Mark Johnson spoke to Wilson, Coordinator of the PRD Education and Propaganda Department, and Vijay, a student activist. Most PRD organisers are from a student background, but their deepest ambition is to become a party of students, workers and the urban poor.
Like the rest of the student movement, the main concern of the PRD is ending the military's intervention in politics. They are particularly concerned at Megawati Sukarnoputri's refusal to contront the armed forces, and "her mistaken belief that she can negotiate a gradual reduction in their power.
Students tend to consider "radical" all those who accept the need for "total reformasi"-though many such activists hope to build "human-centred capitalism" rather than any transition to socialism.
Like the other explicitly left parties which contested the election, the PRD stresses that democracy must include the right to form trade unions and peasant organisations. Their originality lies perhaps in the call for the development of independent workers, peasants, and students councils. In the long term, these could form the basis for a genuinely democratic government. In the short and medium term, they focus students' attention on the need for the oppressed peasant and urban poor majority to form their own organisations, outside the structures established by the previous regime.
According to Wilson, "the most important is to set up organisations on day-to-day questions, like water, garbage, roads, electricity. Then we try to introduce political education, using party pamphlets and the newspaper.
At the current step of the Indonesian struggle, we think it is better if these movements are autonomous of the party. We want support on an ideological basis, not an organisational one. If the organisations become too tightly connected, it limits the space for organising. And it limits their ability to do alliance work. because of the widespread anti-socialist prejudices.
"These groups are independent, but influenced by us. A lot of the student movement is linked to PRD. Probably a majority of the activists in the KOMRAD student committee for reform and democracy support us.Some of those cadre put more effort into their student work than into the PRD, but maybe its better to have a strong student movement, than keep them tightly in the PRD, and have a weaker overall movement.
Some of our comrades there now devote so much of their time to building that organisation that they don't have too much energy left for PRD initiatives, but probably its better to have more organisations, reaching more people, rather than one small organisation with a few members." Social demands
Because of the focus on these b democratic demands, the public most PRD members) are much aware of the party's social demand According to Wilson, these include the
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s Indonesia Introducing Indonesia's Marxists The small revolutionary movement in Indonesia faces
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reintroduction of state subsidy of nine current crisis is over." Wilson doesn't think a longer delay would be possible. "We oppose the IMF line, but, after all, our government doesn't have any money, and it depends on loans from the Western
The removal of price subsidies was a central part of the IMP's structural adjustment plan for Indonesia, signed by the previous regime, and which Megawati has promised to uphold.
PRD militants also call for substantial wage increases for all workers. Some say 100%, others 200%. Wilson is not at all worried that some workers might find this demand unrealistic. "Of course, it's pure propaganda. In struggle, you have to demand the maximum, and then negotiate. Even if your maximum demand isn't realistic... If we ask only 50%, they'll still be poor."
Since this is a purely propagandistic demand, there is confusion among party militants on how such increases chould be financed-whether employers should pay, or the state. It is also unclear how the party would extend this demand to the peasant majority, or the mass of self-employed or informally employed urban poor. Some militants suggest nationalisation of the assets of the Suharto family and the top foreign multinationals.
More concretely, the PRD says Indonesia should develop a much larger social
"But the problem with the existing programmes is that Golkar uses them as an election campaign fund, not to meet the basic needs of the people," Megawat
The PRD is still discussing the exact thrust of its campaiging once Megawati takes power. "For the moment, we say that whichever party takes power should implement a genuine reformasi agenda. But we have two relatively quiet months until parliament selects the new president. That gives us time to consolidate ourselves, and rebuild political organisations.
"There is no doubt that Megawati will continue IMF policies. Many ordinary people expect that she will reduce prices. In fact, she will do the opposite." Facing repression.
Although the PRD is a legal party, it faces intermittent repression by military violence, and unidentified thugs probably linked to top military and economic circles. There has also been some harassment of PRD members by Islamic groups-though according to Wilson "these groups are motivated by money, rather than ideology. They are backed and financed by the military. These Islamic gangsters are not our real enemy-the army is behind them."
Fourteen PRD activists were hospitalised on July 1%, after military and police used extreme violence to break up
An IL
a protest at the Electoral Commission. Several are still in hospital with gunshot and baton wounds.
Despite the release of Dita Sari (see separate article, several top PRD leaders remain in jail as political prisoners. Not like western women
According to a PRD student organiser, Vijay, the PRD is "pro-feminist... but based on a thorough scientific analysis of the Indonesian situation. This isn't Europe. You don't have big groups of women marching and chanting free abortion slogans. Nevertheless, women here don't have the same rights as in advanced capitalism. Here we still have many vestiges of feudal thinking."
Islamic fundamentalists don't want a woman to be president, but otherwise, they are too weak to pose a threat to women's rights. "They're growing very fast, and recruiting in the student milieu, but it isn't something we're very worried about yet." Election success?
The party scored less than 0.03% in the election, but leaders reject any negative criticism of their campaign, or their participation. Winning a large number of votes was never the intention, explains Wilson, who professes not to understand those foreign PRD supporters who "talked up" the party's electoral
For PRD leaders, the election was about propaganda, and party building. "Because of electoral participation, we were able to spread PRD structures from 55 to at least 116 city groups," says Wilson.
"And ideologically speaking, the more radical element in the student population is coming to the PRD. Many already have a socialist consciousness, so they bring great energy into the party.
"Our demands are becoming more popular, Not just among the students, but among the urban poor. Our biggest success is the influence of our antimilitarism. Our leaders have been arrested, but we continued to play a big role in the democracy movement. We have been able to give a moral boost to these movements. And our contribution is recognised, though perhaps in moral,
БігелоЛІ rather than ideological terms."
But Wilson does acknowledge some errors in the building of the party. "Our biggest mistake was our strategy during the last weeks of the Suharto period. We had spend several years patiently organising in the urban grass roots areas. But suddenly a large student movement developed, in opposition to the regime. Many of our cadre rushed into the student movement, and joined the massive demonstrations. But in doing so, they abandoned their regular work of political leadership among the people. We had been waiting patiently for the right movement. But when it came, we were no longer in the right place!
"The reason there were so many riots, after the wave of student protests, is precisely because there was no political leadership of the urban poor. We warned our cadre at the time, but many of them did not listen to us. This lack of discipline reflected their petty bourgeois mentality. The students seemed to be 'where it's at.' So that is where they rushed. Some of us still feel very frustrated that, after sacrificing so much to build a base among the urban poor, we lost our place so quickly when the moment came. So, we learned the hard lesson that patience is very important for a revolutionary group."
A minority in the PRD originally wanted to boycott the elections. Wilson explains, "only the student movement could have taken up and organised a real boycott campaign. But the elections were organised during the university holidays! Don't forget that the PRD was still illegal at that time. So there was no real force that could organise a boycott campaign. Also, Megawati has a massive machine, down to the kampong (village) level. She tells people that the elections will solve most of their
So a boycott campaign wouldn't be very successful."
The election was undemocratic, both in terms of police-military interference, the huge resources at Golkar's disposal, and the obvious fraud during the extended vote-counting procedure. According to Wilson, PRD participation in the election was the best way to expose these shortcomings. The party also received government funds for printing distributing its electoral programme.
Theoretically, parties that polled under 2% will not be able to participate in the next parliamentary election. But, as Wilson says, "that is a long way away, and a lot can change in the meantime. This is just one of the undemocratic laws we will be fighting to change." ЧИ? ed Party building
The PRD has grown rapidly since it was legalised. Estimates of membership vary from 2,000 to 10,000, of which 3040% are women. "Since most new recruits come from a student background, they need to be tested in organising, International Viewpoint #314 September 1999
* Indonesia says Wilson." Only the core of the party-several hundred experienced cadres-have a consolidated Marxist education, and understand the project of building a revolutionary party.
Rapid growth brings many organisational problems. As Wilson complains, "20 branches have Internet access, but to contact some others we need two weeks, to send and receive letters. Organising a centralised party in an archipelago, where the local dynamic can be very different from the national, is extremely difficult. Especially since politics move so fast at the moment."
"There is a possibility for regroupment in the student movement," says Wilson. "Some are willing to build a long term struggle, and realise that most of the current student committees lack leadership. We criticise that way of organising. And we are pleased to see that more and more students recognise the need for a party, for party-type struggle. The focus of student protest has not changed: ending the dual function of the military. The PRD platform can unite
We are the only party which prioritises the military question. Notes It costs US$1O to send International Viewpoint to an Indonesian group for one year. Donations to our own "solidarity fund" can be sent through any of our national sales agents • Donations to the PRD for their own work should be sent to Bank account 34230011501, Bank Central Asia, Matraman branch, Jalan Salemba Raya, Jakarta-Timur, Indonesia.
are many organisers and bases that I haven't been able to meet yet. Tomorrow will be a good chance to speak to a bigger section of the membership."
The launch lasted for about four hours and had several highlights. A fantastic workers' theatre presentation inspired the audience with the need to struggle while taking the micky out of the bosses and supervisors, the military and the hired thugs whom workers have to deal with every day.
A poetry performance almost 30 minutes long had the audience in stitches, as well as shouting their defiance. A moving rendition of the movement's hymn, "Blood of struggle", brought the workers to their feet to reaffirm their commitment.
Dita began her speech by explaining how worker activists had, in 1994-96, formed the Indonesian Centre for Labour Struggles (PPBI) and how it had been crushed following the 1996 crackdown. Dita was arrested then, as was the PPBI secretary-general, Ignatius Pranowo, who is still in jail.
PPBI activists were hunted down by the military, and known bases of support were terrorised. There was a massive black propaganda campaign.
"So the movement had to rebuild using new methods", Dita said. "Local committees were established wherever there were worker protests and wherever workers could be organised more permanently.