AMSTERDAM - "The policy demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for loans leads to an increase in poverty. Subsidies on electricity, education and public transport are being cut ... There's already 80 million Indonesian people living below the poverty line. IMF policy will push even more people below it."
Sixty people listened with great care to Budiman Sujatmiko, chairperson of Indonesia's People's Democratic Party (PRD), at a meeting here on June 2. The meeting launched a new organisation, SOLITIN (Solidarity with Timor and Indonesia), to build support for the PRD and the struggle in Indonesia and inspire people in the Netherlands to become involved in radical politics.
Sujatmiko told the meeting, "The government should start to cancel foreign debt. The loans during the Suharto period were not loans to the Indonesian people but to a corrupt dictatorship that oppressed the people. The assets of Suharto and his cronies should be seized and there should be a progressive income tax.
"The Indonesian government should work with other Third World governments to oppose the policies of the IMF and World Bank. We need another type of international funding, one that puts the needs of the poor countries first."
Sujatmiko toured Europe from May 26 to June 11. He met with political parties, solidarity groups, Indonesian exiles and journalists. The visit was organised by SOLITIN together with PRD supporters from the large local community of exiles from the pre-1965 Indonesian left.
In the Netherlands, Sujatmiko also addressed an Indonesian-language public meeting of more than 200 people. A farewell party organised by the Indonesia solidarity movement and held at Amnesty International offices attracted 40 people.
The Dutch organisers of the tour are very happy with the results. Geert Jan Wielinga of SOLITIN commented: "The fight of the Indonesian people and the PRD has been a big inspiration for us, not just to build solidarity but also to discuss perspectives for radical politics over here.
"The struggle for democratic change in Indonesia has been led by Marxists. They've been hunted, put in jail and oppressed, but they only grew stronger.
"At the SOLITIN meeting in Amsterdam, we showed footage from last May Day in Jakarta. It was great to see all these red flags waving through the streets and to hear Dita Sari say that it's time to put Marx's slogan "Workers of the world unite" into practice.
"We hope there will be interest in Marxist ideas in the Netherlands. There is no genuine Marxist party here; we would like to build one."
In Spain, Sujatmiko held meetings with ACSUR (an umbrella organisation of Spanish non-government organisations), United Left and a movement for peasants' cooperatives. United Left is interested in attending the Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference in June 2001 in Jakarta, organised by the PRD and others.
In Portugal, Sujatmiko met with Fransisco Louca and Louis Fazenda, members of parliament for the Left Bloc, an electoral alliance of the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the People's Democratic Union. The Left Bloc was active in mobilisations last year to demand that United Nations troops be sent to East Timor to stop the genocide by Indonesian-backed paramilitaries after the referendum on independence for East Timor.
Around 30 people attended the Left Bloc-organised public meeting and the main daily newspaper, Diario de Noticias, published a feature interview with Sujatmiko.
In Belgium, Sujatmiko met with the Belgian Workers Party and the Socialist Workers Party. He also visited the European Parliament for discussions with members of the United Left faction, the alliance of parties in the EP which are to the left of social democracy and the Greens.
In France, Sujatmiko held meetings with the Communist Party, Socialist Party and Revolutionary Communist League. A solidarity dinner and meetings with Danielle Mitterand, the widow of the former president, ADIL (a French NGO) and Indonesian students were also held.
In Germany, Sujatmiko met with the Democratic Socialist Party and attended a meeting with Indonesian students at the Technical University of Berlin.
BY HARRY OTTEN
[The author is one of the initiators of SOLITIN.]