SINGAPORE — The police raid on the Asia-Pacific Peoples Solidarity Conference on June 8 was just one more in a string of actions taken by the Indonesian police, often working hand in glove with militia gangs, to push back the democratic space won by the student-led mass movement which forced the resignation of former dictator Suharto in May, 1998.
Repressive police actions have escalated since the DPR, the Indonesian house of representatives, on May 30 voted to convene a special session of the MPR, the People's Consultative Assembly, to hear a vote of no confidence in President Abdurrahman Wahid.
The first serious sign of this occurred in Wahid's main support base, East Java, immediately after the vote, when police in one area, Pasuruan, fired on unarmed demonstrators backing Wahid. One demonstrator was killed and another four wounded.
The president immediately condemned the shootings and dismissed the police chief, General Bimantoro. The general refused to accept the dismissal, claiming that Wahid could not do so without the agreement of the parliament. He also stated the shooting had been carried out in accordance with procedure.
Bimantoro received the backing of all the anti-Wahid factions in the DPR, including vice-president Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Since then the police, backed by the army, navy and air force, have issued repeated statements that they would not tolerate political interference in their internal affairs by anyone, implying that this also includes President Wahid.
The police have even failed to provide office space to the new deputy chief of police appointed by Wahid to act in Bimantoro's place.
Then, on June 12, police violently dispersed a protest in Jakarta calling for Suharto's party, Golkar, to be tried and banned for corruption and crimes against humanity. Again Wahid condemned the police and apologised to the demonstrators.
On June 13 and 14, the police also used violence to disperse thousands of workers at demonstrations in Surabaya and Bandung. The police actions resulted in the demonstrations turning into riots.
Right wants Wahid out
The May 30 vote to call a special session of the MPR was the work of a coalition which includes the parliamentary representatives of the police and armed forces, Golkar, the Central Axis of rightist Muslim parties and the parliamentary wing of vice-president Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP).
The MPR is the only body which can oust the president, which is exactly what this anti-Wahid coalition hopes to do.
The police repression is clearly motivated by a fear among the right wing that Wahid may accede to calls from liberal and left-wing forces and issue a decree dissolving parliament and calling new general elections.
Golkar in particular would suffer enormous electoral losses if it had to compete in elections while out of power — it would be unable to cheat, as it did during the last general elections, held while Suharto protege BJ Habibie was president.
The right has been campaigning hard to depict any such decree as an authoritarian and unconstitutional act and to distract attention from the call for new elections. Most — though not all — liberal and democratic opinion is rejecting the right's propaganda.
A call for a decree and new elections has come from Wahid's National Awakening Party (PKB), from the radical People's Democratic Party (PRD) and from a range of liberal NGOs and human rights advocates. Most of these organisations are now represented, in one way or another, in the newly formed National Coalition Against the New Order.
Wahid is most likely to be emboldened to call early elections if there is visible mass support for such a call. This is what the police's latest wave of repression is aimed at stopping.
Targeting the vanguard
It has been clear since February that the right wing has been specifically targeting the PRD, a leading force in urging a united front against a comeback by Suharto-era forces.
In February, there was a spate of "Muslim" militia attacks on PRD-associated offices in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. This was followed on May 1 by an attempted assault on PRD chairperson Budiman Sujatmiko; while Sujatmiko was unharmed, another PRD leader, Jakobus Kurniawan, was injured.
Throughout May, right-wing figures made repeated statements accusing the PRD of being communist, still a crime under a Suharto-era law.
Then the Anti-Communist Committee (KAK) stormed several bookshops, stealing left-wing books and burning them. They announced that on May 20 they would sweep all bookshops to confiscate left-wing books.
Sukarnoputri, Golkar and the Central Axis parties remained silent, while liberal NGOs and others protested. The Wahid government banned any such actions and, on May 19, the KAK backed down.
On May 29, the day of the DPR began meeting, the National Coalition Against the New Order organised demonstrations outside the presidential palace and the parliament building demanding new elections and the trial of Golkar.
Again the police took the lead, making statements attacking the PRD and Sujatmiko, threatening to "hit them" if "Bud" tried anything.
The attempt to find a justification for re-arresting Sujatmiko or banning the PRD surfaced again in the aftermath of the police raid on the international conference on June 8.
Sujatmiko, who was a participant at the conference, was detained for questioning. On June 13, a delegation of 51 NGOs who protested the police raid and the follow-up violent militia attack on the Indonesian participants, were told by General Bimantoro that he thought the raid was justified because of suspicions that Sujatmiko was a "follower of communism".
In the meantime, the police are still seeking to "interview" Kelik Isminanto, the director of INCREASE, the conference organiser, and a PRD member.
Galvanising resistance
The police and militia repression has started to galvanise democratic public opinion.
Since the raid on the international conference, the police have been condemned by a wide range of organisations, including INFID, the International Indonesian Forum for Development, which represents scores of NGOs in Indonesia. The high-profile environmental organisation, WAHLI, also has criticised the government, as has the Coalition for Freedom of Speech and Opinion, which includes high profile publishers such as Goenawan Mohammad. Many media outlets have also been critical.
A similar response is emerging to police attacks on anti-Golkar student demonstrators.
The campaign against the police has now also broadened to target another key element of the Suharto-era forces.
After the foreign participants in the conference were taken away, the Indonesian participants were attacked by between 25 and 50 members of the Kaaba Young Generation, thugs affiliated to the United Development Party (PPP).
The PPP was the official Muslim party during the Suharto dictatorship and is now a part of the Central Axis coalition. INFID, WAHLI and other organisations are now demanding that the head of the PPP, Hamzah Has, be held accountable for the actions of his party's thugs.
In addition, trade unions are planning further strikes and demonstrations to protest the police violence against them on June 13. The potential is being created for a revival of the mass action democratic movement — for the first time possibly including trade unions.
August stand-off looming
The political situation is increasingly polarising between, on the one hand, the coalition between Megawati's PDIP and the Suharto-era forces, including the police and military, and, on the other hand, an alliance between the PRD and the radical student movement, liberal and democratic organisations and Wahid's PKB.
The right-wing parliamentary majority has clearly decided that, in any power-sharing deal within the elite, there will be no political liberalisation and no attempt to reduce or end the role of the military in domestic politics.
This also appears to be the position of Sukarnoputri and a majority of the PDIP members of parliament, although there are strong reports of dissent with her party.
For the time being, Golkar and the military are willing to accept a Sukarnoputri presidency. They have no choice if they wish to continue playing the game that everything they are doing is "constitutional". Golkar, the Central Axis and the military will all gain positions in a Sukarnoputri government.
Both the military and the Golkar-Central Axis forces have made it clear — for now — that the People's Consultative Assembly will continue no matter what Wahid says or does. For his part, the president has stated that he will not resign even if the military attacks the parliament.
Between now and August 1, the crucial question will be what level of unity develops among all the forces opposed to a comeback to power by the Suharto-era Golkar-military combination and how much democratic public opinion can be mobilised on the streets.