People's Democratic Party president Budiman Sujatmiko is a hunted man. The PRD headquarters in Jakarta and Surabaya have been raided by the military. The house in Semarang of the head of Student Solidarity for Indonesian Democracy (SMID), one of the components of the PRD, has been attacked. Another component of the PRD is the Indonesian Centre for Worker Struggle (PPBI); the house of a leader of textile workers in PPBI in Bogor has also been physically attacked.
On television and radio and in the newspapers, the PRD is accused of attempting to revive communism and socialism in Indonesia and of using the PDI issue for its "own purposes". In a press briefing following a meeting of the Politics and Security Committee of cabinet, the coordinating minister for politics and security, General Soesilo Soedarman, stated, "The unrest of the weekend was manipulated by a third party, called the People's Democratic Party". He stated that they used "PKI methods".
Holding up the PRD manifesto, Soedarman complained that the PRD does not mention the official ideology of Panca Sila anywhere, but states that it is based on "popular social democracy". He also explained to the press that the PRD program calls on the different sectors of society to oppose the "New Order dictatorship". "For me this is the same as the PKI", said Soedarman.
In a separate briefing, the director general of social and political affairs, Sutoyo, told the press, "The armed forces will go after all the members of the PRD. We are not on the defensive here, we are on the offensive. The Anti-Subversion Law will be used against them."
The army newspaper, Berita Yudha (News of War), also ran an article on the PRD, describing it as an organisation run by young people. Quoting unnamed "activist sources", the article said that the group probably had links with "left-wing social democratic" forces overseas. An army intelligence report quoted in the newspaper said that the PRD was linked to the New People's Army in the Philippines, Amnesty International, the Asian Students Association and the Australian workers' movement.
Berita Yudha summed up the PRD as follows: "They operate in strategic areas, among students and workers, forming public opinion through leaflets and publications. Wherever there are leaflets and an action of over 1000 people, it's the PRD behind it. They are very clever and intelligent young people. They are not only very theoretically brilliant, rivalling any scholar, but also throw themselves into the field. They are not only brilliant orators casting a spell over the people, but also understand the people in great detail. That's the PRD."
The PRD has continued its activities even as these attacks unfold. On July 28, there was a joint protest by PDI and PRD in Surabaya. The PRD led a strike by 3000 in Tandes on the same day and a protests of 500 students in Yogyakarta.
The government campaign has made the PRD a household word throughout the country, and the regime's propaganda is serving to explain its program to the broadest layers. A widely circulated weekly magazine, Forum Keadilan, published an eight-page special supplement on the PRD. The daily press have made the attacks on the PRD front-page headline news. Newsboys shout, "PRD! PRD!" as their papers are snapped up.
By the end of the week, no party in Indonesia, not even the PDI, would have had its program on wage rises, trade union rights, freedom of organisation, repeal of repressive laws and a self-determination referendum in East Timor explained in such detail to the Indonesian public.
The PRD was formed in 1994 as the People's Democratic Union and transformed itself into a party in April 1996. It was formed by activists from SMID, PPBI, STN (National Peasants Association) and JAKER (People's Cultural Network).
These organisations developed in the early 1990s as student activists joined with workers and farmers in a series of campaigns for improvements in workers' and peasants' conditions. They developed a strategy of mass mobilisation of workers and adopted a general program aimed at achieving a multiparty democracy, with the right to freedom of organisation for workers, peasants and all oppressed sections of society.
On July 31, the PRD stated: "The PRD, as a defender of the people's sovereignty, as a party of the oppressed, will continue to struggle with all its strength, ability, force and for social justice, peace and democracy. Democracy is the bridge that can lead to a more civilised society, reflecting the people's aspirations. The PRD believes that 'the voice of the people is the voice of God'. And in the middle of the current repression, with the PRD's leaders being hunted down by the regime, in the midst of the regime's propaganda, in the midst of the hypocrisy of foreign governments, the PRD will continue its struggle."