By Max Lane
The political isolation of the military regime of President Suharto increases apace. Over the last 10 days, thousands of students have demonstrated on major university campuses in Surabaya, Solo, Bandung and Jakarta in Java; in Padang and Lampung in Sumatra; and in Denpasar in Bali. The demonstrations show no signs of abating.
In Solo, Surabaya and Lampung, the demonstrations have attempted to move off campus. Where this has happened, the regime has ordered the military to repress the action. At least 25 students were injured in clashes with the military in Solo on March 16, and more were injured in the south Sumatran city of Lampung on March 19 and 20 [see report on page 18].
The demonstrations reflect a sudden wave of radicalisation on the campuses as it becomes clear that the regime has no interest in solving the country's economic crisis beyond safeguarding its members and cronies' personal assets.
New radical campus groups are mushrooming while long-standing conservative student organisations, such as the Islamic Students Association (HMI), come under pressure to radicalise. Green Left Weekly has begun to receive requests from HMI branches for permission to reprint Green Left articles about the Indonesian crisis.
The students carry placards calling for political and economic reform and in Solo, Jakarta and Lampung especially, sometimes use the slogan "One struggle, one change".
Suharto prepares for repression
Following Suharto's reappointment as president by his hand-picked parliament, he named a new cabinet with two main components.
The first is composed of Suharto himself, his daughter Tutut (now minister for welfare) and a range of business cronies and corrupt bureaucrats.
Primary among the cronies is Bob Hasan, who controls a giant conglomerate with interests in many sectors of the Indonesian economy. This is the first time Suharto has appointed one of his business cronies as a cabinet minister.
Senior bureaucrats who have facilitated collusion between the government and crony corporations, including the bureaucrat in charge of taxation and the head of the mining department at the time of the Busang Kalimantan gold mining scandal, were also appointed.
The second group is composed of the ministers in control of repression.
Suharto has moved his two most senior loyalists from the armed forces into the cabinet. General Feisal Tanjung and General Wiranto, the armed forces' immediate past commander in chief and current commander in chief respectively, have been appointed coordinating minister for politics and security, and minister for defence and security.
General Hartono, a close confidante of Tutut, has been put in charge of home affairs. This department overseas elections, political parties and village affairs.
Wiranto Arismunandar has won the position of minister for education and culture. Arismunandar is the most repressive vice-chancellor in the Indonesian university system, and expels students every year for engaging in political activity.
A third, minor group in the cabinet is made up of Vice-President Habibie and a few of his followers in technical ministries. Habibie has been sent away on overseas junkets, allowing Suharto to concentrate on the internal situation.
Even before the new cabinet was announced, it was clear that the regime was preparing to engage in greater repression. It is estimated that more than 200 people have been arrested in the last month, many while at demonstrations.
One hundred and twenty people were arrested during the mobilisation in February outside the Bank of Indonesia. Dramatist Ratna Sarumpaet, her daughter and seven other activists remain in jail after their arrest at a March 11 public forum protesting against Suharto's re-election.
Last week, eight members of the Indonesian Prosperity for Workers Union were arrested in different parts of Indonesia. Pius Lustrilanang, secretary-general of the human rights group, the People's Alliance for Democracy, has not been seen since February 5.
Despite the crackdown, there are no signs that the new wave of student mobilisations or the activities of the radical democratic movement are being halted.