By Sam King
JAKARTA — The newly elected President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) announced his cabinet on October 26. Like the combination of Wahid as president and Megawati Sukarnoputri as vice-president, the cabinet's composition represents a willingness to share power by Indonesia's major elite political factions.
Cabinet positions were dished out not only to the military and all the larger parties in the parliament but also to many regional representatives, including from Aceh and West Papua.
The cabinet includes six members of the military, of them still active; this is the largest single faction. Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has three ministers, the National Awakening Party (PKB) two the Islamic association Nahdlatul Ulama three, Amien Rais' National Mandate Party (PAN) four, former ruling Golkar party four, United Development Party (PPP) two, Justice Party one and Star and Crescent Party (PBB) one.
Unresolved conflicts between political currents have resulted in this power sharing arrangement. It is being hailed as a "government of national unity" by the elite and a "government of elite unity" by its critics.
Elite compromise
The popular struggle for change is reflected at the elite level in the popularity of Megawati and other loyal opposition parties. This has come up against the strength of the remaining Suharto era political forces, especially the military. This same balance existed during the June elections and is the fundamental basis for the elite compromise.
The mass anti-dictatorship protests of 1998 opened up a degree of democratic space, which allowed new political forces to enter the parliament. By accepting the decision of the November 1998 MPR to schedule an election in June this year, with the military still appointed to the parliament, the elite opposition parties channelled the mass momentum behind their own election campaigns.
Accepting the election proposal of the MPR constituted a critical compromise with the military and the Habibie regime. The parties that were then catapulted into parliament and national leadership positions through that election have proved more than willing to comprise further with the New Order forces.
The ability of opposition figures from the political elite such as Megawati, Amien Rais and Gus Dur to gain leadership of the mass movement in 1998 was crucial in laying the foundations for the present compromise with the New Order political forces.
It also set the basis for failure of that movement to go beyond just getting rid of Suharto and sweep away all the New Order structures. As a result, Suharto's political and military structures still have considerable clout.
The cabinet deal was struck during a closed-door meeting involving Wahid, Megawati, General Wiranto, Akbar Tanjung from Golkar and Amien Rais.
Wahid's presidency and Megawati's vice-presidency form the central pillar of the elite compromise. This formulation gives a facelift to the government, while the composition of the cabinet assures there will be no radical policy changes.
Megawati's followers
Wahid's victory over Megawati in the battle for the presidency can be attributed to two main factors. The first is his greater ability to relate to and reconcile the various factions within the Indonesian elite, especially the Islamic parties. Secondly, his perceived greater abilities as a propagandist and "statesman" won him the confidence of the elite forces outside Megawati's PDI-P.
The basis for compromise with the Islamic right wing solidified during the presidential election. Yusril Ihza Mahendra, the preferred candidate of the radical right Islamic parties, withdrew his candidacy before the count in order to channel votes to Gus Dur. Gus Dur, as chairman of the mass Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, is seen as more likely than Megawati to compromise with the demands of radical Islamic forces.
Megawati's election as vice-president is useful for taming the anger and militancy of her mass base. The consciousness of her mainly urban poor supporters focuses overwhelmingly on the success of Megawati herself.
Gaining the vice-presidency appears to have pacified a majority of her supporters for now. The mass actions that took place on the night of Wahid's election have not continued. A section of her supporters in Jakarta took to the streets after the vice-presidential election to celebrate her "victory".
Opposition
Small student protests have already occurred in Jakarta rejecting the composition of the cabinet.
These protests, organised by City Forum, National Students League for Democracy and other student groups, are at this stage the only organised political force that has come out in opposition to the Wahid government. The protests demanded the exclusion of military and New Order ministers from the cabinet and the trial of Suharto.
The student movement is likely to heat up, at least in the short term, around these demands. This will coincide with likely increased momentum around November 13, the anniversary of the day last year when the military shot dead more than a dozen people during protests surrounding the special session of the MPR.
The People's Democratic Party (PRD) plans to march to the presidential palace on November 2, present a list of demands to Wahid and declare the PRD's opposition to the new government.
The PRD opposes the government on the basis that it is full of military and New Order representatives and will demand that the government clean out these groups as a matter of democratic principle. This includes ending the dual function of the military, which gives 38 seats in the parliament to members of the armed forces.
The PRD is likely to be the only political party to declare opposition.
Political prisoners
Indonesia's foremost novelist, PRD member Pramoedya Ananta Toer, was able to meet with Wahid in the presidential palace a few days after the cabinet was announced. Pramoedya, a political prisoner for almost 15 years under Suharto used the opportunity to demand the release of PRD leader Budiman Sujatmiko and all remaining political prisoners.
The initial moves by the new government indicate that a quick release of at least some of the political prisoners is likely. Wahid and Amien Rais raised the issue of political prisoners while still in opposition before the election. Then, it was a way they could distance themselves from the Habibie regime and Suharto.
Megawati also is under pressure to support the release of political prisoners. The most well-known prisoners are the PRD members jailed in 1996 during the crackdown that followed Megawati being forcibly removed from leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party by Suharto. This makes it difficult for the new government to justify keeping the remaining political prisoners behind bars.
Other minor democratic reforms are also on the cards. One of the first policy moves of the new government has been to abolish the Department of Communication, which under Suharto controlled the press and banned criticism of the dictatorship. Wahid's stated reason for dismantling the department is that information belongs to the people, not the government.
The new PDI-P minister for the coordination of economy, finances and industry, Kwik Kian Gie, has already called on the IMF for "assistance", saying the government is in need of foreign loans.
Amien Rais has praised appointment of Acehnese Hasballah M. Sadd as minister of human rights and West Papuan Laksamana Muda Freddy as minister for efficiency of the state apparatus. However, Wahid's statements since becoming president — that attacks on civilians in Aceh have been carried out not by the military but by Acehnese in military uniform — indicate that the government will try to justify a continued military presence in Aceh.
The comments have sparked widespread public debate in Indonesia and some protest in Aceh.
There are many indications of intentions to keep any opening up of democratic space extremely limited or confined to the elite level.
Bomer Pasaribu has been appointed minister of labour power. He is the former head of SPSI, the Suharto-era government-run union that still functions as an agent for the bosses in spying on independent union activity.
Armed forces
Immediately after Megawati announced the cabinet, Wahid himself rhetorically backed the military in a nationally televised press conference saying, "We need our armed forces" and that any voices suggesting the military shouldn't be in the cabinet were to be rejected. He criticised calls for war crimes trials of Indonesian generals, saying, "There are some good generals and some bad ones".
Appointment of the infamous and brutal General Wiranto and the other military members to the cabinet will ensure their power within the government, despite popular pressure to restrict the role of the military.
Lieutenant General Agum Gumelar, the minister of communication, typifies the military figures in the new cabinet. He is still serving, has been commander of elite Kopassus units and has served in East Timor.
Not one party in the parliament is opposed to the dual function of the military.
The compromised positions of Wahid's, Megawati's and Amien Rais' parties, coupled with the presence of the military and Golkar at the top levels of government, make it clear this government will try to block completion of the democratic reform process started by the Indonesian people's mass struggles.
Nor will it attempt to implement progressive economic policies favouring the majority of people; it is already courting the IMF and will be unwilling to disturb Suharto and his cronies in their enjoyment of the massive wealth taken from the Indonesian people.