INDONESIA: Activists demand an end to corruption
On July 20, huge banners, which dwarfed the activists who daringly scaled the walls of Indonesia's parliament building in Jakarta to hang them, announced the demands of the People's Democratic Party (PRD).
Two giant banners listed the most infamous cases of corruption that have been exposed, or have occurred, during the government of Abdurrahman Wahid (also known as Gus Dur) and Megawati Sukarnoputri, and huge sums of money involved. The banners also listed all those involved in these cases: officials of Suharto's Golkar party; Suharto and B.J. Habibie cronies and other high-level bureaucrats. The slogan, "These are the cases that the Gus Dur-Megawati government must solve now!", was emblazoned across the banners.
The giant banners were part of a PRD campaign to increase pressure on the government to eliminate the influence and role of the Suharto-era political forces in Indonesian politics. The PRD has also launched legal action against Suharto-era ministers and officials in relation to the suppression of the PRD in 1996 and is demanding that the National Human Rights Commission begin a public investigation into the fate of 14 activists kidnapped during 1997 and 1998 and still unaccounted for.
The Wahid-Megawati government has so far shown itself to lack the political will to act firmly against Suharto-era elements involved in corruption and oppression.
On July 18, PRD chairperson Budiman Sujatmiko met with the head of the parliamentary fraction of Wahid's National Awakening Party (PKB), Abdul Matori Jalil. The PKB has sought joint action with the PRD against Suharto-era forces, who are currently angling for increased influence in the Wahid government.
In the meeting with Matori, Sujatmiko stressed that Wahid and the PKB could only be regarded as true defenders of democracy if they are willing to resolve all major corruption cases that took place during the regime of Suharto. According to the Jakarta Indonesian Observer, Sujatmiko said the main problem is that Wahid is yet to show his commitment by launching serious legal investigations into the previous regime's corruption and nepotism.
Sujatmiko called on Wahid to not only to take action against Suharto in relation to corruption, but also the gross human rights violations committed throughout the Suharto era. The PRD leader cited the 1965-66 period, when more than 500,000 leftists were slaughtered, the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre of an estimated 400 protesters; the 1989 massacre of Muslim protesters in Lampung, and the 1993 rape and murder of labour activist Marsinah.
BY MAX LANE
[Max Lane is national coordinator of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor. Visit the ASIET web site at <http://www.asiet.org.au> for more information on the PRD and its campaigns.]