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Column: Our Life and Times by Kevin A. Barry and Mary Holmes
Challenge to Indonesia's new president
The three-month-old presidency of Megawati Sukarnoputri is being tested in
the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. After meeting with
George W. Bush in late September, she condemned the attacks as well as
calls by a number of Islamic fundamentalist groups in Indonesia to
"sweep"
out Americans from the country.
Megawati, formerly vice president, was voted into the presidency by the
legislature after it voted out former President Abdurrahman Wahid for
alleged incompetence and corruption. Since then, she has put together a
"centrist" government, especially in economic and military matters.
However, a male opponent of hers, Hamzah Haz, was able to take over the
vice presidency. Haz leads a coalition of Islamic parties and he opposed
Megawati's bid for the presidency in 1999, on the reactionary grounds that
Islamic law prohibits a woman as leader.
While Megawati represents no interests other than the ruling classes of
Indonesia, it is worth noting how the events of Sept. 11 have given more
fuel to the political opportunism of the religious Right. While Megawati
said nothing critical of Bush or the U.S., Haz commented that "hopefully,
this tragedy will cleanse the sins of the United States."
Despite the nationalist secular ideology adopted by Indonesia's first ruler
after independence, Gen. Sukarno, Megawati's father, and continued in a
different format by Gen. Suharto, there is a current of Islamic
fundamentalism in Indonesia, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, which has
likewise been strengthened by the Sept. 11 terrorists. Armed Islamic
fundamentalist groups, though small now, are making an appeal to the
millions of unemployed and poor, and especially youth who were in the
forefront of toppling former military dictator Suharto.
The most direct challenge at this moment, however, comes from the
self-determination movements in Aceh and West Papua. After taking office,
Megawati officially apologized for past atrocities perpetrated by the
military, especially against internal opposition. She stated her "respect
[for] our brothers' choice to live in their own state" in East Timor, even
though she had fought the independence movement at every step there.
On Aug. 30, over 93% of East Timorese eligible voters went to the polls to
select a constituent assembly responsible for writing a constitution, the
first for independent East Timor after three centuries of Portuguese
colonialism, 24 years of Indonesian occupation, and the last two years of
UN administration. As expected, FRETILIN, the party rooted in
anti-colonial, anti-Indonesian struggles, got the most votes, with 55 out
of 88 parliament seats.
East Timor is still devastated from destruction by pro-Indonesia
paramilitary gangs which rampaged after the majority voted for independence
in a referendum in 1999. Economically, East Timor is still totally
dependent on foreign aid. In the face of all this, the high unemployment
rate, the dearth of foreign investment, and the many thousands of refugees
still stranded in West Timor, the East Timorese people have taken on
self-determination with enthusiasm.
Indeed, Megawati is no different than previous rulers in opposing
self-determination. She stated one of her main priorities as "preventing
national disintegration." And as with her predecessors, Megawati relies on
the military. One of the results of her visit with Bush was a program for
closer ties between the military in Indonesia and the U.S.
Megawati had traveled to Aceh in early September and apologized for the
"mistakes" and "shortcomings" of the central government in
the past. Only
two days before her visit, the rector of the state university there was
assassinated. He had offered to mediate stalled talks between the
government and the Free Aceh Movement. The military appears clearly
implicated in the murder.
The other focus of the Megawati government is "promoting economic
recovery." The Indonesian economy is forecast to grow at a moribund 1%
rate, yet that would now seem hard given the deepening world recession. The
IMF has delayed disbursements of an over $4 billion bailout awaiting
neo-liberal economic "reforms." With at least 30 million people
officially
unemployed, further economic cutbacks coupled with military repression are
sure to result in more mass unrest.
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