Indonesia: Suharto Gone, Military Remains: Rulers, U.S. Maneuver A Mass Protests Sweep NationBy Fred Goldstein
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS. Suharto had said he would preside over a "transition" to another head of state. His opponents, who now include many from the ruling class as well as important military figures, said he must step down immediately or be impeached. Much of the Indonesian bourgeoisie, plus the U.S. government through Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, weighed in against Suharto. Their concern is to contain the burgeoning mass movement before it can remove not only Suharto but the system of exploitation that has impoverished the Indonesian working people MAY 20--As open defiance of Indonesia's hated military-fascist regime grows, all those complicit in the rule of President Suharto--the U.S. imperialists who put him in power, the local capitalists who have thrived on exploitation, and the murderous Indonesian military high command--are feverishly maneuvering to maintain their positions. In the long run, however, none of their maneuvers is likely to reverse the latest leap forward in the awakening of the struggle in Indonesia after three decades of repressive rule. The latest maneuver is Suharto's offer to preside over a transition through elections in which he will not run. He has proposed to set up a "reform cabinet" and "reform committee" that will draft a new election law. This announcement, made on national television, gave no timetable for the elections other than "very soon" after the new law is drafted. MILITARY CHIEF WEIGHS IN Harmoko claimed to be representing all five designated factions of the parliament. Shortly thereafter, Defense Minister and armed forces head Gen. Wiranto called a news conference to declare that Harmoko's announcement "had no legal basis." Suharto still had business to take care of, the general said. Wiranto also warned against mass demonstrations scheduled for May 20, the 90th anniversary of the birth of Indonesia's movement for independence from Dutch colonial rule. This scenario sounds suspiciously in accord with Washington's orientation. According to the May 15 Washington Post: "The shooting deaths of several Indonesian students by security forces [May 12] jolted the [Clinton] administration into taking an important step beyond its previous position of simply urging the Suharto government to adopt economic reforms. ... "Fearful that Indonesia is descending into social chaos amid popular fury against the regime, U.S. officials are calling for the establishment of a more democratic political system--with the unstated implication that the time is nearing for Suharto to relinquish much, if not all, of his power." The Post quoted State Department spokesperson James P. Rubin as saying that "clearly the government and other groups in Indonesia need to get together and discuss political reforms. ... President Suharto is still the leader, and we accept that." NO LONGER USEFUL TO IMPERIALIST `DEMOCRATS' The United States put Suharto in power and guided him in the murder of half a million to a million communists and progressives in 1965. Washington has used him for three decades. Now he is hated and used up, and is an obstacle to Wall Street. Washington is interested in finding a transition that would oust Suharto, keep the military in control, put up some facade of capitalist democracy to derail the growing struggle and at the same time expand imperialist interests in Indonesia. In fact, the current political crisis originates in the U.S. attempt, through the International Monetary Fund, to use the economic crisis to tighten its grip on the Indonesian economy. When the Indonesian currency collapsed and the economy began to plunge last December, the IMF confronted Suharto with demands that were bound to be rejected. They wanted him to disband the economic empire of his family and his capitalist supporters and open the economy to full control by the multinationals. They demanded that he cancel mass construction projects that give not only profits to his friends but work to tens of thousands of workers. And they demanded an end to subsidies and all social spending. In short, they told him to cut down his fortune and destroy social and political stability. Naturally, Suharto resisted. Twice he signed an agreement with the IMF and twice he went back out of it. This process has had a profound political effect inside Indonesia. SUHARTO'S SPLIT WITH U.S. PROVIDES OPENING For three decades Indonesian society has lived under the repressive Suharto regime. This regime has banned all independent organization by the workers, peasants, students, intellectuals or any other sector of the masses. For three decades the military has been the political police, as well as the government authority at every level. And all this has been identified with Suharto and his New Order. Those who think the Suharto regime has softened after 32 years should consider the case of the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD), Budiman Sudjatmiko. In 1996 he was sentenced to 13 years in prison under the anti-subversion laws. The official charges against him were outlined in a government indictment: "That he set up an organization called the PRD with associated organizations, the PPBI [a labor union], the SMID [a student organization], the STN [a peasant organization] and Jakker [a cultural workers' network] which mentioned People's Social Democracy, not the Indonesian Constitution, as its basic principle. That the PRD undermined state ideology by not conforming with decisions of the legislative assembly which stipulates that social and political forces must adhere to the sole principle of the state." (Reprinted from Tapol homepage on the Internet.) There are dozens of other charges, including that he called for a raise in the minimum wage and freedom of association for workers. And that he shouted, "Long live the workers, long live the students," at a demonstration outside the parliament. Dita Sari, the leader of the Center for Indonesian Labor Struggle (PPBI), is serving five years in prison for organizing workers, and especially women workers, who are so super-exploited in Indonesia. Student organizations have had to function underground for years. They have only recently emerged during the latest struggle against Suharto. Thousands of political prisoners languish in Suharto's jails. STRUGGLE STILL IN EARLY PHASE But this is the earliest phase of an historic struggle that will go through many twists and turns. It will present revolutionary opportunities in the course of which illusions will be destroyed, misconceptions cleared up and lessons learned. The revolutionary, class-conscious organizers of the struggle will play a decisive role in clarifying relationships to the masses and the students. Dita Sari did just that when, before being imprisoned, she told an Australian interviewer: "Democracy for us has a class aspect. There are oppressors and oppressed. There are capitalists and the exploited." Even a small organization can grow to have tremendous influence by expounding the demands of the workers and oppressed in the struggle. Ultimately the masses will learn that the problem is not Suharto but imperialism and capitalism, and their military stooges. NO OPTION BUT STRUGGLE Washington has been operating on the premise that it must have a political change in order to "fix" the economic situation. But Wall Street's idea of "fixed" is not the same as that of the masses. Whoever succeeds Suharto will either make the economic situation worse for the masses or have to resist the IMF program. Either option opens the road to renewed struggle. The IMF program is to break up the Indonesian monopolies so that U.S. and other imperialist monopolies can have undisputed rights to exploit the Indonesian workers. Labor-intensive projects are to be terminated. Subsidies on food, fuel and other necessities of life are to be ended so the money can be recycled back to Wall Street. Bankruptcies are to be promoted. Thus the political solution, should Washington and the Indonesian military be able to work out a "transition," will lead to greater mass economic suffering and greater struggle. SOMEONE TO TELL MASSES TO `SACRIFICE MORE' "We need a transition period," said Laksamana Sukardi, identified as an economist and business consultant who advises opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri. "Post-Suharto, the economy is going to be terrible. What we need is a leader who has influence and who is respected by the people, who can tell 200 million Indonesians to sacrifice more." (Washington Post, May 17) The dilemma facing the imperialists and the Indonesian military is illustrated by the observations of Nicholas Kristof in the May 18 New York Times. He interviewed people in Jakarta, where an estimated 10,000 low-paid and unemployed workers rebelled and took clothes, food and appliances. They also damaged thousands of buildings and vehicles. After a series of interviews, this seasoned counter-revolutionary concluded: "Many seemed to derive a bit of satisfaction from the idea that the air-conditioned department stores, monuments to Indonesia's wealthy, have gone up in flames. Some of the idle young men sound less interested in political warfare than in class warfare." The great outburst of students and workers in Jakarta and other cities has revealed the fragility of the imperialist structure in Indonesia. The imperialists hope for a fraudulent "people's power" solution, like the one the Reagan administration engineered in the Philippines when Washington dumped its dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. But it's different this time. There's an economic crisis in all of Asia. In Indonesia, the pent-up anger and frustration after the long nightmare of fascist military rule is coming up against a decrepit and weak ruling class. This struggle will not easily be put aside.
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