of Article 2 on transitional rule, which gives TNI and police a chance to remain in parliament, said Hafild. She also lashed out at the draft constitutional amendments dealing with human rights, because nowhere is it stated that the authorities are obliged to protect the human rights of civilians.

Hafild lamented that the big parties are reluctant to approve popular demands for direct presidential elections. It would be better if the approval of the amendments is delayed, so there will be time for MPR members to revise them, she added.

Hendardi said the inclusion of military and police in parliament will become the main stumbling block for upholding human rights, because the military will have a powerful bargaining position with the government.

By having the authority to assess the presidents accountability, the military and the police will have the political bargaining power to [oppose] the governments policies on human rights protection. As institutions that are supplied with munitions, TNI and the police have the permanent potential to commit human rights abuses.

East Timor

UN staff flee in West Timor

Agence France-Presse - August 13, 2000

Jakarta -- Two UN agencies on Saturday pulled most of their foreign staff out of the West Timor border town of Atambua, a day after pro-Jakarta militia encircled and threatened their offices, UN officials said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Unhcr) office in Kupang confirmed that most of its foreign staff members had left Atambua, but declined to call it an evacuation.

International Organisation for Migration (IOM) spokesman Jean- Philippe Chauzy said in Geneva that its Atambu office had been "under siege by at least 50 machete-wielding Aitarak militia".

"Six staff remained trapped inside the building for several hours before the Indonesian army intervened to disperse the crowd," he said. Aitarak was involved in attacks in East Timor last year.

Earlier on Friday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told Indonesia to stop militiamen infiltrating into East Timor after a Nepalese United Nations peacekeeper was killed in a firefight there.

In a statement, he said he was "concerned over the increase in activities by armed personnel" in parts of the territory close to the Indonesian province of West Timor.

UN tells Indonesia to arrest Timor militia leaders

Reuters - August 12, 2000

Dili -- The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor has demanded that Indonesia arrest and disarm militia leaders responsible for an attack in which a Nepalese soldier was killed and four others wounded.

Jakarta is under mounting international pressure to curb the pro-integration gangs who operate with impunity from year-old refugee camps across the border in Indonesia West Timor.

Speaking to reporters late on Friday after returning from the western border area, Sergio Vieira de Mello told reporters that the Indonesian government needed to do more than offer vague statements to close down the refugee camps. "Closing down the camps is a fairly vague concept. Once you close them down, what do you do with the refugees? Do you throw them into the sea? Do you force them across the border?"

On Friday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said his government was drawing up plans to close the refugee camps, squalid homes to some 100,000 East Timorese who have lived there since fleeing their homeland last year.

Up to a quarter of East Timor's 800,000 population were forced out of the impoverished territory by rampaging pro-integration militias after it overwhelmingly voted to break from 23 years of harsh Indonesian rule.

Closing the camps, no solution

"Closing the camps I don't think is a solution. The solution is what we've been requesting from the Indonesian government since October last year, which is to identify -- which is not difficult -- disarm and detain those extremist elements who are operating from within the camps," de Mello said.

"That's what needs to be done and as long as that doesn't happen then I'm afraid refugees will not come back and our people will continue to die," he said. De Mello heads the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), which includes an 8,000-strong peacekeeping force drawn from 32 countries of which Australia is the biggest contributor.

Two UN soldiers have been killed in as many weeks after clashes with pro-Indonesia militiamen, and senior UN military commanders are warning of an upsurge of violence this month. The focus is on two anniversaries -- Indonesia's independence day on August 17 and on August 30 which will mark one year since the majority of East Timorese voted to quit Jakarta rule.

UN officials say violence has also been increasing on the West Timor side of the border. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have suspended repatriation of refugees because of the growing threat of attacks on their staff.

More attacks

The IOM office in the refugee border town of Atambua was besieged by about 50 militiamen on Friday. They were eventually dispersed by Indonesian troops.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council both called on Indonesia on Friday to halt infiltration of armed militias from West Timor into East Timor.

De Mello said he was worried by the increase in military skills shown by the cross border raiders, but stopped short of directly accusing the Indonesian military of having a role. "It seems as if a few groups of fairly well trained and well coordinated militia are presently operating in the districts of Bobonaro and Cova Lima, possibly having also entered the Ainoaro district [in East Timor]. "They are not large groups but they are very well trained and ready to kill."

He said there was no evidence Indonesian troops were involved. "But as I said, they were very well trained. Therefore our assessment is that they are either ex-TNI [Indonesian military] or militia who have been receiving fairly advanced training and I'll let you form your own conclusions."

Four Australian soldiers were wounded on Friday after an explosion in a rubbish dump near the border. UN sources said the injuries were not life-threatening and that there was no indication so far that the blast was intentional.

Militia trained and armed and trained by Indonesia

RTE - August 11, 2000

Dublin -- UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, will start a three day visit to East Timor tomorrow to monitor developments there since last year's unrest. Although it's gone from the headlines there is continuing violence if obviously not at the same levels as after last year's independence vote. Earlier in the week, for example, a UN peacekeeper from New Zealand was killed by the militias and his ears cut off as bounty.

Australian, Dr. Andrew MacNaughton, has been to East Timor many times. He's investigated the militia and their links with the Indonesian army. He began by telling me about the situation there at the moment.

MacNaughton: The problem has continued along the border with West Timor. The main problem is that elements within the Indonesian army are continuing to arm and train militias to create instability along the border and to terrorise and intimidate the people that they are still holding in camps in West Timor. There are about a hundred thousand of them still in West Timor and tension has flared up recently on the border with the shooting of an New Zealand peacekeeper, allegedly by Indonesian army backed militias, although who knows it could have actually been Indonesian troops themselves. And the Australian troops that are part of the peacekeeping force have just retaliated and shot two alleged, intruding, Indonesian backed militias. One wonders could they even be Indonesian troops. So there is a very tense situation continuing on the border.

Presenter: And how much strength do these militia have? How many of them are there?

MacNaughton: Based on what was going on in West Timor last September there's probably ten to twenty thousand, but their strength comes from the backing of the Indonesian Armed forces who are literally the hand inside the glove. They are the people who are funnelling money to these people. They are the people who are providing weapons, including automatic weapons. They are training. They are providing the situation in which these people can continue to act with impunity when the Indonesian government has signed agreements and given promises to the international community for eighteen months that they would disarm and disband these people. For eighteen months they've been making a mockery of their agreements with the world. These militias are virtually part and parcel of the Indonesian Armed Forces. They are an extension of the Indonesian Armed Forces. They can't be thought of as something independent of the Indonesian Armed Forces. So in a sense what's going on is one branch of Indonesian state policy, because the army of Indonesia are an integral part of the state.

Presenter: Is there anything that the international community can and indeed should be doing about this at the moment, because, as I said, this is not something that features in the news in the way it would have nine or ten months ago?

MacNaughton: Yes. I'd absolutely agree. It's just below the surface of news-worthiness, but the underlying problems remain and the underlying bad faith by the Indonesian army remains. What I would say is the world community, in particular governments like Ireland, should do everything they can to clip the wings of the Indonesian military. This means there should be no European Union sale of arms, there should be no training, there should be no funding. Any money that could be misdirected, laundered and put to use in funding this kind of war against the East Timorese or the trouble the Indonesian army is formenting in other areas of the archepelago should be looked at very closely and should be not supplied. The world has to stop supplying the arms, the training or the money that can be misused by the Indonesian Armed Forces in East Timor or in other parts of Indonesia.

Presenter: And given the events of last year when eventually the international peacekeeping forces did go in, what do the militia hope to achieve?

MacNaughton: It's a good question. Again I don't think that it's the militia. This is a policy of some if not all the leadership of the Indonesian armed forces. Were the Indonesian Armed Forces to want the activities of the militias to stop, they could stop them like that [he clicks his fingers] in one day. And in fact Wiranto, who was then the head of the military and the defence minister, said to Jose Ramos Horta before the ballot in East Timor, "I could stop the militias in twenty four hours."

Presenter: And in the meantime while we're talking about things being forgotten, the forgotten victims in all of this must be the refugees in West Timor?

MacNaughton: Yeah. Absolutely. I've just come from the US where a delegation of people had done a tour of the camps just recently and they reaffirmed that, almost everyone agrees, there's at least one hundred thousand people still there. And you've got to remember that the overall population of East Timor is only about nine hundred thousand people so it's twelve percent or more of their people held outside. They are more or less, in some cases, hostages. They were taken out by force against their will. They are being held under the control of the militias who are under the guidance of the Indonesian army. Many of whom, we've heard sixty percent at least, would like to go back. The returning group that I spoke to recently said that many more want to go back.

Presenter: What's stopping them going back then?

MacNaughton: They are intimidated. Inside these camps, controlling these people, live the militias and, of course, supplying the money and the weapons to the militias are the Indonesian military. You must remember that a lot of the people who were taken out were women and children so they don't really have the independence or wherewithal. They're easily intimidated and they don't have the capacity to get up and leave. They're very poor people and most of them, the reports we have, live in horrendous conditions.

They want to return to East Timor. They are being intimidated and they are also subject to disinformation. Militias have been printing newspapers with logos that look like United Nations logos, but, of course, it's not. It's propaganda. And they're saying, "If you go back to East Timor, everything's terrible." Well, of course, the reality is they're under much more danger under the control of the Indonesian army, but there is a very coordinated disinformation campaign being run and we believe the Indonesian military intelligence is behind this.

Peacekeepers bracing for more violence

South China Morning Post - August 12, 2000

Joanna Jolly in Dili and Agencies -- United Nations peacekeepers are gearing up for further trouble from pro-Jakarta militiamen as the anniversary of the territory's independence vote draws nears.

Speaking a day after a Nepali soldier was killed in an attack by suspected militiamen 35km inside East Timor, an Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Jakarta's troops were powerless to prevent such infiltrations. A UN force spokesman said as many as 60 armed militiamen were believed to have crossed from West Timor into East Timor.

Intelligence sources in East Timor believe the militiamen, who have stepped up their attacks in the past two weeks, may be planning terrorist attacks to coincide with Indonesian National Day on Wednesday and the anniversary of last year's August 30 referendum which produced an overwhelming vote for independence.

"We have developed contingency plans should the situation deteriorate. We have a lot of anniversaries coming up this month and into September," Australian deputy UN commander Major-General Michael Smith said.

On Thursday, Nepali peacekeeper Devi Ram Jaishi, 26, was pronounced dead on arrival at a Dili hospital after being shot 14km northeast of the border town of Suai. He was the second peacekeeper to die in action. A second Nepali soldier was seriously injured and two others and a civilian hurt.

Peacekeeping spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Brynjar Nymo said the militiamen who attacked the Nepali patrol were presumed to be part of a group of 25 to 30 which villagers in the area have recently encountered.

Indonesia has come under mounting international pressure to rein in the militiamen, who operate with near impunity in and around refugee camps just across the border. "We cannot give 100 per cent control," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sulaiman Abdulmanan said.

Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said the only solution to the militia problem was to close the camps, which still house 80,000 of the 250,000 East Timorese who fled or were forced across the border amid last year's militia rampage. Indonesia promised last month to shut the camps, and Mr Shihab said Jakarta was drawing up plans.

Refugee repatriations have been halted because of militia intimidation, and yesterday machete-wielding militiamen laid siege to UN and aid agency offices in the border town of Atambua.

Discussing possible links between the militiamen and the Indonesian military, General Smith said this had not been proved. He added: "We do know, however, that in recent militia activity the standard of soldiering of some is very high ... [Militia forces now are] far better trained and equipped than what we saw [in September] last year."

Refugees face militia terror

Green Left Weekly - August 9, 2000

Jon Land -- Despite the announcement on July 31 by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid that refugee camps in West Timor controlled by the pro-Jakarta militia will be closed, the fate of tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees remains perilous. The terror campaign, which has intensified in recent months, will continue until the militias are disarmed and disbanded.

Pressure from governments, notably the United States, has forced the Wahid government to respond to the violence. Foreign ministers attending the recent ASEAN meeting in Bangkok issued a joint statement condemning the militia violence. US secretary of state Madeleine Albright met with Indonesian foreign minister Alwi Shihab on July 29 to discuss the situation in West Timor and the violence in Maluku province.

Following the meeting, Shihab stated that the camps would be closed and the refugees repatriated, "if it is agreed by the international community that it can be easily done". Shihab added: "Right now, there is no concrete agreement as regards to the appropriate preparations in East Timor to receive [the refugees] back." The issue is to be discussed when Shihab he meets with the United Nations (UN) secretary general in New York on August 19.

In Dili on July 31, US ambassador to Indonesia Robert Gelbard warned that the militias' activity "demonstrates to my government that the Indonesian government is still not prepared to take control of the situation. That is something Indonesia must do if it is to achieve the necessary long-term support for its own situation".

On August 3, the United Nations Security Council called on the Indonesian government to rein in the militias, halt the training and supply of weapons that they receive from the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) and close the refugee camps where the militias are based.

The situation is worst in the refugee camps near Kupang, Atambua and Betun, where the largest of the estimated 240 camps are located. Following the July 24 clash between UN troops and a militia gang in south-west East Timor, militia violence has spread across West Timor. This has resulted in the International Office of Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) suspending repatriation of refugees indefinitely.

Registration and repatriation of refugees has dropped sharply since June. IOM and UNHCR staff have been forced to withdraw from the camps due to threats and attacks from the militia gangs. The 120,000 refugees have been left to fend for themselves.

On July 29, militias established roadblocks along the main road between Atambua and the border town of Motaain, preventing refugees from attending a scheduled reunion meeting with relatives and friends. In the days before, militias warned refugees in the camps that there would be "trouble".

Because of intimidation, and the presence of a large numbers of militia member who were seen to chat amiably with TNI soldiers stationed nearby, the meeting involved the lowest number of refugees since the monthly reunion program began late last year. No future meetings at the Motaain border have been scheduled because of the militia threats.

Wahid's decree to close the camps has not resulted in any improvement in the situation of the refugees or any significant drop in militia activity. Within two days, another fatal clash between UN troops and militia members took place after an East Timorese villager was shot by militia on July 29. The incident took place not far from the July 24 clash.

Refugees are to be "polled" on whether they wish to return to East Timor or remain in Indonesia. "They will be faced with the choice of staying or returning. If they say they demand more time, then that will be considered as wanting to stay", Shihab was quoted as saying in an Antara news agency report on August 1. "The registration of the population should not be delayed", Shihab said. He added that registration is not expected to begin for two months. It is unclear what agency will be responsible for the registration process as the IOM and UNHCR have been prevented from doing so.

Refugees will be forced to make their "choice" on repatriation in an atmosphere of intense intimidation, misinformation and fear. The UNHCR and the UN administration in East Timor are worried about how events in West Timor are unfolding.

Craig Sanders, head of UNHCR operations in West Timor, told ABC Radio on August 1 that, "if force is used to close the camps, we could see a melt-down because people are being forced out and this could spark a whole reaction among the local population. It could also spark a reaction by the militia ... the thugs who are in many cases are running some of the larger sites. These people ... have proven that they can unleash violence and they may in this case do the same thing."

Sanders believes there are insufficient facilities in East Timor to deal with a sudden flood of refugees. He told Deutsche Presse-Agentur: "If people were forced across the border, it could destabilise East Timor. To think you can get rid of the problems by closing the camps ... is [simplistic] ... but none of us want to see these camps here indefinitely."

The militia repression in the camps is part of a wave of politically motivated violence spreading across West Timor and other parts of Indonesia. The perpetrators are linked to sections of the TNI and government officials. The terror campaign in West Timor is being used by these forces to destabilise East Timor and to strengthen reactionary opposition to Wahid.

Fighting involving militia, TNI soldiers and local gangs is now common throughout West Timor. The provincial government has called for the removal of TNI's 744 battalion (formerly stationed in East Timor) following its involvement in beatings and murders of civilians. Military chief of the Udayana command, Kiki Syahnakri, has asked for the people of Kupang to "work together" with the police and military against the "criminal gangs". Government/politics

Indonesia expected to delay tough decisions on constitution

Agence France-Presse - August 13, 2000

Jakarta -- Indonesia's national assembly is expected to shy away this week from committing itself on controversial amendments to the country's 55-year-old constitution, including a proposal to cement the military's place in politics, observers and politicians said. A commission made up of 228 members of the 700-seat People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has been debating 26 draft amendments since Friday.

Reviewing the 1945 constitution is a main function which the assembly, now in the midst of its first annual session, has set itself. "All the proposals are being discussed, without exception," Slamet Yusuf Effendy, from the large Golkar political faction, told AFP. "However it is quite possible that a final agreement on the most complicated ones, including the one affecting the military, will be delayed."

Constitutional law expert Andrew Ellis, from the National Democratic Institute, said disagreement continued over many of the proposals. "There is a general mood around, that where there are alternatives, most people would not push it for a vote this year," he said on Friday.

Among the most controversial of the proposals is a draft amendment which would let the military keep its 38 seats in parliament. Initial predictions were that the amendment would be passed, with the two largest parties in the MPR, the Indonesian Democracy Party of Struggle (PDIP), and Golkar, reportedly favouring writing into law the military keep its seats at least until 2004.

However there has been intense criticism of the proposal, as the military's removal from politics has been a key platform of Indonesia's reform movement. "Never before in our history has the military's place in parliament been guaranteed in the constitution, even under the old Suharto regime," said Hendardi, who heads a legal aid and human rights organisation. "It is extremely dangerous."

The proposed amendment states "groups that do not have voting rights in the general elections" should hold seats in the MPR. The military, which has cut back the 75 seats it held in the assembly under former president Suharto to 38, argues that since it does not vote in elections it needs a political voice by other means.

However Hendardi said the proposal was illogical, as the military was meant to be under the president, as a tool of the executive branch of government. "So how can we have the military sit in the MPR, an institution to which the president is accountable? It means we will have the military demanding accountability from the president," he said.

Golkar's Effendy said it was premature to predict the assembly's final decision on the proposal, Smita Notosusanto, of the non- government Centre for Electoral Reform, believed the amendment would go through.

In no doubt of being passed, according to Notosusanto, are laws guaranteeing greater autonomy to Indonesia's 27 provinces, with special autonomy for Aceh and Irian Jaya, both embroiled in separatist struggles. The autonomy laws were passed late last year by the House of Representatives (DPR), whose 500 members also sit in the assembly.

Notosusanto said a proposal for a bi-cameral parliament was also likely to be passed, as were amendments on the inclusion of a lengthy human rights charter, the abolition of the Supreme Advisory Council, and a guarantee of the independence of the central bank.

She said it was still hard to predict whether a proposal for direct presidential elections would be accepted, saying political parties were "changing their minds every day." Under the current system the MPR -- made up of 462 popularly elected members and 238 appointees -- elects the president.

Pressure has been mounting from outside the assembly for the direct election system to be adopted. A proposal to insert a clause obliging Indonesia's Muslims to adhere to Koranic teachings has been roundly condemned by at least three parties, including Golkar, PDIP and the 58-seat National Awakening faction. The three parties, who hold 425 seats, say the proposed clause threatens Indonesia's secular, pluralist nature.

The commission debating the amendments is due to present its conclusions to the entire assembly on Tuesday. Final amendments will be put to the assembly for ratification on Friday, bringing it's annual session to a close.

Wahid is buying time but at the cost of his own power

Strathfor Intelligence Updates - August 11, 2000

Facing a hostile parliament and a deteriorating national economy, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid handed over a portion of his duties to Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri on August 9.

The handover represents an unofficial coalition between Wahid, Megawati and the Golkar party -- the three largest parties in the parliament. Wahid has bought himself time, but at the expense of increasing the power of his two largest rivals and possibly handicapping his ability to govern. Less than a year after trying to bring some semblance of order to this strategically important archipelago nation, Wahid's presidency is clearly failing.

On August 7, the aging president apologized to the parliament for his poor performance in office. That night, members of six of Indonesia's most powerful political parties held a private meeting to discuss the very real possibility that Wahid should be deposed, according to Kompas, an Indonesian daily. Not only did the parties want Megawati to take a stronger role in the government, they drafted a bill that would have made impeaching Wahid much easier, according to the Straits Times.

Megawati's Indonesian Struggle Party (PDI-P) is the largest in parliament. The Golkar party is second, despite its history as a tool of former president Suharto. Together, they could have mustered the votes to kick Wahid out of office. But doing so would have placed them atop a heap of smaller, squabbling parties, and equally fractious factions within their own parties -- and all this with only the thinnest of majorities.

But the impeachment bill was overturned, and Wahid retains some measure of his power, likely due to a last-minute appeal by Matori Djalil, the chairman of Wahid's own party. PDI-P and Golkar dropped their overt hostility to Wahid, and have distanced themselves from the other political parties that continued to bash Wahid.

Rather than attempting to bludgeon their way through the political chaos of a post-Wahid government, PDI-P and Golkar have chosen to join Wahid's administration. Besides the promise of greater power for the vice president, Wahid is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet next week. Both parties stand to gain a large number of positions as the president consolidates his advisory group.

Wahid has dodged a bullet and altered the dynamics of Indonesian politics. Most political commentators are clamoring about Megawati's new duties -- she is charged with vague jobs like executing daily technical task of government and establishing the focus of the government.

However, it is not evident that Megawati's job description will lead to greater order. Wahid gave Megawati a number of tasks at the start of the year -- including resolving violence in the Molucca Islands and separatist movements in Irian Jaya -- yet Megawati stayed in the political hinterlands.

Backroom negotiations between PDI-P, Golkar and the Wahid government have now burst into the open, as Wahid and Megawati have begun squabbling about the distribution of power.

In bringing the opposition into the heart of his administration, the president has brought his most dangerous rivals closer to home. Until now, Wahid was master of his administration, but clashed with the parliament at every turn; his own party isn't large enough to push an agenda. This new coalition holds more than two-thirds of the parliament -- enough to dominate any opposition -- but is divided within itself. This is not necessarily any worse for Wahid, and may in fact be better. He is known for his ability to work one-on-one with individuals and elites.

Wahid now only has to worry about a few dozen Cabinet and party officials, rather than several hundred parliamentarians. But this may still be dangerous. Wahid could find his own authority blocked or diverted if the current power struggles with PDI-P continue into the coming months.

The only remaining power base is the military, which appears to be satisfied with the way events are unfolding. The government will stay stable and has pledged not to stay tough on rebellious provinces -- the military's prime concern. The army just sent additional troops to the Moluccas and is suspected in the disappearance of a leader of the Aceh separatist movement. Even more appealing for the military are the rumors that Golkar and PDI-P will allow officers to keep seats in the parliament until the 2004 elections -- if not longer.

Wahid gave away a slice of his power to keep his office and to gain control over the parliament. He has rid himself of one evil but gained another. This strengthens him in the short term. But the president has also boosted the power and visibility of his strongest competitors, setting the stage for a future challenge.

Wahid turns defeat into strategic withdrawal

Financial Times - Auguse 11, 2000

Tom McCawley -- A patter of applause from the floor of the 700- member People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) greeted the appointment this week by Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian president, of Megawati Sukarnoputri to manage the day-to-day affairs of the cabinet.

Many of the faction leaders, irate at Mr Wahid's aloof management style during his 10-month rule, felt they had scored a victory by forcing the president to hand over to the populist vice- president. Yet Mr Wahid, famous for his political agility, has been able to turn a defeat into a strategic withdrawal.

By appointing the inexperienced and untested Mrs Megawati to handle Indonesia's many crises, Mr Wahid has managed to preserve his hold over the presidency -- though he may have weakened the office itself.

The scope of Mrs Megawati's new appointment is still the subject of heated debate in party backrooms at Indonesia's parliament. Just how much autonomy she will be given has not been made clear. Mr Wahid has made it clear that he will retain final say over many decisions under Indonesia's 1945 wartime constitution, which grants wide-ranging power to the executive.

"Gus Dur [Mr Wahid's nickname] has given her the head, but kept his finger on the tail," said Eros Djarot, a former adviser close to Mrs Megawati. In passing on some powers, Mr Wahid has managed to take the sting out of the myriad criticisms levelled at him.

"Abdurrahman Wahid is showing his true colours as a democrat," says Bondan Gunawan, former cabinet secretary and friend of the president. After much criticism from parliament, which makes up over two-thirds of the MPR, pressure was growing in the rank and file of many of the parties in Mr Wahid's coalition to move towards impeaching the president or curbing his powers.

Mr Wahid, whose party controls only about 10 per cent of the MPR, rules with the help of a shaky coalition of parties, including nationalists, Muslims, and Suharto-era appointees.

Tensions between Mr Wahid and several rival parties reached a peak on Monday night when leaders rejected the president's proposal to appoint his choice as chief minister in charge of running the cabinet.

Mr Wahid was cornered. The two largest parties in the MPR, Mrs Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), and Golkar, linked with former president Suharto, and five minor ones urged him to pass on more powers to the vice-president.

Mr Wahid can now claim to have bowed to the wishes of the legislature, while maintaining his hold on office. Meanwhile, Mrs Megawati has been given responsibility for solving Indonesia's many crises, including steering the country to economic recovery and quelling regional rebellions.

Although she has been active in politics since 1987, Mrs Megawati's critics claim her main qualification is her pedigree as daughter of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno. Her years spent as florist and homemaker are prominent in her resume.

Muslim parties who opposed her nomination as president in October 1999 accuse her of being aloof and inarticulate with little intellectual grasp over policy. Indeed, her views on many policy issues are little known as she often refuses to speak to the media. Many senior PDI-P members say that as de facto head of government Mrs Megawati's role would be to provide a strong mantle of legitimacy.

Aides also say she understands the importance of delegating tasks in areas in which she is weak. "But whatever my failings are, they are surely better than this," she told friends recently, referring to Mr Wahid's cabinet management.

The promised cabinet reshuffle, and the respective influences of Mr Wahid and Mrs Megawati, is of crucial importance. "Can she appoint a professional team, or will she give the jobs to cronies?" says Andy Mallarengeng, a political scientist. Both Mr Wahid and Mrs Megawati have agreed in principle to ministers selected as managers or economists rather than for party allegiances.

Financial markets have initially welcomed the news of a political accord and a possible end to cabinet bickering. But the new appointment has not changed the political landscape of Indonesia's parliament and number of parties competing for influence and ministerial portfolios.

Some Megawati aides fear she will be caught between the president, and the Golkar party whom she relies on to defy Mr Wahid. These questions will dominate the final week of this session of the MPR, which finishes next Friday. "The game has only just begun," says Mr Djarot. "That is Gus Dur's cleverness."

It's Wahid against Megawati in political tug-of-war

Washington Post - August 12, 2000

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Jakarta -- Shortly after taking office in the autumn, President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is nearly blind, quipped to group of visitors in the presidential palace that he and his taciturn vice president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, made "the best team". "I can't see," Mr. Wahid chortled, "and she can't speak."

For the first 10 months of his presidency, the joke was true enough. Mrs. Megawati, 53, the populist daughter of Indonesia's founding father, Sukarno, stayed in the political shadows, avoiding policy debates and government administration. Out of choice and Mr. Wahid's insistence, she was relegated to ribbon- cutting events and other ceremonial duties.

Now, faced with mounting parliamentary criticism of his disorganized and impulsive leadership style, Mr. Wahid is thrusting Mrs. Megawati into a new role. In a concession to fend off legislators who are pushing for his ouster, the president said he would relinquish responsibility for the day-to-day operations of his government to his vice president.

The announcement immediately elicited cheers from legislators. But now, many legislators, political analysts and ordinary Indonesians are wondering just how much responsibility the president intends to hand over, and whether Mrs. Megawati will be able to do a better job than Mr. Wahid of shepherding the unwieldy bureaucracy of the world's fourth most-populous country.

"This move creates more questions than answers," said Kusnanto Anggoro, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research organization in Jakarta. "Will she be able to name her own cabinet? What sort of authority will she have? None of this is clear."

Sorting out such issues is of paramount importance to Indonesia, which is struggling to embrace democracy after more than three decades of authoritarian rule while simultaneously coping with lingering effects of the Asian financial crisis, separatist rebellions and escalating sectarian violence.

No matter what their political stripe, almost everyone here agrees that strong leadership from the top is the first step in fixing Indonesia's ills.

Already, Mr. Wahid, Mrs. Megawati and their rival political parties are bickering over just how such a power-sharing arrangement will work. Mrs. Megawati's supporters, for instance, want her new role to be codified in legislation, worrying that Mr. Wahid's promised presidential decree could be revoked with one signature. They also want her to have authority to select cabinet members and determine set policy objectives. Mr. Wahid's backers contend that a law spelling out her expanded duties would be unconstitutional, and that the president isn't really going to give up any of his authority over issues as important as making cabinet appointments.

Speaking at a religious gathering in Jakarta on Friday, Mr. Wahid appeared to back away from his earlier announcement, saying that he would not confer any new powers upon Mrs. Megawati. "The division of labor between the president and the vice president has been misunderstood," Mr. Wahid said. "What has been given is not power but tasks. The power is still in the president's hands."

Mr. Wahid then said he would not accept any parliamentary decree spelling out a division of labor. In response, legislative leaders said Mr. Wahid risked a new confrontation with Parliament next week.

"If it's only a presidential decree, he can change his mind at any time," said Eros Djarot, a former top adviser to Mrs. Megawati who is still close to her. He said she and leaders of her political party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, were pushing for her to have broad authority. "If he is selecting the cabinet and she is running the government, can you imagine what kind of mess it's going to be?" he asked.

Political insiders also question just how close the relationship between Mr. Wahid and Mrs. Megawati really was. Although the president remarked in his state of the nation speech that he and Mrs. Megawati have been "as older brother and younger sister for many years," tensions between the two date back to October. Although Mrs. Megawati's party won a plurality of votes cast in the parliamentary election last year, Mr. Wahid, whose party only got 10 percent of the vote, managed to outmaneuver her in assembling a coalition to support his presidential bid.

Since then, the relationship has continued to deteriorate. He has made jokes about her rumored extramarital affairs, and in the spring he fired one of her closest confidants and chief economic adviser, Laksamana Sukardi, the minister of state enterprises. Later, in a move that further alienated his vice president, Mr. Wahid accused Mr. Laksamana of corruption without providing any evidence.

Today, say well placed political sources, the two barely talk. Mrs. Megawati even refused to read Mr. Wahid's state of the nation speech to Parliament on Monday. "It's hard to imagine them working together," one source said. "She feels like he has stabbed her in the back."

In fact, Mr. Wahid initially did not want to confer the responsibilities on Mrs. Megawati. Instead, he wanted to create a new post of "first minister" that would have run the cabinet and reported directly to him, but Mrs. Megawati's party, which controls the largest number of seats in the Parliament, objected to the move, fearing it would dilute her power.

To force Mr. Wahid to accede to her wishes, Mrs. Megawati has done the politically unthinkable in Indonesia, forming an alliance between her party, which was the most prominent opposition group during the rule of former president Suharto, and the Golkar party, Mr. Suharto's onetime political machine. Officials on both sides, however, play down the rapprochement as a temporary move to pressure Mr. Wahid.

But Mrs. Megawati's critics question her poor record in handling of the one big issue Mr. Wahid entrusted to her: ending the religious fighting in the Moluccas.

Power shift brings momentary relief, new doubts

The Wall Street Journal - August 11, 2000

Jay Solomon, Jakarta -- Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri's appointment to manage the Indonesian government's daily business has calmed legislators who feared political gridlock if President Abdurrahman Wahid didn't overhaul his beleaguered administration.

Now many Indonesians are asking: Can the 53-year-old daughter of Indonesia's founding father, Sukarno, run this problem-plagued country any better than the poorly organized and ineffective Mr. Wahid? Megawati Sukarnoputri Indonesia's currency and stock market strengthened modestly Thursday in response to Ms. Megawati's appointment. And the first casualty of a cabinet shake-up promised by Mr. Wahid appeared: Senior Economic Minister Kwik Kian Gie announced he would step down later this month.

But Ms. Megawati's new role -- forced on Mr. Wahid by a rebellious Parliament -- raises fresh questions about the structure and stability of Indonesia's political system, which is struggling to evolve after more than three decades of authoritarian rule under former President Suharto. For one thing, government officials and legislators must figure out just how a Wahid-Megawati power-sharing arrangement will work and what its legal basis will be. Aides to Ms. Megawati talked, for example, about giving the vice president a free hand in making cabinet appointments and setting policy objectives. But no formal description of her duties and powers has been disclosed.

Uneasy Relationship A bigger concern is whether Ms. Megawati can handle her new management role, which Mr. Wahid announced Wednesday at a session of Indonesia's supreme legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly.

Reserved, conservative and not known for her administrative skills, Ms. Megawati failed in her 10 months as vice president to generate much confidence in her governing abilities. More over, her once-close relationship with Mr. Wahid has grown increasingly uneasy. Aides say Ms. Megawati now harbors a deep distrust of the near-blind Islamic leader because she feels he betrayed her in several political maneuvers over the past year.

Abdurrahman Wahid

That Ms. Megawati has grown restless as Indonesia's No. 2 isn't surprising, her confidantes say, considering how she got the job. As chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, Ms. Megawati ran a populist campaign that captured the plurality of votes cast -- 34% -- in last year's parliamentary election. She was widely expected to emerge as Indonesia's leader when the People's Consultative Assembly met in October to elect a president. But last minute politicking by Ms. Megawati's opponents, who recruited Mr. Wahid as their presidential candidate, denied her the post, sowing the seeds of her distrust toward Mr. Wahid.

Driving home from the Parliament building after losing the presidential vote, Ms. Megawati told former PDI-P executive Eros Djarot that "my brother has stabbed me in the back," in reference to Mr. Wahid. Ms. Megawati agreed to take the vice-presidential job only after intense lobbying by her PDI-P colleagues and the Indonesian military, which feared popular unrest if she was left out of the new government.

Once in office, Mr. Wahid presented Ms. Megawati with largely ceremonial tasks, while making jokes about her well-known reluctance to speak in public. Her days have typically consisted of officiating at an endless stream of art exhibits, diplomatic functions, and ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Ambassadors, ministers and religious leaders occasionally visit her at the colonial-era vice-president's residence in Jakarta to discuss affairs of state. But Ms. Megawati has had little role in any weighty decision-making. (Ms. Megawati didn't respond to requests to be interviewed for this article.) Mr. Wahid did delegate one daunting task to his deputy: He asked Ms. Megawati to try to calm the sectarian and separatist unrest afflicting the provinces of Maluku and West Papua in eastern Indonesia. Ms. Megawati's father championed the idea of a unified, though pluralistic, Indonesian state, and she was seen as the symbol that could potentially bridge the differences among rival religious and ethnic groups in the troubled provinces. Need for 'Concrete Action' But Ms. Megawati's and the government's failure to bring stability to these regions has only deepened the divide between the nation's top two leaders, her aides say. In Maluku, violence intensified early this year, despite a trip by Ms. Megawati to the province. Ms. Megawati visited religious leaders, and was seen crying at churches and mosques damaged by rioters. But her failure to provide a coherent plan to address the problem upset many Indonesians caught up in the violence. "We don't need tears, but peace and concrete actions," says Hilal Thalib, of the Laskar Jihad Islamic group.

One bloodbath in the island of Halmahera at the end of last year coincided with a trip to Hong Kong by the vice president and her family. That fueled protests by Islamic groups angry at Ms. Megawati's apparent insensitivity to the turmoil. In one demonstration, 600 students, clad in white turbans, cried "Allahu Akbar" -- "God is Great" -- and demanded Mr. Wahid remove her from her assignment. "She needs to become more serious in dealing with the problems in Maluku," says T. B. Abdurrahman, a student who helped organize the rally.

Ms. Megawati privately seethed at such criticism because she felt Mr. Wahid had set her up to fail. Ms. Megawati has told confidantes that she wanted to order the arrests of rogue army troops in the affected provinces to restore order, but was given no authority to do so. "This makes me look incompetent," Ms. Megawati told one visitor to her Jakarta home recently. She has asked for a letter from Mr. Wahid giving her more power to deal with the Maluku violence but has yet to receive one.

The two leaders have also differed sharply on how to handle calls for independence in West Papua province, formerly known as Irian Jaya. Mr. Wahid has adopted a lenient tone in responding to the secessionist threat there. He allowed the West Papuans to hoist their own flag across the province. Ms. Megawati opposed the move, contending that this would fuel the separatist movement. "She feels vindicated on this issue," says an acquaintance, because the West Papuans have escalated their demands for independence.

Now, estranged, Ms. Megawati and Mr. Wahid barely communicate when they meet, aides to both leaders say. Meetings arranged for the two to mend their differences usually deteriorate into small talk about the weather, new clothes or food. "They are both from Java," says a chief adviser to Mr. Wahid. "They don't want to look each other in the eye." Publicly, Mr. Wahid plays down their differences. Ms. Megawati's refusal to read Mr. Wahid's so-called accountability speech to the People's Consultative Assembly Monday, was shrugged off by the 60-year-old Islamic scholar. "Megawati and myself have differences, but that doesn't mean we can't work together," Mr. Wahid told the 700-member assembly.

'First minister' plan is rejected

But a movement to undercut Mr. Wahid was already afoot. Going into this week's assembly session, aides to the president were pushing a plan to install a "first minister" to better manage the government's day-to-day operations. In particular, they wanted to name Lt. Gen. Bambang Yudhoyono -- the minister of mines and energy -- to the post.

Ms. Megawati's supporters shot the plan down. "Why should we accept this, as it's an insult to Megawati?" says Laksamana Sukardi, her chief economic adviser and the minister of state enterprises before Mr. Wahid sacked him last April. "Why should we trust the president anymore?" This week, Ms. Megawati's PDI-P formed an alliance with other political parties critical of Mr. Wahid -- including the party of former President Suharto, Golongan Karya -- to pressure the president to give Ms. Megawati responsibility for managing the government's daily affairs. Under the new arrangement, Mr. Wahid is to function as a kind of head of state, with hands-on responsibility only for foreign relations. Many lawmakers said the message to Mr. Wahid was quite stark: Do this now or risk being impeached later.

Having won their confrontation with Mr. Wahid, Ms. Megawati's aides are now trying to cobble together an effective team to help administer the country. One step in that direction was the resignation of Mr. Kwik, the senior economic minister, which was announced Thursday.

"We'll focus on judicial and economic reforms and insuring security," said Mr. Sukardi, who is likely to serve as an adviser to Ms. Megawati. But he also added the exact form of the new administrative setup "isn't clear yet." -- Staff reporter Puspa Madani and special correspondent Rin Hindryati in Jakarta contributed to this article.

Power to these people

Sydney Morning Herald - August 12, 2000

Indonesia is in a mess, but President Wahid's latest attempts to ease the turmoil have backfired. Lindsay Murdoch reports.

Indonesia is rumbling. And the political tremors are more alarming to the country's 210 million people than the infrequent earthquakes that shake Jakarta's high-rise buildings.

Soldiers, by one estimate 26,000 of them, are back in force on the streets of the capital for the first time in months, camped out in public parks and government compounds. They have orders to shoot rioters on sight.

Abdurrahman Wahid created shockwaves of his own this week in the capital's Parliament, where 700 elected and appointed members of the People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR, are holding their annual two-week meeting.

The President of the world's fourth most populous nation told the stony-faced audience how the "dangerous symptoms and flow of national disintegration are getting stronger".

"The prime problem we face during the period of transitional reign is ... national disintegrating symptoms resulting from primordial social conflicts, the birth of separatist movements in some regions and also growing actions of anarchy and criminal activities among members of the society, followed up by violent demonstrations," he said.

"All of these give rise to and increase the feeling of insecurity. Enthusiasm to invest has dropped, unemployment increased, social prosperity dropped drastically, especially in the riot-laden regions ..."

Few world leaders have delivered such a grim assessment of their own country. But instead of "facing the national problem for the sake of our beloved people", as Wahid asked, the country's politicians replied with a torrent of criticism, some of it personal, and in some cases with plots to bring him down.

Wahid, regarded as a master tactician, moved quickly to take the sting out of the criticisms by promising to devolve the daily government administration to the popular Vice-President, Megawati Sukarnoputri. But this only sparked more political intrigue, backroom plotting and uncertainty.

Can the 54-year-old daughter of Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno, run the country any better than Wahid? She has so far shown little administrative skills. She harbours deep distrust of the President and has until now performed largely ceremonial tasks for the Government.

Wahid is pushing ahead with a plan to appoint the retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as co-ordinating minister in a new, cut-back Cabinet. Wahid's idea is that Yudhoyono would report daily to Megawati, who would then confer frequently with the President, whose authority remains undiluted. But nobody seems to know exactly how Megawati views the proposed arrangement.

Yudhoyono has been named as a suspect in the July 27, 1996, violent takeover of the then Jakarta headquarters of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. More than 20 of Megawati's supporters are believed to have been killed in the attack. Yudhoyono was the Jakarta military command's chief of staff at the time. "The choice of Yudhoyono is not exactly a subtle one by the President," says a Western analyst. "How long do you think any relationship with Megawati would last?"

Many politicians are questioning how the arrangement would work. They are also questioning whether Wahid would refrain from meddling with Megawati's decisions.

Wahid this week described his relationship with Megawati as being like brother and sister. But Megawati has been quoted as telling one of her advisers that "my brother stabbed me in the back" -- a reference to her losing bid for the presidency last year after winning 34 per cent of the vote at national elections.

Wahid seemed to think that not much at all had changed this week, while most commentators took his statements to mean he was becoming a figurehead leader, taking an interest only in foreign affairs while he wandered the world. As usual, Indonesians have been left guessing while the country's myriad problems worsen.

Wahid's Government has effectively collapsed pending a Cabinet reshuffle to be announced after the MPR ends its session on Friday. The chief economics minister, Kwik Kian Gie, resigned on Thursday, a serious blow to efforts to grapple with fundamental economic problems.

The economy continues to struggle. While a consumer-led recovery is likely to see Indonesia meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank predictions of 4 per cent growth this year, the recovery remains extremely patchy.

Exports are up strongly, boosted by good oil prices, and areas with strong agricultural economies have suffered little through the country's two-year crisis. The problems are worst in Java itself -- crammed with 60 per cent of the population and little of the country's vast natural resources -- where unemployment is endemic.

Indonesia's finances are in a shocking state. The country's total external debt, which includes government and private-sector, is $US144 billion ($250 billion). Indonesia now ranks as the most deeply indebted major country in the world. It will not be able to recover for decades.

The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), tasked with selling off $US80 billion of assets pledged by bankrupt business in repayment of debts, is embarking on a high-profile international promotion drive to interest investors. But who is going to invest in a country facing dire problems outlined by its own president?

So far the agency has been able to meet targets set by the IMF, but any slowdown in asset sales and debt restructuring will see interest payments on the debt it has absorbed undo the value it has delivered so far.

Political tensions have been on the rise across the country for weeks. Hanging over the heads of the population was the threat of a new confrontation between Wahid's supporters and his opponents should an attempt be made to force him out of office.

Grave fears exist that any mass demonstrations would be used as a cover for disgruntled elements of the military or wealthy businesspeople loyal to former president Soeharto to provoke widespread instability. Soeharto has been charged with corruption and is likely to be put on trial within weeks.

There are other, even more potentially explosive issues emerging that may threaten the country's future. A group of Islamic-based parties has proposed the inclusion in the Constitution of what is known as the Jakarta Charter. Originally discussed in the early years of the republic as an integral part of the Constitution, the charter states that Muslim citizens of Indonesia should be subject to Islamic law.

While the charter did not in any way suggest that non-Muslims should be subject to the rigorous system of law -- in which thieves' arms are chopped off and adulterers are stoned to death -- Christians and other non-Muslims regarded it as a threat to their safety as minorities.

The founders of Indonesia eventually rejected inclusion of the charter. Christians regarded the move as a de facto bid to declare Indonesia a Muslim state. "If this is passed, Indonesia will split apart," warns a Christian politician, who asked that his name be withheld. "We cannot accept this."

Realising the issue is highly dangerous for the country, the Government has been working hard behind the scenes to block it. Wahid's National Awakening Party, Megawati's party and Golkar, the former ruling party, have agreed to reject the charter in a deal that has left Amien Rais, the Speaker of the MPR and one of Wahid's fiercest critics, out in the cold.

Ironically, it was Rais who last October patched together a "central axis" coalition between the Muslim parties that took Wahid to victory over Megawati.

While the elite continues to squabble over the division of the political spoils, most ordinary Indonesians are seriously concerned about the fate of their nation. Many are particularly worried at the way religion is emerging as a factor to divide rather than unite the nation.

"Religion is supposed to be something that concerns an individual and his or her relationship with God," says one Jakarta taxi driver. "Now it is being used as a vehicle for hatred."

The Maluku islands are increasingly being turned into a hardline Muslim enclave, with Christian communities being attacked by Muslim "warriors" from across the country, often supported by elements of the military. Tensions are escalating in areas with sizable Christian communities.

Keeping the Jakarta Charter out of the Constitution might have given some room for relaxation, but ultimately the ability or willingness of the Government to deal with problems such as those in the Maluku islands may decide the future of Wahid's Government.

It remains unclear what type of democracy is emerging in the country after three decades of corrupt authoritarian rule. The MPR is debating direct presidential elections when Wahid's term expires in 2004. Debate is also raging about the establishment of impeachment procedures and the role of the military in domestic affairs. The decisions made will be crucial to the new Indonesia.

Wahid remains in charge for now but who can predict for how long? Politicians are showing no sign of cutting him any slack despite Indonesia's problems having been inherited from Soeharto's 32- year regime. The country remains about where it was when Wahid took over last October -- a mess.

In his speech to the MPR this week the President pledged the Government's resolve and determination to solve the country's crises, to safeguard national integrity and implement reforms "no matter how dreadful the problems and challenges we are confronting".

MPR scolded for its reluctance to end military representation

Jakarta Post - August 12, 2000

Jakarta -- The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) became the latest organization on Friday to criticize the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for its reluctance to end military and police representation in the legislative body.

Foundation vice chairman Munir cited the use of ambiguous language about the Indonesian Military (TNI)'s legislative role in the draft amendment to the 1945 Constitution as evidence of the Assembly's inability to bring the military's political role to an end.

"There are strong indications of the revitalization of the New Order and opportunistic behavior by civilian politicians in the MPR. These will lead to betrayal of the vision and the mission of reform movement," Munir said in a statement. The statement was also signed by the coordinator of the National Law Reforms Consortium, Trianto Subiakto.

The draft amendment states: "TNI members do not have the right to vote or to be elected. Their participation in determining the direction of national policies is channeled through the MPR." Many suspect the draft opens up the possibility for the military to retain its seats in the Assembly because it also states: "The Assembly members comprise of elected members and interest group representatives, who because of their duties and functions can not exercise voting rights." The 1945 Constitution itself does not touch upon the military's political role. The TNI/National Police faction currently has 38 seats in the Assembly.

The 11 factions in the Assembly have refrained from using strong words when expressing their views about the issue, despite mounting public demands to abandon military representation in the legislative body. "The MPR's decision has victimized the principles of democracy and human rights for short-term political interests," Munir commented on the 11 factions' attitude.

Rainbow Cabinet loses its shine

Agence France-Presse - August 11, 2000

Jakarta -- President Abdurrahman Wahid's "rainbow" Cabinet is losing its lustre. Other than yesterday's resignation of top Economics Minister Kwik Kian Gie, five other ministers have resigned or been dismissed from the Cabinet.

The "rainbow" Cabinet was formed at the onset of President Abdurrahman's rule nine months ago to accommodate the main political parties who helped vote him in as the country's first democratically elected President. Critics had said that because Cabinet members were constrained by the interests of their respective parties, they had been unable to work effectively.

The critics, including some in the legislature, had targeted the Cabinet's economic team, saying they lacked a clear vision of how to restore the economy. They said government policies in the economic sector had been erratic and not based on long-term considerations.

Economics Minister Kwik said he had resigned to allow the President a free hand to reshuffle the Cabinet. President Abdurrahman said in a progress report to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Monday that he was planning a Cabinet reshuffle, but did not give an exact date.

The President also announced that he would be leaving the day-to-day running of the Cabinet to Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the head of the Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle (PDI-P), of which Mr Kwik is a prominent member.

The Cabinet reshuffle had been called for by the President's political opponents, who charged the government with not having a unified vision on how to handle the economy in the country's drive to overcome the crippling financial crisis which has hit Indonesia since mid-1997.

The ministers who left included former welfare minister Hamzah Haz, who resigned to concentrate on leading his party, the United Development Party. President Abdurrahman dismissed Trade and Industry Minister Yusuf Kalla and Investment and State Enterprise Minister Laksamana Sukardi in April.

General Wiranto, Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs, was suspended following charges by the national human rights commission that he was partly responsible for the post- ballot violence in East Timor. He later resigned. State Secretary Ali Rachman also resigned.

Few want Islamic Law in Constitution

Straits Times - August 11, 2000

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- A proposed article in the Constitution that stipulates the implementation of the Islamic Law for Indonesian Muslims has received little support from legislators in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

The article on religion, proposed by two Islamic factions in the Assembly, contains the clause "obligation to adhere to the Islamic Law for Muslims" and is one of a number of articles in the Constitution that will be amended during the MPR 10-day annual session.

At an MPR plenary session yesterday, both the United Development Party (PPP) and Crescent Star (PBB) factions -- which between them hold 367 seats in the 700-strong Assembly -- maintained they would fight for the proposed clause during the five-day deliberation that starts today.

But three major parties -- the Indonesian Democratic Party- Perjuangan (PDI-P), Golkar and Nation Awakening Party (PKB) -- have resisted the article firmly, citing fears that it might complicate already-mounting problems in the mainly Muslim country.

Most of the other smaller factions have also expressed their objections. PDI-P said the current article on religion, which stipulates that "the country is based on the belief of one God" should be left as it is, because it had been agreed on by the founding fathers that this would serve as the ties that bind the multi-ethnicity country.

But the PPP said the founding fathers were going to include the article in the Constitution's preamble (known then as the Jakarta Charter) before it was scratched at the last minute.

Referring to opponents of the proposed article, the PPP's Zainuddin Isman told the Assembly yesterday: "Why do they always manipulate the history and assume that if Muslims want the inclusion of the Islamic Law in the Constitution it will pose a threat to the country?"

The proposed article "will not make the country a religious nation but will certainly prevent it from becoming secular, while giving firm legitimacy to the creation of public law for the Muslims".

The PBB backed PPP's proposal, saying the Islamic Law would encourage good deeds and fight vice and immorality in the country. Noted PBB spokesman Hamdan Zoelva: "It is one of the solutions to the nation's moral decadence." As it will only be applied to the Muslims, the Islamic Law would never "marginalise followers of other religions", he added.

But stronger objection had also come from outside the Parliament complex. Yesterday, a group of Muslim leaders, led by the country's largest Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) organisation, said they feared the article would interfere with people's freedom to practise their religion. NU executive Masdar Masudi told a press briefing: "Such intervention will distort religious practices and politicise religions for the short-term purposes of political parties that are currently in the power or are struggling to take over the power."

Aside from "encouraging hypocrisy", he said the proposed article had the potential to further disintegrate the country. "It will return the old suspicions by the non-Muslims that we are going to become a Muslim country," he said. "Religion should be a source of inspiration, not aspiration for political cause."

Both the PBB and PKB said they would like Assembly members to vote if they could not reach a consensus on the issue, an idea that appalls other legislators. Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said: "Clauses that are controversial and sensitive should not be decided by voting."

[The Jakarta Charter is the draft of the preamble of the 1945 Constitution. The original wording was: "The State is based on the belief of God and adherence to the Islamic Law for Muslims." A last-minute revision saw the elimination of the last seven words to read: "The State is based on the belief of one God." What some legislators want now is to add these seven words missing from the original draft to article 29 in the Constitution on religion - James Balowski.]

More political chaos likely as split appears

Australian Financial Review - August 9, 2000

Tim Dodd, Jakarta -- Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid is a politician who thrives on chaos. Remember how he disposed of General Wiranto early this year.

He contradicted himself, created red herrings and laid false trails in two weeks of shadow boxing with Wiranto which made headlines around the world. Finally, Wahid said the general could stay. Then, when Wiranto thought himself safe, he sacked him.

The confusion is part of the Wahid style which gets opponents off balance long enough to topple them. Now chaos promises to rule again and this time it may be beyond even Wahid's ability to rescue something from the confusion.

In secret negotiations in a Jakarta hotel on Monday night six parties representing an overwhelming majority of the People's Consultative Assembly agreed to try to turn Wahid into a figurehead President. They want him to function as the Head of State while Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri will be take over as the head of government, in effect as prime minister.

If the threat is carried through Wahid will have little choice. The assembly is the body which elected him and which has the power to sack him. And among its members there is a wave of dissatisfaction with his presidency and a determination that his powers should be curtailed. This ultimatum to Wahid follows the failure of a rearguard action to defend his power.

In recent weeks Wahid let it be known that he would appoint a first minister, or prime minister, to run day-to-day affairs at the head of a new Cabinet. Two names were canvassed, both Wahid allies -- the Mines and Energy Minister, former General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the State Secretary, Marsilam Simanjuntak.

But neither was embraced by the numerous factions in the assembly. In particular Megawati, according to her supporters, saw the Wahid plan as a challenge to her authority. Earlier this year Wahid promised that Megawati would act as a prime minister but the promise was not fulfilled and she was unwilling to see the task go to someone else.

It is a measure of the dissatisfaction with Wahid that every major political party, except his own National Awakening Party, has backed the plan to put the real political power in the hands of Megawati. Even the Muslim parties, which blocked Megawati from becoming president last October, are behind it.

Can it possibly work in practice? Megawati has never impressed with her political skills and it is impossible to imagine her running any more effective a government than Wahid has.

And unless Wahid genuinely co-operates with this ultimatum, which is very unlikely, the only way to make the Government work smoothly will be to hold another meeting of the assembly, a so- called "special session", to sack him. Or it could pass major amendments to the Constitution to formalise the new arrangement permanently by emasculating the powers of the presidency.

It is still possible the demand from the six parties is just a bargaining ploy to force Wahid to accept more minor concessions, and will not be seen through to its conclusion. If the parties are serious, they also risk provoking major rioting in Jakarta when thousands of members of the Banser, the paramilitary force which supports Wahid, rally to him.

Signs of a rift between Wahid and Megawati, long time friends who were once close political allies, have been evident recently. Reliable reports say that Megawati refused to read Wahid's speech to the assembly on Monday. Because of Wahid's blindness, Megawati customarily reads his important speeches. But in this case she declined, saying she was unhappy with the content. She was also absent from Wahid's 60th birthday party last Friday.

Last week Wahid was scrambling to shore up his support and courted Lieutenant-General Agus Widjojo, a key army figure who is close to Megawati. He gave General Widjojo a boost by sacking his main rival, Lieutenant-General Agus Wirahadikusumah, from his post as the head of Kostrad, the army's reserve.

General Wirahadikusumah, the military's strongest reform voice who had revealed a $33 million army corruption scandal, was sent to a non-job even though he was previously a strong Wahid ally. And General Widjojo joined Wahid's team which was writing the speech he gave to Parliament on Monday.

In the event, nothing headed off the ultimatum delivered yesterday. If it is carried through, Indonesia is in for more political chaos.

Last year, before Wahid was elected President in October, his younger brother and political fix-it man Hasyim Wahid told one political observer that any government which had his brother and Megawati in the top two jobs would be the most kacau (chaotic) ever seen. He was right in a way that he may not have foreseen.

A chronology of Wahid's first nine months in power

Agence France-Presse - August 9, 2000

Jakarta -- The following is a brief chronology of the main events in Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's nine months in power.

Wahid announced Wednesday that he would hand day-to-day running of the government to vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Oct 20: Wahid, a moderate Muslim scholar, is elected president by the 700-strong People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), defeating Megawati Sukarnoputri in a ballot. Megawati's defeat sparked angry reactions from her supporters, who rampaged on the streets as soon as the result was known.

Oct 21: Megawati elected vice president by the MPR, ending rioting by her supporters.

Oct 26: Wahid's choice of a 35-member "rainbow" or "unity" cabinet, composed of members of parties that backed his election, elicits concern over its lack of cohesion and professionalism.

Oct 27: The new government announces it will reopen a corruption probe into former president Suharto.

Nov 1: Wahid said he would pardon former president Suharto if he is found guilty of corruption.

Nov 4: Wahid said the rebellious Aceh province had the right to a referendum.

Nov 18: Wahid irked parliament when he likened legislators to kindergarten children during a session in which the president was asked to explain his decision to close two ministries.

Jan 17: Wahid said he would not tolerate any attempts by the military to topple his government.

Jan 23: Wahid expressed confidence that the problems in the country's major trouble spots, the province of Aceh and the Maluku islands, would be resolved by March.

Feb 1: Wahid, who was on a state visit to London, called on security minister Wiranto to resign from the cabinet immediately because of his involvement in East Timor violence.

Feb 13: Wahid removed General Wiranto as his security minister over his implication in East Timor violence, winning kudos for taming the military.

Feb 23: Top legislator Amien Rais assured Wahid that his presidency was not under threat.

Feb 24: The physically frail Wahid cancels all appointments after contracting influenza, sending jitters through the financial markets.

March 14: Wahid said some top military officers were conspiring to undermine his government.

April 24: Wahid orders two of his economic ministers to resign, citing disunity in his six-month old cabinet.

April 26: The Indonesian rupiah passes the 8,000-mark against the dollar as its free-fall continues following the political turmoil.

April 27: Leaders of the Indonesian parliament aired criticism of Wahid, including the abrupt dismissals of two ministers, but did not drop their support for his presidency.

May 10: The president's youngest brother, Hasyim Wahid, who has little relevant experience, appointed to join the bank restructuring agency, sparking accusations of cronyism.

May 12: Indonesia and separatist rebels in Aceh sign a truce.

May 24: Wahid asked police to arrest a man employed as his masseur for allegedly using his name to embezzle 35 billion rupiah (4.1 million dollars) in state funds

June 6: Wahid said his government did not recognize the legitimacy of a congress which declared the province of Irian Jaya independent from Indonesia.

June 15: Police said they would seek to question Wahid as a witness in a multi-million dollar embezzlement scam involving his masseur, despite his declared innocence in the case.

June 28: A parliamentary commission warned Wahid to put future overseas trips on hold because he had used up most of his annual travel allowance.

July 1: Wahid said that several MPs were behind the violent unrest and problems that have beset the country in the past two years.

July 4: Wahid denied press reports that he had ordered the police to arrest several MPs accused of stoking violence in the country.

July 4: A parliamentary commission said it would question Wahid's official medical team to determine the ramifications of his health problems and the team's competence.

July 13: Wahid said that he had no intention of running for a second term as leader of the world's fourth largest nation when his current term ends in

July 20: Wahid answered a summons from parliament, but refused to agree to demands for an explanation on why he fired two ministers in April, sparking widespread criticism.

July 21: Wahid apologized to parliament and said he would answer the questions he had refused to reply to on July 20, but only behind closed doors.

July 24: MPs decided to postpone the issuance of an opinion on Wahid's failure to explain the April sacking of two ministers, until after the annual session of the national assembly in August.

July 29: Thousands of people gathered in a sports stadium in the capital in a mass show of support for beleaguered Wahid and Megawati .

Aug 1: Wahid met the country's top politicians in a bid to ease political tension ahead of the MPR annual sesssion.

Aug 7: Wahid said during his address to the MPR annual session that he would reshuffle his cabinet and take a back seat after the national assembly completes the session later this month.

Aug 8: Wahid is flayed by MPs, who accused him of causing new problems through weak management during his nine months in office.

Aug 9: Wahid bowed to intense pressure and pledged to hand responsiblity for the day-to-day running of the government to Megawati.

Books on Communism hot sellers at MPR

Jakarta Post - August 9, 2000

Jakarta -- The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) may reject President Abdurrahman Wahid's call to revoke the 1965 decree prohibiting communism, but books on communism and leftist figures were the most popular sellers at a book kiosk on the Assembly compound.

Among the most popular books available were on Frederick Engels, Che Guevara and leftist national figure Tan Malaka. Novels written by Pramudya Ananta Toer, which were banned during the New Order era, are also well sought after.

"However most legislators buying these books usually order the books when our kiosk is not too crowded," said the attendant.

Indonesian president apologizes

Associated Presse - August 8, 2000

Geoff Spencer, Jakarta -- In an apologetic speech, President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday promised lawmakers he would prevent fierce sectarian and separatist conflicts from tearing Indonesia apart.

Admitting his shortcomings, the embattled Wahid pledged in a state of the nation address "to find out what we want for our country and what our country should be."

He defended the record of his 10 months in office and said he would do better. "To all the people of Indonesia, I humbly apologize for being unable to fully solve the prevailing problems during the last 10 months," Wahid said.

About 28,000 troops were on alert in case of street protests, but fears that Wahid's appearance at the 700-member Supreme Consultative Assembly would be met with hostility did not materialize at the opening of the 11-day forum.

Declaring a truce with nation's highest legislative body, Wahid -- who had been threatened with impeachment -- promised to "learn from my shortcomings and weaknesses" and said he would trim his ineffectual Cabinet.

Lawmakers applauded the apology that capped an 85-minute address read by an aide on behalf of the near-blind Wahid, who has been weakened by two strokes and diabetes.

"There will be no impeachment during this session," said Amien Rais, chairman of the assembly. But some lawmakers said later they were not satisfied by the speech, maintaining it lacked detail and did not address specific failings of Wahid's presidency.

Wahid has angered the two key political parties represented in his coalition government -- Suharto's former ruling Golkar Party and Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Democratic Party of Struggle -- by sacking some of their ministers.

He has also been criticized for not quelling separatist rebellions and sectarian conflicts among Muslims and Christians in the east and west of the country, which have killed thousands.

"In dealing with these problems, the government remains firm in its stand not to compromise, let alone to tolerate separatist movements in the country," Wahid told lawmakers.

He said he would concentrate on foreign policy and leave domestic policy details to others, fueling speculation that Wahid will soon create a prime minister-like post to run the Cabinet's business. A likely candidate for the job is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a US-educated, recently retired army general who is now mines and energy minister.

Last October, the assembly elected Wahid as president, sweeping away the remnants of the authoritarian era of Suharto, who is now under house arrest on charges of corruption. Like many Indonesians, Suharto uses one name.

At that time, Wahid's plans to push through ambitious democratic and economic reforms generated high expectations. While he has reined in the power of the military, a separatist war continues in western Aceh province while Muslims and Christians fight a religious war in the eastern Maluku islands. Irian Jaya, in western New Guinea, also wants to break away. Wahid has also failed to control militia groups in Indonesian West Timor who have launched border raids into UN-administered East Timor.

Gus Dur hoards his aces in a poker game of power

Straits Times - August 8, 2000

Jakarta -- The key turning point yesterday for seasoned observers was not so much the applause President Abdurrahman Wahid received from legislators for his two apologies, but the interjections from the floor even before he spoke.

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) must be allowed to make recommendations after hearing the president's progress report, one legislator insisted.

No, one of the president's men, a legislator from the Nation Awakening Party (PKB), shouted back, alive to the dangers of allowing a largely hostile MPR to tell Gus Dur how to govern. The standing rules say we can only hear his report.

Okay, what about we discuss his report then, a third legislator offered as a compromise. Done, discuss it we will, said Speaker Amien Rais and banged his gavel to end the mini-debate.

What sort of a sleight of hand was the move? A working group had already decided, in spite of the PKB, that each of the 11 factions would do an evaluation.

Recommend, discuss, evaluate -- the differences in nuances are small, but the end result is the same: When in session, the MPR is the highest body in the land and can choose to give the president a very hard time. "That was some clever orchestration," said a diplomat of the interjections."It made clear the relative weight of each party in the MPR."

Translation: Gus Dur's supporters have only 57, or 8.2 per cent, of the seats in the MPR. They will always be isolated if any motion comes to a vote unless they have a few of the bigger parties. With Gus Dur at the helm -- for the last 10 months -- the already baffling rules of the game could only become more so.

They are about to get cleared up as seasoned backroom operators show their mien: What parties like Golkar cannot get by way of popular support, they can obtain by fine-tuning the rules to cut down the president's executive powers in favour of the legislative branch. Impeachment is only the final, most extreme scenario.

It is a poker game played at many levels. At the most obvious is the legislative branch as the collective tool of several big parties chafing at being ridden roughshod over by a man who does not command formal majority support, who essentially rules at their pleasure but refuses to acknowledge he is beholden to them.

At the card-dealing level are party leaders and officials perhaps more interested in looking after their own interests than in breaking new ground in pushing parliamentary democracy to new levels.

They have delivered "extortionate demands" to the president in return for keeping their parties in line for the next 11 days, complained a Gus Dur aide. And some have not been coy in making clear they want control of profit-making state firms, either to keep them out of the hands of the PKB or to deliver them to their own parties.

As incumbent, and as Gus Dur the populist leader, Mr Abdurrahman has some aces. There is no alternative to him. So, while prepared to give the main parties some spoils of patronage in return for their giving him a stronger mandate to rule, complete with a majority sitting on the government benches in parliament, he reckons they are stuck with him.

If they do not give him another shot at ruling with a cabinet he can work with, rather than a compromise one he can blame for his ineffectiveness, do they dare risk a meltdown that could ultimately sweep all of them out of the people's house?

What is not so obvious is whether he realises the clock is ticking in either case. That if his new Cabinet cannot stay at least one step ahead of the public, then pressure will mount again. That not just the MPR, but the House of Representatives too, can take away his mandate.

And this time around, Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri just might step up as the leader of the largest party, with the Golkar stalwarts by her side.

If his performance yesterday is anything to go by, President Abdurrahman does at least appear to realise that antagonising the MPR could sound the death knell for his presidency. And that he does have some savvy political advisers in his two main speechwriters -- Mines Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyuno and Regional Autonomy Minister Ryaas Rasyid.

But confusing the picture is a list of 20 cabinet openings being peddled to key party leaders by his intermediaries. Sources who have seen it say he has filled only nine of them, the other 11 open to negotiations. But not all the nine names appear to meet the criteria of professional expertise being promised.

And perhaps most telling, despite his attempt to capitalise on the recent show of unity between him and other party leaders, Ms Megawati again declined to read his speech for him, removing herself as his shield. The next 11 days promise to deliver much excitement. Will a blind man blink first? Or does he need to?

Gus Dur gets more time

Straits Times - August 8, 2000

Robert Go, Jakarta -- The majority of Indonesia's legislators indicated yesterday that they would give President Abdurrahman Wahid more time to prove his ability to govern the trouble-ridden country. But they remained critical of the President's progress report in his long-awaited "state of the union address" at the national assembly.

Following Mr Abdurrahman's address, which was delivered yesterday by State Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak, leading members of the top legislature, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), complained that the President still lacked solutions and a firm vision for the country.

"The speech failed to address the problems that need to be handled by the government," said Mr Akbar Tandjung, Speaker of Parliament and chief of the Golkar party, the second strongest faction in the MPR with over 26 per cent of the 695 seats. "Instead it gave many justifications for the current administration's shortcomings," he criticised.

Ms Aisyah Aminy, a legislator from the United Development Party (PPP), took issue with how the report neglected to address many of the country's critical problems, including sectarian violence and calls for separatism from Aceh and West Papua. "What of the refugee issues and natural disaster relief efforts like in Poso, Maluku and Bengkulu?" she asked.

Mr Joko Susilo of the National Mandate Party (PAN), which organised the central axis Islamic coalition that pushed through Mr Abdurrahman's bid for the presidency last October, echoed his peers. "The President did not report progress, he just accounted for his government's activities over the last 10 months and gave too many excuses."

Underlining the disappointment felt by legislators, however, was a sense of resignation that Mr Abdurrahman still commands sufficient popular support to remain in office. "Gus Dur should be given another six months or so, beginning next month, to show change," said Golkar Chief Treasurer Fadel Muhammad.

Mr Sukowaluyo Mintorahardjo, from Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said: "The President has outlined the difficult reality of the situation. Progress is on the right track and the results require more time to be realised." At stake is how much room for manoeuvre Mr Abdurrahman's political rivals in the legislature will be willing to give him.

A Cabinet reshuffle has been promised soon after the end of the MPR session in two weeks and leaders of the political parties appear more willing to discuss the controversial proposal of including a "First Minister" to assist with the day-to-day running of government.

The President's supporters have indicated that the next Cabinet will be composed of professionals capable of turning the country around, but have warned the situation will not improve unless other political parties support recovery efforts.

Enigmatic reformer just getting started

South China Morning Post - August 7, 2000

Vaudine England -- The celebration was traditional, but Abdurrahman Wahid's 60th birthday party at the Cipanas presidential palace was not, perhaps, as reflective as it should have been.

His life to date suggests he is only now at the beginning of a self-styled mission to transform his fractious country into a tolerant, successful society. His critics see Mr Wahid's life as indicative of dynastic ambition and chaotic management style. His reply to threats to unseat him is: "Let them try."

Mr Wahid's story begins two generations ago in 1926 when his grandfather, Hasyim Ashari, founded the now 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama (Revival of Religious Scholars, or NU). This grouping of the Muslim masses, taught at traditional pesantren boarding schools, holds to a brand of conservative consensus- building in which democracy means unquestioning loyalty to local men of integrity.

Mr Wahid's father, Wahid Hasyim, Sukarno's religion minister, also chaired the NU, giving the young Mr Wahid the advantages of education in Baghdad, Cairo and the United States. Although in receipt of many awards and honorary degrees since, the young man failed to complete his formal studies in Muslim law.

He developed instead a penchant for politics, and a passion for soccer, Janis Joplin and the Dalai Lama, among other things. He is fluent in Javanese, Arabic, Dutch and English and renowned for his sense of humour.

By 1959, after completing middle school economics in Jogjakarta, Mr Wahid was back at the Tegal Rejo pesantren in Magelang, and then spent time at the Tambak Bellas pesantren in Jombang. Along the way he married the feminist and Muslim scholar Shinta Nuriyah, and had four daughters.

In 1984, Mr Wahid was elected chairman of the NU, a feat repeated three times since, despite opposition to his idiosyncratic ways both from within the NU and from then-president Suharto. Despite NU's traditional values, Mr Wahid is also a member of the Shimon Peres Peace Institute in Israel.

In 1990, with Suharto at the peak of his powers, Mr Wahid established the Forum Demokrasi, or Fordem, comprising leading intellectuals and reformists. The aim was to build momentum towards a peaceful political transition away from the military- backed and repressive New Order of Suharto.

Mr Wahid's chosen role was as conciliator and manipulator of people and perception. It does not always work. The joke now is that Fordem stands for "democracy, For Them".

His Byzantine ways finally produced his dramatic election win last October, with masterful last-minute alliance-building. Since then, his elite roots have shown through in what critics call his arrogance and attraction to a version of feudal or one-man democracy.

Mechanics of Indonesia's top legislature

Reuters - August 6, 2000

Jakarta -- Embattled Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's long-awaited accountability speech will be the main order of business on Monday at the country's top legislature, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Following are details of the 700- seat MPR, which will convene from August 7-18 at a cost of 25 billion rupiah ($2.9 million):

Besides Wahid's accountability speech, the MPR is expected to discuss a number of constitutional amendments.

Members will vote using electronic devices, which were ignored during a session last October that elected Wahid because of fears the equipment might have been tampered with.

Composition

The MPR comprises 500 members from a democratically-elected parliament and 200 regional and community representatives. Not all those 200 representatives belong to political parties. Only 695 MPR members have actually been sworn in.

Under former President Suharto's iron rule, the MPR met once every five years to appoint him unopposed and rubber stamp his policies. New regulations mean the newly-empowered MPR meets once a year to call the president to account for his performance. This will be the first of those annual sessions.

Seats of main parties in MPR

185 -- Nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) of Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri. 182 -- Former ruling Golkar party, led by parliamentary speaker Akbar Tandjung. 70 -- Moslem-oriented United Development Party (PPP), led by former government minister Hamzah Haz. 57 -- Moslem-oriented Nation Awakening Party (PKB) of President Wahid. 48 -- National Mandate Party (PAN) of MPR speaker Amien Rais and a smaller party that call themselves the Reform Faction. 38 -- Military and police appointees. 115 -- Collection of other parties and representatives.

Powers

Indonesia's highly centralised system of government gives the president wide powers to govern by decree, and ministers are directly appointed by the president. There have been suggestions some of those powers could be watered down by the parliament. But only the MPR has the authority to amend or make additions to the constitution. It also has ultimate authority to remove a president.

Possible constitutional amendments:

The MPR elects the president and vice president. Some MPR political factions want this to be by popular vote, which would require a constitutional change. Megawati's PDI-P has opposed such a motion, even though the vice-president is widely popular.
Establishing a prime ministerial system, which could be used to keep Wahid out of harms way.
Making clear the process for removing a president.
Making clear the president can come from any of Indonesia's ethnic groups, including the Chinese community. The current constitution can be interpreted to mean only ethnic Indonesians can hold the top post.
Adding references to a range of human rights that the state must guarantee.

The current constitution does not mention the central bank. There are two proposals being mooted to incorporate this, one that largely defines Bank Indonesia's current status as an independent institution.

However, the second refers to Indonesia having an independent central bank or other monetary authority. This could lead to the dissolution of Bank Indonesia and the emergence of a different authority to conduct monetary tasks.

Regional conflicts

Soldiers shoot Ambon rioters, at least 5 dead

Kyodo News - August 12, 2000

Jakarta -- Indonesian soldiers shot dead at least five people who defied warnings and attacked soldiers attempting to disperse Christian and Muslim mobs from a street in conflict-torn Ambon on Friday, Indonesia's state-run news agency Antara reported Saturday.

Malik Selang, a Muslim leader in Ambon, said five men died in the violence that broke out Friday night and 15 others were injured. "I warned them not to be emotional because if they turned brutal, they would face the security forces," Antara quoted him as saying.

Chief of the Maluku military command Brig. Gen. I Made Yasa defended his soldiers. He said the military was forced to shoot because the soldiers were being attacked with fire-bombs.

More than 3,000 people have died in violence that has pitted Christians against Muslims since January last year. The Malukus are now under a state of civil emergency in which the military can use deadly force when under threat.

Muslim mobs lynch two `spies' in Malukus

Associated Press - August 10, 2000

Jakarta -- Two Muslims accused of spying for Christian militias were lynched on Wednesday by Muslim mobs in the war-ravaged Ambon town.

One of the victims was hanged in front of the town's main mosque, while the other was beaten to death at the local seaport, said Mr Malik Selang, a spokesman for the Al-Fatah mosque in Ambon. He said the two victims were suspected to be paid spies for the Christian side.

Meanwhile, snipers shot dead one soldier and wounded another in Ambon on Monday, said a military spokesman. Maluku and nearby North Maluku provinces have been plagued by Muslim-Christian violence, which has claimed nearly 4,000 lives since January 1999.

Aceh/West Papua

Wahid agrees to extend Aceh truce

Associated Press - August 9, 2000 (abridged)

Jakarta -- President Abdurrahman Wahid has agreed to extend the cease-fire with separatist rebels in Aceh province for three more months, a Cabinet minister said Wednesday.

Representatives of the government and the Free Aceh Movement have been holding talks in Switzerland about extending the June 2 truce that was due to expire in September.

"The president has agreed to extend the humanitarian pause in Aceh and we hope that the Free Aceh Movement will agree with this too," said Human Rights Minister Hasballah Saad. The government hopes the rebels will respond by August 15, Saad added.

The truce has been marred by sporadic violence, and some 44 people have died in clashes. But it has ended the widespread bloodshed earlier in the year which left more than 300 people dead.

Kontras demands investigation into activist's disappearance

Detik - August 11, 2000

Nuruddin Lazuardi/Fitri & Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta -- The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, has demanded the Attorney General's office investigate the disappearance of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, the head of the International Forum for Aceh (IFA).

Kontras claim that Jafar's disappearance is inextricably linked to his activities in fighting for human rights in strife-torn Aceh. "The AG should give special consideration to the case by conducting an investigation on his disappearance because Jafar was the head of a consortium which continually concerned itself with human rights abuses," the head of Kontras's Advisory Board, Munir, told the press. He had just emerged from a meeting with AG Marzuki Darusman at his office today.

Jafar disappeared on Saturday 5 August 2000 during a visit to Medan to set up an NGO. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Munir also expressed Kontras' disappointment with the Bukit Barisan Military Area Commander who refused to meet and coordinate inquiries with Jafar's family. "We see it as a very uncooperative action," Munir said assertively.

From information gathered by Kontras, Munir stated that Jafar's disappearance is linked to his political activities. Dedicated to investigating and revealing human rights abuses to the public, Jafar had made certain quarters uneasy. Munir added this case is also tied to other instances of disappearances from Medan in recent months.

Munir added that he had also discussed the investigations into the Tanjung Priok incident with Marzuki. They have agreed to hold regular meetings between the AG, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and Kontras to investigate the case.

In the meeting, Munir suggested the AG alter standards in the investigation of the Tanjung Priok case to bring them into line with global standards. Kontras has also submitted several reports outlining the forgery of the identities of victims as well as the identities of those who carried out the massacre in the Tanjung Priok port area in 1984.

Megawati bad news for Papua independence hope

Kyodo News - August 10, 2000

Jackie Woods, Sydney -- A change in how the Indonesian government is managed, which will see Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri handle the bulk of domestic affairs, will exacerbate the already tense situation in Papua, a leading independence activist said Thursday.

A large buildup of troops over the last two days in the province, formerly Irian Jaya on the Indonesian side of New Guinea, is also of serious concern, said Otto Ondawame, Australian-based international spokesman for the Free Papua Movement (OPM).

Ondawame said Megawati's strong nationalist policies combined with her close ties to the Indonesian military are likely to result in a severe crackdown on the Papuan independence movement. 'Megawati is a new face but ... she is even more nationalistic and more intolerant than (President Abdurrahman) Wahid,' Ondawame said in an interview with Kyodo News.

Wahid announced Wednesday that in a wide-ranging government shake-up he will hand much of the responsibility for domestic affairs to Megawati while maintaining a figurehead role and responsibility for international affairs for himself.

Ondawame, one of 31 members of the West Papuan National Council responsible for negotiating with the Indonesian government, said that despite Megawati's background as a popular opposition figure to former President Suharto she does not have strong democratic credentials and since joining government has forged close ties with the former Suharto party Golkar and with the military.

'She actually was against Golkar before but now the military and Golkar and Megawati are hand in hand to restore the militarization in Indonesia. She's just a puppet for the others,' Ondawame said. He added a reported buildup of troops in Papua since Tuesday is an ominous development that could signal the beginning of a dramatic increase in violence.

Jacob Rumbiak, a Papuan academic living in Melbourne, said in a statement he had received a call early Wednesday morning from a church source in the western part of the province saying 6,500 special forces troops were deployed Tuesday across all of Papua's 13 regencies.

The deployment came just hours after the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) decided Tuesday to reject Papua's demands for independence and instead grant some autonomy, Rumbiak said. Ondawame described the current security situation in Papua as 'very, very serious.'

Adding to the instability are a proliferation of East Timor-style pro-Jakarta militias and an increase in hard-line Islamic activists arriving via the troubled Maluku Islands to inflame tensions between local Christians and Muslim settlers from other Indonesian islands, he said.

Ondawame estimated there are between 5,000 and 7,000 people operating in militias trained and armed by the Indonesian military. Indonesia has shown it is willing to use any means to crush independence and without international intervention the situation could deteriorate into a civil war, he warned.

Aceh army chief vows to minimize armed struggle

Agence France-Presse - August 9, 2000 (abridged)

Banda Aceh -- A separatist leader in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province has vowed to minimize the group's armed struggle and adopt more diplomatic means to achieve independence.

Abdullah Syafiie, charismatic army chief of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said a truce signed in May by the separatists and the Indonesian government constituted a partial victory for the rebels.

The GAM has fought a bitter guerrilla war against Jakarta's rule since 1976 for an independent Islamic state in Aceh, a resource- rich region on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

"Times have changed. Struggling by taking up arms is no longer fashionable," Syafiie was quoted by the Aceh-based Kontras weekly tabloid as telling his followers.

"We have to liberate Aceh through political and diplomatic means. With the signing of the memorandum of understanding in Switzerland, we have gained half of independence," he added, referring to the truce. He said GAM members would make up the future armed forces of an independent Aceh.

The struggle to achieve independence for Aceh was now largely conducted through diplomatic means with only scant use of arms "when necessary," he said, adding that Aceh would finally win independence. "Acehnese evicted Dutch colonizers in the past, why can't we now [defeat Indonesia]?" he said.

Jakarta and GAM held closed-door talks near Geneva Saturday and Sunday, saying in a joint statement that a decision on whether to extend the truce -- which expires September 2 and is officially called a "humanitarian pause" -- would be made before the end of August.

The two sides said they were "strongly inclined" to extend the accord, which came into force on June 2. The truce has reduced but not halted the violence in Aceh.

Each side has accused the other of violating the agreement, and records show that 34 people were killed and 72 others injured in the first three weeks after the accord came into effect on June 2.

US concerned over disappearance of Aceh activist

Agence France-Presse - August 9, 2000 (slightly abridged)

Jakarta -- The United States on Wednesday expressed "deep concern" over the sudden disappearance of a US-based human rights activist in the Indonesian city of Medan last Saturday.

A statement issued by the US embassy here said that the activist, Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, a permament resident of the United States and director of the New York-based International Forum on Aceh (AFA), was last seen in Medan on August 5.

"We understand that ... his family and friends have been unable to establish his whereabouts since he failed to appear for a scheduled meeting" the same evening, the statement said.

It said the embassy had made its concern known to the Indonesian government, police and military officials, and appealed for information on his whereabouts.

On Tuesday a member of Hamzah's family told AFP in the Acehnese capital of Banda Aceh that they feared he had been abducted. "Normally brother Jafar calls the family every two hours to inform us of his whereabouts," Hamzah's younger brother Jamaluddin said. "But since he finished meeting his friend at around 1am on Saturday, we have not heard from him. Our relatives in Medan have tried to look for him but we have not been able to find him. We are now really worried," he added.

Hamzah, a native of Lhokseumawe in North Aceh, campaigns for the redress of massive human rights abuses during 10 years of military operations against the Free Aceh (GAM) separatist rebel movement.

He returned to Aceh some two weeks ago to set up the Support Committee of Human Rights for Aceh (SCHRA), Jamaluddin said, adding that his brother had planned to stay in Aceh for one year.

Jamaluddin said he did not want to speculate as to Hamzah's possible kidnappers, but pleaded with any captors to release his brother. "What wrong has he done? [What] can cause his disappearance because his purpose of visiting Medan was only to meet old friends," Jamaluddin said.

Syarifuddin Bantasyam, the director of Forum of Human Rights Carein Banda Aceh, told AFP that Hamzah could have been kidnapped because of his vocal "international-level campaign" on killings and torture in Aceh.

Stone Age rebels risk wrath of Indonesia

The Observer (UK) - August 6, 2000

For 30 years, West Papua has been terrorised and plundered by its conquerors. Now the hill tribes are fighting back, reports Ian Williams

Erson Wenda stands on a ridge above the remote Baliem Valley, gesturing wildly with his arms, tears in his eyes. "The soldiers came from over there. They took people from my village, tying their hands, and brought them to these holes."

He bends forward, his hands behind him, re-enacting what happened when 11 of his terrified neighbours were shot and dumped into shallow graves on the ridge. A silent crowd gathers as he continues his story. A tribesman, wearing only a codpiece and feathers in his hair, stamps his spear and utters a deep moan. An old man in soiled shorts steps forward, pointing to bullet wounds in his thigh and foot.

Rain suddenly sweeps in across the valley, hammering on the tin- roof missionary's house at the foot of the ridge. Everyone scrambles for the shelter below. Erson's words now compete with rain on the tin roof: "They hacked the bodies before they threw them into the holes."

For the first time, the full horror of Indonesian rule in Irian Jaya (or West Papua, as Papuans prefer to call it) is emerging. For more than 30 years Jakarta fought a dirty war against the rebel group OPM and anyone thought to sympathise with them. Thousands are thought to have died.

Only now are villagers like Erson coming forward to have their reports documented by human rights workers in the highland capital of Wamena. "We're not scared any more. Before, if you as much as mentioned the rebels you'd be killed. People would be terrorised for as much as writing down their name. People were scared to even use the word Papua," says Yafet Yelemaken, who is gathering the evidence.

Years of repression now fuel an urgent desire for independence. The Baliem Valley is technically still an area of military operations, but suddenly the hated Indonesian military has disappeared. All along the bumpy road that threads through the valley, villagers have set up their own security posts.

Groups of men in bare feet and tattered clothes spring to attention as strangers approach. They brandish the ancient weapons of the Dani tribe that dominates this valley: bows and arrows, spears and crude knives.

Veteran members of the OPM, whooping and waving, emerge from the hills, like men from another age. They wear elaborate feathered head-dresses and enormous gourds over their loins. Their necklaces of giant boar's teeth glint as the valley is again bathed in sunshine.

"We're not afraid. Not now," they insist. Some of those we spoke to thought West Papua was already independent. Later, at Wamena's ramshackle airport, I sat between a naked tribesman wanting to sell me a necklace and a villager taking her child for medical treatment in the capital, Jayapura. It was funny, said the woman, so many strangers -- single Javanese men -- had arrived in Wamena recently, yet there seemed to be no work for them.

It was a throwaway comment, and I thought nothing of it at the time. After all, the Baliem Valley seemed to have already thrown off the Indonesian shackles.

In Jayapura the independence movement organised its most forthright challenge yet. Hundreds flooded the city centre last week for the raising of the outlawed Morning Star flag. The only sign of Indonesian authority was a solitary and bemused traffic policeman.

Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has said he will never let Irian Jaya go. Yet in the valley and here in Jayapura it looked too late, as black-clad militiamen, forbidden flags on their breasts, paraded openly.

These men policed the port with sticks and knives when a refugee ship arrived from Ambon. The atmosphere was tense, and at first nobody was allowed ashore. The few eventually permitted to land for medical treatment were escorted, menacingly, by those same militiamen. One pro-Indonesian businessmen was reportedly kidnapped and beaten by militia men. Chinese shop owners have been threatened.

At the local human rights office, long-standing critics of Indonesia's heavy-handed rule were deeply uneasy, drawing parallels with strife-torn Ambon and East Timor.

"This is a time-bomb waiting to explode. I'm afraid it's all going to end in tragedy," said Albert Rumbekwan, one activist. And then cryptically: "Why are we accepting favours from our enemies?" Among those "favours" is cash for the black-clad militia, from an unlikely, but disturbing source.

The self-proclaimed "Big Leader" of the West Papua independence movement, who runs the militia, is 62-year-old Theys Eluay, a tall, imposing man with a shock of white hair and a taste for loud jackets and ties. He was once a member of the ruling Golkar party and voted for integration with Indonesia in a dubious 1969 plebiscite of local leaders. For 30 years, he kept quiet about Indonesia's human rights abuses.

More sinister is his main source of money: Yorris Raweyai, deputy head of an Indonesian youth organisation with close ties to the Indonesian army and ex-President Suharto.

Yorris's youth organisation is involved in gambling, prostitution and protection rackets. In the past it was used by the military for the dirty work that they preferred to avoid: Yorris is awaiting trial over an attack in 1996 on the headquarters of Megawati Sukharnoputri, then an opposition leader. Now it is his money funding Eluay, his West Papuan separatist movement and their black-clad militia, called Satgas (Taskforce), and now claimed to be 7,000 strong.

Why is it being accepted? "The people are hungry for freedom, and that seems to matter more to them than the personalities fighting for it," says human rights activist Albert Rumbekwan.

More worrying, Rumbekwan's office has received reports of rival "red and white" militias, loyal to Jakarta, being trained by the military in other cities. At least one clash has been reported. Jakarta is boosting the number of troops in the province, they claim. I thought again about the woman at Wamena airport and her story of those single Javanese men arriving.

Unlike East Timor, or Ambon, Irian Jaya has rich reserves of minerals and metals. The Grasberg mine, in the mountains of this wild province, has the world's biggest gold deposit. Freeport McMoran, the American firm that runs it, is Indonesia's single biggest taxpayer.

Economically, the province is vital to Indonesia. The fear among human rights groups in Jayapura is that some powers in Jakarta want to create conditions to justify a military crackdown here or to unleash chaos to undermine President Wahid's dwindling credibility.The parallels with East Timor and Ambon are frightening indeed.

[Ian Williams is Channel 4 News Asia Correspondent]

Labour struggle

Pedicab drivers form union in Aceh

Detik - August 12, 2000

Rayhan Anas Lubis/Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta -- In an effort to improve the welfare of motorised pedicab drivers and cap the number of the vehicles serving the public in the troubled province of Aceh, 1500 drivers have formed a new union.

The All-Aceh Three-Wheelers Union (Pertisa) was declared today, in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, in a lively ceremony attended by the city's Mayor Zulkarnain.

"Pertisa was formed to develop a unity between motorised pedicab drivers. Besides that, we hope with the establishment of this union to build a cooperative for members to improve the welfare of the drivers," said Tengku Syahril S, the union's new leader.

According to Syahril, their are currently around 5000 of the vehicles in the province with around 3000 in the capital alone. "We hope with the birth of Pertisa to to limit the number of pedicabs [known locally as becak]. The problem is that there's no balance between the number of becaks and the number of customers," Syahril said.

The motorised pedicabs first came to the area in the 1970s from India. Many pedicabs still in use today were produced in India in the 1960s. These 50 cc vehicles are widely used as a cheap form of public transport although many complain that their engines are too noisy and disturb the public. Many drivers decorate their vehicles laboriously and most are maintained by the drivers themselves who are expert at improvising repairs.

In recent years, becaks with 70 and 100c engines have began appearing which has increased the volume of pedicabs on the streets and threatened the livelihood of many established operators. "At the moment there are many rubbishy becaks. The bodies of the becaks they throw together with 70 or 100cc engines are what is ruining us," Syahril said.

Replacing older pedicabs is proving difficult for many established drivers. A new pedicab can cost as much as Rp 7 million (US$ 800) while second hand vehicles sell for around Rp 2.5-3 million. "If there no permit, it's cheaper," said Sukir, a 50 year old driver and father of 6 who has worked in the industry for over 19 years.

Widespread violence in the province has strangled their trade in recent years. However, the implementation of a humanitarian pause agreement between the central government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which came into effect in early June, is returning the situation to "business as usual".

Sukir admits that at the moment he is earning between Rp 30- 40,000 (around US$4) per day. "Yeah, so far that income's been enough. My oldest is already working and helps out also," he said. "But last December, when Aceh wasn't safe again, my income went down. At that time people were afraid to leave their homes. Thankfully we have the peace pause now and my income's gone back to normal," he added.

Labor activists block coal mine

Indonesian Observer - August 13, 2000

Jakarta -- Members of the Indonesian Workers Prosperity Union (SBSI) yesterday continued their blockade of a coal mining company's site in East Kalimantan. Officials at PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) said the industrial dispute at the Sangatta site had entered its 10th day.

KPC President Director Grant Thorne hinted in a press release yesterday that if the blockade continues for much longer, the company may be forced to withdraw East Kalimantan.

"Shareholders from London and our Indonesian commissioners meet early next week. If the operation is still closed at that time, we expect they will be forced to make hard decisions." KPC has been unable to supply its clients with coal since August 7 when stocks at the company's port were exhausted. A force majeure was declared on sales contracts on that day to minimize the cost to KPC of its failure to meet its sales' commitments.

"With blockaders having taken control of most of the mining equipment, we are unable to offer productive work to many of our employees," said Thorne. Since the SBSI commenced its strike and blockade on June 14, KPC has lost production of 1.85 million tons of coal with a sales value of US$50 million.

"This is a tragedy for the company, the government, and the community. The loss to the Indonesian government in royalties and corporate tax alone amounts to Rp92 billion [US$10.9 million]," said Thorne.

KPC has lost sales to foreign competitors and fears that Indonesian producers in the future will generally face tougher negotiations with potential buyers. "It is easy to cast Indonesia as an unreliable supplier.

Customers understand occasional strikes but they can tell the difference between a strike and a blockade." It is the complete absence of law enforcement that bothers them most. They prefer to buy where the law provides certainty to business operations," said Thorne.

Human rights/law

Court postpones trial against Soeharto regime

Jakarta Post - August 11, 2000

Jakarta -- The first trial of a lawsuit filed by the Democratic People's Party (PRD) against Soeharto regime was postponed on Thursday after only four lawyers showed up.

The trial, which is being heard at the Central Jakarta District, will continue on August 31. In total, 13 people, mostly Cabinet ministers and generals who served under the Soeharto administration, are on trial.

Moreover, two of the lawyers present, those claiming to represent former Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) chief of sociopolitical affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid and former information minister Harmoko, failed to show their letters of appointment to the judge.

Only those representing the former National Police chief Gen. (ret) Dibyo Widodo and former Armed Forces (ABRI) chief Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung were ready to defend their clients.

The other nine defendants -- former president Soeharto, former Jakarta Military commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso, former East Java Military commander Maj. Gen. (ret) Imam Utomo, former minister of home affairs Lt. Gen. (ret) Moch. Yogie S. Memet, former Army chief of staff Gen. (ret) R. Hartono, former ABRI Intelligence Service (BIA) chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsir Siregar, former BIA director Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim, former attorney general Singgih and former justice minister Oetoyo Oesman -- all failed to show up at the court, as did their lawyers, for unknown reasons.

PRD chairman Budiman Soedjatmiko said the absence of the nine defendants or their lawyers was not due to an oversight. "It is just their way to stall the case," Budiman said. "But they should know that we will never stop pursuing justice. We want to say that no one who has committed crimes in the past can escape the law," Budiman added.

PRD filed the Rp 5.5 billion lawsuit against Soeharto and several state and military leaders on July 5 in connection with the July 27, 1996, riots on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta.

Several PRD activists were allegedly kidnapped and tortured by the military after being accused of instigating the violence at the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters. Budiman was sentenced to 13 years in jail in 1997 but was released in July last year as part of an amnesty granted by former president B.J. Habibie.

PRD is being represented by 34 lawyers, including Bambang Widjojanto, H.J.C. Princen, Munir and Nursyahbani Katjasungkana. In its indictment, PRD demanded the court seize Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

News & issues

120 Indonesian maids in Malaysia take refuge with consul

Agence France-Presse - August 10, 2000

Kuala Lumpur -- Some 120 Indonesian maids fleeing physical abuse or attempted rape by employers or agents have taken refuge at their country's consulate in an east Malaysian state, a report said Thursday.

Nugraha, consul general in Sarawak, was quoted by the Sun newspaper as saying the maids had taken refuge over the past seven months. "We provide food and accommodation but they have to sleep on the floor," he was quoted as saying. "They are crowded into two rooms and there are no blankets."

Nugraha said the maids aged 15 to 25 would eventually be sent back to their homes in Indonesia's neighbouring West Kalimantan province.

There is an urgent need for formal agreements between maids, agents and employers to ensure fairness and avoid abuse, he was quoted as saying. One maid aged 22 was quoted as saying she was raped three times by her local recruiting agent before she fled.

Nugraha said some maids from mainly Muslim Indonesia ran away from employers because they were forced to eat pork, were physically abused or were not paid wages. Last week police in Sarawak arrested one employer who allegedly made her Indonesian maid drink bleach as well as beating and scalding her.

Reports of a series of attacks on Indonesian maids throughout the country this year have shocked many Malaysians. Some employers have been charged and the cabinet ordered a study into ways of protecting foreign domestic helpers.

Some 150,000 foreign maids, mainly Indonesians, work in Malaysia to escape poverty back home.

Hasan charged with graft

Kyodo News - August 10, 2000

Jakarta -- Once powerful Indonesian business tycoon Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, who was former President Suharto's confidante and cabinet minister, was formally charged with corruption Thursday, Jakarta's Provincial Prosecution Office said.

Prosecutor Andi Syafruddin, head of the office's corruption department, told reporters the Attorney General's Office -- which began investigating the case more than four months ago -- handed over dossiers on Hasan to the prosecution office Thursday.

"We will review the dossiers within five days before filing an indictment against him in court," Andi said. He said Hasan was facing life imprisonment, as is his former crony Suharto, who is also to face a corruption trial soon.

Hasan is accused of causing the state to lose more than $75 million from Forestry Ministry coffers and more than $168 million from the Indonesian Association of Timber Companies, a public business association. According to Andi, investigating attorneys have found solid proof of corruption in business deals with the ministry on forest mapping.

Hasan was a trade and industry minister in Suharto's last cabinet, which dissolved shortly before Suharto resigned in May 1998.

Suharto charged with using foundation funds to cover losses

AFX-Asia - August 9, 2000

Jakarta -- Former president Suharto has been charged before the South Jakarta district court of allocating 419.593 million US dollars to cover losses of Bank Duta in the early 1990s, with the funds taken from one of his social foundation funds, court documents said.

"A total of 419.593 million US dollars was trasferred from Yayasan Supersemar to PT Bank Duta to cover losses of the bank," according to a 45-page document obtained by AFX-Asia.

The document setting out the charges said that of the 419.593 million US dollars, about 125 million US dollars was transferred from the foundation's account in Indover Bank to Bank Duta's account in the same bank on the strength of a letter from then president Suharto dated September 20, 1990.

In addition, the foundation's treasurer, Ali Affandi, transferred 19.593 million US dollars to Bank Duta's account on September 25, 1990, and 275.043 million US dollars on September26, 1990.

The documents also said the foundation transferred 13.173 billion rupiah to bankrupt airline company PT Sempati Air. The airline is jointly owned by Suharto's sons Hutomo Mandala Putra and Sigit Harjojudanto as well as businessman Mohammad "Bob" Hasan.

Suharto was also charged with having issued an order to the foundation's treasurer in September 1995 to transfer 150 billion rupiah to Hasan's companies PT Kiani Sakti and PT Kiani Lestari.

The former president was also charged of having ordered the foundation's treasurer to transfer a total of 12.744 billion rupiah to two other companies owned by Hasan: PT Kalhold Utama (3.694 billion rupiah in December 1982 and 2.750 billion rupiah in May 1990); and PT Tajung Redep Hutan Tanaman Industri (6.3 billion in May 1993). The documents also said 10 billion rupiah was also transferred to PT Wisma Kosgoro on December 28, 1993.

"With the above actions, the defendant [Suharto] has enriched PT Bank Duta, PT Sempati Air, PT Tanjung Redep Hutan Tanaman Indusri, PT Essam Timber, PT Kalhold Utama, PT Kiani Lestari as well as PT Wisma Kosgoro, which is against the aim of the foundation," the document said.

"As a result of these transactions, the state lost 191.830 billion rupiah and 419.636 million US dollars in potential revenues," it said. Suharto received a copy of the charges at 4pm today, prosecutor Muchtar Arifin said.

Indonesia against antidumping rules

Jakarta Post - August 8, 2000

Bandung -- Indonesia called on Monday for a review of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) antidumping regulations, saying that these regulations have been manipulated by industrialized countries to become protectionist measures.

The current WTO rules contained many weaknesses, Hatanto Reksodipoetro, director-general of Industrial Institutes Cooperation and International Trade at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said during a seminar about handling dumping charges.

Indonesia, along with other developing countries, will raise the issue at a planned conference on trade liberalization measures under the auspices of the WTO, he said.

The talks broke down in Seattle, Washington, in December largely because of huge differences between the member countries, including the row between industrialized and developing countries over dumping practices.

Industrialized countries have charged developing countries of widespread dumping practices and include in their definition of "dumping" the huge subsidies provided to industries to keep their costs down.

By seeking to revise the antidumping regulations, it does not mean that Indonesia is supporting dumping activities, Hatanto said, adding that Indonesia's own economy could be ruined without antidumping regulations. "We have to watch out for the imposition of the regulations for the purpose of protecting inefficient industries," he said. Investigations into allegations of dumping had to be done very carefully as a government's intent to investigate was enough to influence the market, he said.

At least seven Indonesian products have been given antidumping duties by the European Commission since 1996. Indonesia's bicycles and polyester fibers have been subject to countervailing duties since 1996, polyolefin woven bags and footwear made of textile in 1997, footwear made of leather in 1998, microdisks in 1999 and the synthetic staple fibers of polyester last month.

Leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations agreed at the G8 summit in Japan last month to relaunch the WTO conference within five months. Indonesia supported the plan but said the new talks would have to include specific issues such as antidumping and investment, Hatanto said.

National: Islam and mysticism in Indonesia

Straits Times - August 7, 2000

Well-known Toko Buku Wali Songo, a bookstore on Jalan Kwitang in central Jakarta, is piled to the ceiling with religious books. From the Quran and its translations to works on the Syariah (Islamic laws) and so forth, apart from the Islamic peripherals such as the sejadah (praying mat) and framed Quranic verses.

Also available in abundance are books on ilmu bathin (mystical powers), ilmu kebal (powers to become invincible), ilmu dalam (inner powers), ilmu ghaib (powers to become invisible) and other stuff including talismans.

The bookstore, in its confined space, has actually managed to make a strong representation of what and how Islam is practised in Indonesia, especially in the over-populated island of Java.

Call it co-existence, intertwining or complementary, Islam and mysticism in Indonesia are closely intertwined. The Indonesian Al-Ma'unah mahaguru (supreme teacher) Abbas Bakir sums it up quite well: "Venturing into mysticism, especially the ilmu dalam, further disciplined me as a Muslim. Prior to that, I sometimes missed my prayers and other religious requirements. However, when I started learning ilmu dalam, I had to perform all the religious obligations without fail if I wanted to be able to acquire the ilmu dalam. If I do not discipline myself in terms of performing my religious obligations, I will lose all my ilmu dalam."

It is as simple as that, and on that score, mysticism made Abbas, based on his contentions, a better Muslim. In short, mysticism provides, to a large degree, returns that can be of worldly use and not mere spiritual bliss and promises of heaven as accorded by observing the religious obligations.

Kiai (religious teacher) Abdullah Kassim of Cirebon said once a person took the path of tarikat (sufism), there could be no turning back because too much had been given to lose it for worldly temptations such as liquor, womanising, gambling or any other vices.

Despite all this, the problem that arises from Islamic mysticism is whether the path taken is truly according to the teachings of Islam, or ilmu sesat (deviating into black magic), which usually borders on cults and idolatry.

However, such concern is merely confined to Malaysia and not Indonesia as there is a stark difference between the two nations in terms of their practice and pursuit of Islam.

For better or worse, the way Islam is practised in Malaysia is streamlined, legislated and constitutionalised, making it difficult for anyone to just spread any teachings related to Islam without being scrutinised.

There is a standardised syllabus in religious studies in Malaysia and even those not attending recognised institutions are still required to follow the government syllabus.

In addition, the Malaysian religious authorities tend to conduct checks on any Islamic movements and if their teachings or practices are not in accordance with the official interpretation of Islam, they may end up being declared deviationists.

The thrust of all this legislation is the constitutional provision that Malays are automatically Muslims and it is illegal for them to change or give up the faith.

Such legislation is not prevalent in Indonesia. To the republic's authorities, the citizenry is allowed total freedom in their religious pursuits, deviant or otherwise, as long as they do not contravene the Undang-undang Dasar 1945 (UUD 1945 -- the 1945 Indonesian Constitution), or the spirit of Pancasila which is akin to Malaysia's Rukunegara.

The Pancasila and UUD 1945 ensure that the nation remains a secular nation and this system of governance is strongly supported by all Indonesian leaders, including the present reformasi government. Against this backdrop, Islamic mysticism and sects whose teachings, like Shi'ism, are disallowed in Malaysia, flourish in Indonesia.

As such, it does not come as a surprise that movements like the Al Arqam -- banned in Malaysia in 1994 -- and several other outlawed tarikat groups, made their way to Indonesia and are actively reviving their programmes.

Apart from these groups, individual Malaysians too have crossed the waters to come to Indonesia to pursue religious studies and mysticism which are either not readily available or will never be able to be taught in Malaysia.

Leader of the Malaysian Al-Ma'unah group Mohd Amin Mohd Razali who was involved in the Sauk tragedy is but one person who had come to Indonesia to pursue Islam and mysticism. He was not the first nor will he be the last Malaysian to do so.

However, to be fair, although there is no legislation on Islamic studies or Islamic mysticism, there are pesantren (the equivalent of the Malaysian pondok) which have proven equal to, if not better than, that in Malaysia.

Yusuf Saad, 27, who hails from Pokok Sena, Kedah, who is in his fourth and final year in Islamic studies in Pesantren Suryalaya, Tasikmalaya in west Java, seemed to believe that there was nothing wrong with the place.

"In fact, there are things which it teaches here which prepares me to be better able to carry out the dakwah (missionary work). "My hope is that the Government will recognise my qualifications from here to allow me to teach when I go back home," said Yusuf, adding if that was not to be, he would then sit for another exam in Malaysia to obtain the recognition.

In Suryalaya, Yusuf admitted that apart from pursuing subjects like Quranic studies, the Hadith (prophetic tradition) and the Syariah (Islamic laws), he is also exposed to the tarikat.

While Yusuf took a direct path to Suryalaya and that is to pursue Islamic knowledge, his colleague, Razali Yahya, 40, from Tawau, Sabah, took a slightly meandering trail. An ex-addict who was hooked to drugs for 20 years, Razali said he came to know of Suryalaya after being treated in a Pondok Inabah (drug rehabilitation centre using Islamic spiritualism) in Sabah.

"From the teachers in Inabah, I came to understand that they were all graduates of Suryalaya and after I was completely healed of my addiction, I decided that I want to pursue the same tarikat. Once I have completed my studies in a couple of years, I want to return and offer my services to the Inabah and help others like me," he said.

Malaysia's education attache to Indonesia Abdul Rashid Samad seemed to have high regards for Suryalaya but expressed worries about Malaysians who did not register with the embassy when pursuing their religious studies in the republic.

While he was unwilling to give an estimate of how many unregistered Malaysians were studying in the pesantren, Abdul Rashid said it was difficult to keep track of them and admitted there were enough Malaysians studying in pesantren of doubtful reputation to cause concern. There are 1,720 Malaysians studying in Indonesia registered with the embassy.

While Abdul Rashid was being diplomatic and not prepared to reveal the extent of the problem, a Malaysian journalist based in Indonesia pointed out that Amin of the Sauk tragedy is merely the tip of the iceberg.

"There are a number of Malaysians who chose to study in some obscure Indonesian pesantren because it is cheap and provides a shortcut to acquiring the 'mystical powers'. They keep coming back for more and from what I gather, when they return to Malaysia, they start showing off their mystical prowess like Amin, convince others to be their students and encourage them to go to the same pesantren."

But Indonesia is not to be blamed for all this, as Islam and mysticism are a way of life and pursued by a cross-section of Indonesian society, from the president all the way down to the tukang becak (trishaw rider).

It is the Malaysians themselves, who came to these pesantren in Indonesia to pursue mysticism despite the stringent measures by the authorities to stop them. Amin and former Al Arqam members are probably youths who have been misled.

More of concern should be stories of some Malaysian leaders who are known to be paying thousands of ringgit to engage teachers in Indonesia who act as their spiritual advisers to ensure for themselves a "smooth" path up the political ladder.

They are wasting their money. At the Toko Buku Wali Songo, there are plenty of books on how to acquire "mystical powers". And they come cheap too -- at RM4 a copy.

Divorcing the dictator

US News & World Report - August 14, 2000

Thomas Omestad, Jakarta -- "The old man at No. 8 Cendana Street sits by his satellite TV, watching local sitcoms and nature shows on the Discovery, National Geographic, and Animal Planet channels. After three strokes, he is on a low-fat, low-stress regimen, and his doctors think it best that he avoid newspapers and magazines. Occasionally, he grabs a golf club and practices his swing in his bedroom. But because he is under house arrest, golf is no longer an option. At 79 and feeling his mortality, the old man is often found deep in prayer, alone or with neighbors on Fridays, the Muslim sabbath. His six kids, who keep houses nearby, drop by regularly.

All seems quiet inside the modest two-story, red-tiled house in a leafy neighborhood of the Indonesian capital. There is little sense that the man who lives there is at the center of a political and legal storm roiling this young democracy. Or that for 32 years he was the man who ruled Indonesia with an iron hand, smothering dissent and allowing his associates and his children to plunder the nation. Only his parrot harks back to that past, dutifully squawking a daily greeting: "Good morning, Father President."

Inside No. 8 Cendana, the man known simply as Suharto is still revered. Outside, things are very different. Violent student protests erupt on short notice. Graffiti throughout Jakarta scream: "Try Suharto!" and "Hang Suharto!" Late last week, prosecutors charged him with siphoning off some $570 million in state funds and vowed to take Suharto to court this month.

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, in an interview with US News, insisted that Suharto must face trial -- "but that he will be pardoned if he cooperates in returning the family's ill-gotten gains.

Disciplining dictators

Demands for justice are driving Indonesia to take stock of its corrupt and bloody past. But Indonesians are divided over what to do with their former dictator, who resigned two years ago amid a frenzy of rioting, rape, and arson that took more than 1,000 lives. Other countries have dealt with deposed dictators in varying ways. Chile guaranteed junta Gen. Augusto Pinochet freedom from prosecution to buy some peace, though courts are now reassessing his immunity. Ferdinand Marcos managed to flee the Philippines with much of his loot. In Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were shot dead. But here the only leader whom most Indonesians had ever known simply quit.

Almost surreally, he planned to live quietly among them. But he left behind an embedded system of corruption, cronyism, and nepotism, as well as countless supporters throughout government and business. Suharto dominated the world's fourth most populous nation, and many Indonesians saw his reign in semimystical terms. "Twenty to 25 percent of the 'little people' believed that he was a modern Javanese king who was given courtly power [by God] to rule," says Amien Rais, the leading opposition politician. "Suharto's had a lot of power over every single sector of national life."

Officials believe that influence, at least from Suharto's followers, persists. Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono charged in an interview that former Suharto cabinet members are fomenting Muslim-Christian violence in the Molucca Islands to destabilize Wahid's government. He emphatically told US News that authorities are investigating Suharto backers -- "as well as "one or two" of his children -- "suspected of financing attacks by Muslim extremists. Documents providing evidence of payments to Laskar Jihad, or Holy War Troops, were recovered from a truck that exploded in east Java in June. But bribes have apparently hampered the probe. "The residual power of the old guard is there and we feel it," Sudarsono said. "We realize we are not in full control."

Sweetheart deals

The alleged payoffs are a familiar part of the justice business in Indonesia. In April, a watchdog group, Indonesia Corruption Watch, released a breathtaking report on the country's Supreme Court. Only 3 of 31 justices were found to be free of corruption, and the problem is so blatant that fixers walk up to the cars of defense attorneys as they arrive at the Supreme Court. According to Corruption Watch director Teten Masduki, 80 to 90 percent of all legal officials, including prosecutors, accept bribes. With the attorney general's office stuffed with holdovers from the old regime, Masduki doubts that Suharto can be effectively prosecuted. But the man in charge of doing just that, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman, disagrees, saying he has replaced several prosecutors and built a strong case against Suharto. Darusman's team has focused on presidential decrees that allegedly enabled Suharto's kin and associates to take funds from charitable foundations receiving public money. Through the foundations, the granting of monopolies, and sweetheart deals, the former first family diversified its holdings across the economy, from toll roads in Jakarta and tourist hotels in Bali to chemicals, gasoline, telecommunications, real estate, cloves, and even chicken farming.

According to one private analysis that has never been publicly released, the Suharto family owned significant stakes in at least 678 companies in 1992. The family's wealth is often estimated at $15 billion, though Wahid says it exceeds $35 billion.

Suharto denies any wrongdoing. One of his lawyers, O. C. Kaligis, maintains that the government is scapegoating Suharto to divert attention from its economic mismanagement. Suharto never profited from the charities, Kaligis says; indeed, the lawyer recalls the former president telling him last year, "Why do the papers blaspheme me so often? ... I did my best to improve the nation."

After his strokes, Suharto is said to suffer from amnesia, dementia, and speech difficulties. He doesn't talk much anymore but usually wears a smile. Kaligis says Suharto is incapable of standing trial or answering lengthy questions. A transcript of an April interrogation at No. 8 Cendana shows prosecutors having to break questions into simple parts to elicit a response. "Mr. Suharto can't account for what he's saying," contends Kaligis. "He's not aware of what's happening now."

Darusman regards the Suharto case as central to establishing the rule of law, rooting out corruption, and attracting wary foreign investors. "We need to debunk the myth that he's above the law," he says. "If we don't settle these big cases, any other effort to enforce the law will be taken with great skepticism and cynicism." Some of the biggest skeptics are US and other foreign investors. They are watching the Suharto case closely as a signal of whether Southeast Asia's most populous country -- "with a market of 211 million people -- "can clean up a court system that has often favored cronies over outsiders. Indonesia may be the region's linchpin, but corruption and political turmoil have hobbled its recovery from the Asian financial crisis of three years ago.

Endgame

Still, the attorney general concedes that a Suharto trial might be suspended, perhaps because of the ex-president's health or if it threatens "the very unity of the country." Instead, legislators could issue a political -- though not a legal -- verdict on Suharto.

Then there is the money. Darusman says talks with Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, began in May. The government's bottom line is the return of "the major part" of the Suharto fortune, he says. Suharto's lawyers deny the existence of negotiations.

Critics, though, are incensed by the prospect of a pardon for Suharto. They are even angrier over the slow pace of investigations of human-rights abuses. From Aceh in the west to Irian Jaya in the east of this archipelago nation, Suharto's military flattened separatist and opposition movements by force. The United Nations and the country's own human rights commission blame Suharto allies in the military for the near destruction last year of East Timor, a province that voted for independence. Overall, the number of people killed, tortured, or imprisoned for their politics during the Suharto years surpasses 1 million -- "and may be as high as 4 million, human-rights groups say.

But so far, no major figure from the Suharto years has been convicted -- of anything. Just one human-rights trial has been completed, and then only low-ranking soldiers were convicted for a massacre of civilians in Aceh.

To push things along, the United States has sent lawyers with war crimes experience to Jakarta to train prosecutors. But without more international pressure, frustrated officials concede, those cases may never reach trial. "Very few of the prosecutors are enthusiastic about going after the generals. They might even be killed," warns H. S. Dillon, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights.

Darusman is pinning his hopes on creating a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission that will try to set the historical record straight. But the necessary legislation has been stalled, and the idea of a truth commission seems to satisfy no one, least of all former victims.

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia's leading dissident author, says the government "is playing a game. Suharto violated humanity, but the investigation is only about money."

Meanwhile, pressure to both try and convict Suharto is growing. "Expectations for justice have soared," worries a senior Western diplomat in Jakarta. "The deal seems to be for the Suharto kids to apologize on TV, fork over some money, and live happily ever after. I'm not sure the Indonesian people are ready to accept that."

Indeed, the passage of two years hasn't stilled the fury toward Suharto and his cronies. In normally peaceable Bali, a middle- aged businessman says matter-of-factly, "the people hate Suharto. He should be killed." A Jakarta college student, Immanuel Ebenezer, asks: "You know Lucifer? Suharto is a student of Lucifer." Among Suharto loyalists, of course, the view is more charitable. Says Anton Tabah, an aide, "He's very different from Marcos. He's not going to run away. He's a gentleman." Tabah says that Suharto remains optimistic and unemotional about his predicament. Even through the fog of apparent amnesia, the smiling old man of Cendana Street may comprehend his situation just fine.

PR man quits after scrutiny

Sydney Morning Herald - August 7, 2000

Simon Mann, London -- A British political consultant, hired to help lift the deteriorating public image of President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia, has quit after his methods came under scrutiny.

Mr Nigel Oakes, 38, was said to have left the country for Singapore and his media monitoring centre in Jakarta to have shut down. The centre, established under the guise of an independent monitoring agency, was quietly campaigning on behalf of Mr Wahid, who is said to have first met Mr Oakes in June. One report suggested members of Mr Wahid's family and inner circle of supporters had funded the campaign with up to $US2 million.

However, staff this week were reportedly seen carrying away televisions and computer screens, and newspaper had been plastered over the centre's windows. The closure followed a report in The Asian Wall Street Journal that questioned the centre's role.

According to the report, the agency monitored local and international media but also engineered a PR campaign in the name of the "Foundation of Independent Journalists" that included screening a series of television commercials stressing religious and ethnic harmony that gave implicit backing to the beleaguered President. The centre also held a seminar on journalistic ethics, but did not tell participants it was funded by the presidential palace.

Mr Oakes's Strategic Communications Laboratories has operated in Indonesia since the final days of the Soeharto regime. Asked by The Sunday Times why he had closed the centre, he replied: "You don't want a higher profile than your client."

Economy & investment

Indonesia faces possible loss of $16 billion in loans

Asia Wall Street Journal - August 6, 2000

Jay Solomon, Jakarta -- The Indonesian state is facing $16 billion in potential losses due to the misuse of emergency loans extended to a number of prominent business groups during this nation's financial crisis, a report by the government's Supreme Audit Agency said.

The agency is recommending an investigation of central bank officials and the executives at the business groups for "crimes against the state." The size of the expected losses is also expected to intensify calls for the revision or even cancellation of debt-repayment agreements reached between Jakarta and a number of prominent Indonesian tycoons to cover these debts.

"If the liquidity support had been channeled" according to regulations "such blatant misuses and overlending could have been prevented," said the report, which was presented Friday to Indonesian legislators and law-enforcement officials.

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said he would soon follow up by conducting a legal probe into the banks, and the acting central bank governor said he would cooperate in an investigation of the alleged financial abuses.

Between late 1997 and the end of last year, Bank Indonesia extended 145 trillion rupiah ($16.82 billion) to 48 commercial banks in an effort to keep them afloat during the country's financial and political crisis. A rattled public had initiated massive runs on politically connected banks, while interest rates soared above 100%.

Many banks found themselves short of the required funds to service their depositors' cash demands. (Roughly 100 trillion rupiah went to the banking arms of just five conglomerates, including the Salim, Gajah Tunggal, and Danamon groups.) But the Supreme Audit Agency's investigation revealed that more than half of the total loans extended by Bank Indonesia -- 84.5 trillion rupiah -- weren't utilized by the recipients for depositors' insurance, as specified. Instead, they were diverted to other activities such as currency speculation, lending to affiliated businesses and asset acquisition. The rapid extensions of these loans also violated the central bank's regulations; were made against insufficient collateral; and revealed slack oversight by Bank Indonesia officials, the report said.

"The credits were misused by banks and many other credits were extended far in excess of the assets of the bank recipients," the head of the agency's audit team, Bambang Wahyu, told reporters. As a result, the Supreme Audit Agency said the government risked not recovering 138.4 trillion rupiah of these loans.

The audit comes amid a push by some inside President Abdurrahman Wahid's government to rework the debt-payback agreements reached with a number of powerful business groups. The Salim Group's founding family pledged stakes in 108 of its companies to cover 52.7 trillion rupiah in debt to Bank Indonesia; Gajah Tunggal Group, meanwhile, pledged majority stakes in Southeast Asia's largest tire company and the world's largest shrimp farm to meet its obligation of 27.5 trillion rupiah.

Coordinating Economics Minister Kwik Kian Gie has said in recent weeks that these agreements would saddle the state with huge losses due to the sharp depreciation of the value of the assets pledged by these conglomerates. In the case of the Salim Group, Mr. Kwik said Jakarta would likely be hit with a 30 trillion rupiah loss. He said one of the Gajah Tunggal group's pledged assets, shrimp farm PT Dipasena Citra, was now worthless after originally being valued at 20 trillion rupiah, The company denies this revaluation.

The fate of these repayment agreements is now in the hands of the Indonesian parliament. Legislators are scheduled to vote this month on how much of a loss the state should shoulder in relation to bailing out these groups. A number of advisers to Mr. Wahid fear an increasingly hostile parliament could move to sink these deals in light of the disclosure of the loan abuses. This would jeopardize Jakarta's plan to sell off their assets to fund the state's budget.

"If these deals no longer hold, what will we replace them with?" said Sofyan Wanandi, the chairman of Mr. Wahid's business advisory council.