8123B0Jm basic demands. • abolish the dual function of the The radical left intervention Armed Forces (their duty to intervene in civilian affairs) • repeal the five key repressive political laws • respect the Maubere [East Timorese] people's right for self determination • oppose any colonialist attitudes that allow political economic repression and exploitation of the people of Aceh and West Papua • Suharto, his family, and all his supporters should be arrested and tried for their crimes • All assets of Suharto's family, his cronies, relatives and other multinationals which have profited in collaboration with the ruling family should be nationalised. * Source: PRD Statement, 20 May.
The popular and student movement is largely unco-ordinated and spontaneous. Only in recent months has independent political activity become possible at a wide scale. The most visible radical left group, the outlawed People's Democratic Party, has tried to act as a catalyst wherever possible. Edwin Gozal explains. To understand the intervention of progressive forces, we should look back a couple of months. At the end of March, Jakarta's military commander, Major General Sjamsuddin said *The force that is coming forward at the moment are those who call themselves the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and its affiliate, Students in Solidarity for Democracy in Indonesia (SSDI). They are the operators that are provoking actions that cause unrest. It's not them who are directly active, but they provoke things." Sjamsuddin stressed that the PRD-SSDI is not just talk: "They have a major plan and a strategic plan"
When demonstrators clashed with security personnel on the UNS Solo campus on March 25, the district Chief of Police told journalists that there were strong indications that the demonstrators had been infiltrated by SSDI. Meanwhile, people suspected to be part of the intelligence apparatus began spreading black propaganda about the involvement
* Indonesia of SSDI-PRD at the Lampung demonstrations, where two students were killed by the police.
In fact, these accusations were true. PRD-SSDI was always in the forefront of students demonstration in the key cities of Jakarta, Lampung and Solo - demonstrations which have become the trigger for bigger students demonstrations elsewhere.
Nezar Patria, Deputy President of SSDI was captured on March 13 because he had been identified while leading the group organising students demonstration at Jakarta's prestigious University of Indonesia, and followed by army intelligence after one demonstration. And PRD activist Andi Arief was kidnapped in Lampung because he joined a public forum just before the bloody clash between military and students there. Radical catalyst
The moment when 10,000 students burned Suharto's effigy [for the first time] in Yogyakarta, was also because of SSDI intervention. When National Union of Students who officially chaired those protest gave a chance for us to make happening art, we intervened with the effigy burning.
The emergence of demands for revision of the five repressive political laws shows that SSDI-PRD are always in the forefront of the struggle. We are the only organisation who consistently put forward this demand. We have been doing so for three years already. Today, this demand is getting more support trom the people. Even Suharto and his ministers finally said that they would revise several repressive laws, including the Election and Parliament Membership laws.
Further evidence of the SSDI-PRD role in the radicalisation of the students came on May 8, when students in Jakarta staged a mock trial in which an "extraordinary people's court" charged Suharto with killing two million "suspected" opponents, between the seizure of power in 1965, invasion of East Timor in 1975, the savage "Petrus" repression of "petty criminals" in 1983, the massacre of Muslim protesters in Tanjung Priok in 1984, and State Terrorism towards students and workers in the late 1980s. The students pronounced Suharto guilty and sentenced him to death.
Political events like this don't happen spontaneously. Only a few students group are concerned about the bloody killing in 1965, and illegal occupation of East Timor. The wider student public only becomes sensitised and radicalised on these questions because of the leadership role played by progressive forces like the PRD-SSDI. Labour-student links
The increasing number of the workers and urban poor who are linking up with the students is another interesting question [for those who doubt the role of the radical left]. For example, on May 3, around 300 factory workers from Tangerang, East Jakarta, joined the Salemba demonstration at the invitation of students leaders. In fact, only SSDI-PRD consistently put forward 6 International Viewpoint #301 this kind of concept about worker and students alliances. Fortunately, we are finding a growing audience for these ideas.
Before the banning of PRD-SSDI, we were trying to organise the students and workers alliance through the Indonesian Centre for Labour Struggle, the PRD-affiliated trade union.
The clashes that took place in the first weeks of May are also the result of SSDIPRD intervention. The new term "students intifada" become so popular because we are really prepared for that kind of rock and stone-throwing. When the police in Solo tried to collect the stones thrown by students during one such demonstration, they found at least six baskets of rock.
The escalation of direct action expanded to include action to detain police or army spies at demonstrations, and exchange them against students arrested by the police. [In the weeks before Suharto fell] this became a massive phenomenon.
In Yogyakarta at least six army intelligence agents were arrested by the students. In Bogor, one policeman was killed by the students. In the first three weeks of May, more than 100 police were injured. Students in Semarang even occupied the National Radio and pushed the reporters to read out the pro-democratic programme. Unfortunately they finished the occupation on May 18th, just a few days before the dictator resigned.
So far, we haven't been able to act openly as the SSDI-PRD. Not only because of security problems, but also because of the fragile coalition that is being built. Most of the forces who joined and are joining this recent upheaval are new forces, who are being politicised by the current circumstances. Not all of them are friendly with the SSDI-PRD as such, although they have often agreed with elements of the PRD-SSDI programme, and chanted PRD-inspired slogans.
Of course, bourgeois media prefer to publish the profile of these groups and personalities, rather than progressive forces like SSDI-PRD.
One rising star is Rama Pratama, the President of the National Students Union at the University of Indonesia. He is a moderate students leader, but he has received a lot of attention from the media. He just calls for "complete reforms," which means Suharto has to step down. The problem, of course, is that, if only Suharto is replaced, and the entire system still exists, how can we impose democracy in Indonesia? With the brutal military still there, and the puppet parliament still existing?
Rama Pratama says that "it is not the job of the students to decide the future leader: let the system decide that." He said that his group would support anyone who could make improvements. "If there is no improvement, students will be demonstrating again. This is what independent students, without any interest in politics, want".
Apart from "primadonas" like Rama Pratama, the rising force is Action of Moslem Students in Indonesia (KAMMI) headed by Fachri Hamzah. This group is affiliated to Amien Rais, the head of the middle class Muslim movement Muhammadiyah, and endorsed him as the future president. In the past this group was silent [during student protests]. But suddenly, in the first weeks of May, they appeared, acted strongly anti-government, and made several actions. We suspect that they got an order from Amien Rais to become outspoken and critical about recent political development.
Some of the protests are completely spontaneous, and lack political leadership. Like several protests outside Java, in the holiday islands of Medan and Lombok. Other protests have been initiated by liberal democrat students group like PPPY (Union of Students of Yogyakarta).
These groups don't have any clear demands and political programme. This leads them to do things like have a march and rally to the zoo, proclaiming that they want to tell the animals about their concerns, because they can't rely on their parliamentary representatives. Or having a rally outside the Post Office, and handed in a giant postcard addressed to the Supreme Court Judges. Moving forward
We of the SSDI-PRD haven't yet won the leadership of the student movement as a whole. But at least we have made many interventions that have made these protests become more political.
We have failed to maintain the slogan "Democracy or Death" as the centra student slogan. Unfortunately, "Reform or Death" is taking over as the most popular slogan. I say "unfortunately," because we have consistently argued that reform will mean nothing, because, for liberal demo crats, reform means freedom for the few while maintaining the system that be down the majority.
On the other hand, PRD-SSDI slo like "arrest and try Suharto, his fam and his supporters" and "nationalise al assets of Suharto's family, his cronies the multinationals" have become more more popular as time goes on. *