white book of 1978 student's struggle

8/3/2019 White Book of 1978 Student's Struggle

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WHITE BOOK OF THE19 78 STUDENTS1

STRUGGLE

Editors1 Note:In harmony with Indonesia1 s long-standing policy of helping tomake available pol it ical texts of unusual interest or historical sig-nificance, a full translation of the White Book of the 1978 Students'Struggle is given below. There are three basic reasons for publishingit. First, its intrinsic importance is great. It represents, to ourknowledge, the first systematic Indonesian critique of the domesticpolicies of theNew Order regime that hasbeen in power for the pasttwelve years. Secondly, it waspublished under the auspices of theStudent Council of theBandung Institute of Technology, themostprestigious anddemanding of Indonesia's tertiary educational insti-tutions . In this sense, aside from anyintrinsic importance, it issignificant as representing the thinking of a sizable element of theIndonesian younger generation's intellectual e l i te. Thirdly, theWhite Book wasbanned by themilitary authorities within a matter ofdays of publication, as part of thegeneral crackdown ondissent lastJanuary 20 (to ensure the smooth reelection of Suharto to a third termof office as Indonesia's president) . Under present circumstances, itis a rare bibliographical item to which readers may not otherwisehave ready access.All footnotes have been added by the Editors.

DECLARATION OFPOSITION*STUDENTS OF THEBANDUNG INSTITUTE OFTECHNOLOGY [BIT]

1.1. Considering that the lives of the Indonesian People at presentare still far removed from the ideals of Independence whichformed the basis for the founding of the State of the Republicof Indonesia;1.2. Considering that this situation has been caused by incorrectgovernment policies which can in fact be rectified, providedthat the government has the political will to do so; consider-

ing that this situation has also been caused by deviations andabuses of power by government officials, leading to an erosionof the authority of Government Institutions;1.3. Considering that the above situation is an indication of thefailure of the national leadership in carrying out its functions;and considering that this failure is its responsibility;

*So far as possible, the translators have tried to preserve the idiosyncratictypography and orthography of the original Indonesian text.151


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11.1. Considering that democratic life must be maintained by providingthe widest possible opportunity for all social groups in societyto participate in determining the national leadership;11.2. Considering that a dynamic political life in this country cannot possibly develop if the presidency is occupied by the sameperson for more than two successive terms;

The Students of the BIT declare that:THEY DO NOT TRUST AND DO NOT WANT SUHARTO TO BE PRESIDENTOF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA AGAINAnd they demand that:

1. All fractions in the MPR [Peoplefs Consultative Assembly] imme-diately nominate prestigious figures, whose integrity is beyondany doubt, as candidates for President of the Republic of Indo-nesia;

2. The MPR fulfill the demands of the students as contained in theIndonesian Studentsf Manifesto of October 23, 1977;3. The Armed Forces do indeed stand above all groups in the in-terest of the nation and the state.

Result of the deliberations of theStudent Association - Student Council,Bandung Institute of TechnologyJanuary 14, 1978ON BEHALF OF THE STUDENT COMMUNITY OF THEBANDUNG INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Heri AkhmadiGeneral Chairman, Student Council, BIT

PREFACE

The White Book of the 1978 Students' Struggle has been compiledby an editorial team consisting of several students appointed by theStudent Council of the Bandung Institute of Technology as authorizedby the mandate of the Student Council of the BIT No. 017/MDT/DMITB/1978.

The contents of this book represent the product of discussionsand collection and compilation of data conducted either by the teamitself or in cooperation with other BIT students. The data are drawnfrom newspapers, journals, and government publications, such as MTheSecond Five Year Plan 74/75 - 78/79," and other materials.


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We would like to thank our fellow students and the staff of theBIT for their assistance, whether in the form of opinions or in otherwaysMay this book be of great significance to all of us .

M e r d e k a !!!!!Bandung, January 16Student Council, BIT

I. INTRODUCTION

Merdeka !!!!!!!The time has come for all of us to outline the struggle of thestudents amidst the unsatisfactory course the Development our belovedcountry is taking.We are not being overly dramatic when we state that all our ef-forts are a manifestation of our sense of responsibility as the youngergeneration which will have to give meaning to our country's indepen-dence .This Book of the Students' Struggle, published by the BIT StudentCouncil, endeavors to give a picture to the wider society of: why wehave to struggle and what the struggle is all about???As the tempo and the rhythm of the struggle are growing more and

more rapid, we must communicate the principles for which we must strug-gle, now and in the future.The problems faced by our country are too grave to be gambledwith any longer. The errors in our development strategy over the pastten years must be corrected as soon as possible.This White Book does not merely discuss negative incidents causedby administrative errors. We want to emphasize rather that the devel-opment policies themselves are wrong. The incidents in question aresimply the consequences of these erroneous policies.We hope that through this book we can give a clear portrayal ofthe problems that we all face together.We invite all readers of this book to unite in the struggle .

II. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF OUR COUNTRYThe defects that we see today are caused by the National Leader-ship and by the "System of Government11 that it has created. Impropermechanisms for the management of the state, which in turn have givenbirth to erroneous and uncontrolled policies and programs, have bred


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restless ness in society . Errors of leadership and in the system havetaken place in all fields: Politic al, Economi c, Sociocu ltural, Legaland other fields of deve lopm ent. All of this has generated a sense ofoppression and injustice in society.

A. The Political FieldAs a conseque nce of the political system that has been in opera-tion up till no w, government poli cies have been executed witho ut anyMmeani ngful corre ctive s" from the Political Parties and from Golkar, 1which are recognized administratively as the official poli tical f orces.The innermost voice of the little people, who live under theoppression and repression of the "elite 11 for ces, never reaches theears of the gove rnme nt. In turn, the governmen t has never opened itsheart to the pure and honest "voice of the common people1 s heart. " 2Thus a system in whi ch the city people exploit the villagers , the rich

oppress the poor, private cars elbow city buses out into the slowlanes, wealthy idiots kick aside poor bright people, non-native busi-nessmen kill offnative bus ines smen , etc. , goes on and on, and theoppress ed have no way of stopping it. There aren't even any com-plaints about it in Parliament any more.The prevai ling situat ion is such that "the top peo ple " solelydirec t their eyes and ears furthe r up . They all scram ble to enjoy theluxuries that are indeed freely "provided" by the liberal economic sys-tem practiced by the gove rnme nt!! These errors could develop to sucha disastrous point because control functions have not operated as theyshould. State Instit utions have in fact been "fixed" so as not tointerfere with the build-u p of "executive power ." For the sake ofstability in economic deve lopm ent, the whole system and all the activ-

ities of the Highes t State Institutions have been "harm onize d" withthe tastes of the exec utiv e. Let us obs erv e, one by on e, the anomaliesthat are to be found in the High est Insti tutio ns of our coun try .

A . I . ParliamentUp till now, Parliament is still not an institution capable ofchannel ling the aspirations of the pe opl e, nor is it an effective in-stitutio n for cont rol. Parliamen t is simply a spectator to all theirregula rities that are taking place wit hin the exec utive ! There havebeen many in cid ent s, shameful to our natio n and stat e, whic h have de-manded active in terven tion by the people's r epre sent ativ es, but theyhave done absolutely no thi ng. Major case s, such as the reports in the

foreign press about bribery in the acquisition of the "Palapa Satel-1Golkar--Golongan Karya (Functional Groups): The official name for the mili-tary government's electoral machine, which corralled sizable majorities in the par-liamentary elections of 1971 and 1977.2The Indonesian original is rakyat jelata, a phrase that is very difficult totranslate into English with the appropriate connotations. Jelata means impoverished,dispossessed, miserable, and, by implication, powerless. The phrase was very popu-lar during the Revolution (1945-1949), and retains to this day a somewhat leftwingaura.


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l i t e , " 3 have degraded our country in the eyes of the world. Actual ly ,Parliament should have been able to conduct an investigation to proveor disprove such al legat ions. But what did i t do in fact? It simplyconducted a few hear ings for the sake of "appearances," and af ter thatthe issue was considered as set t l ed . In the meantime, the Governmenttook the following steps to resolve the mat ter : f i r s t , the Minis terof Communications, Emil Salim, announced that he had formed an "inves-t igat ive team." After some time had elapsed, Minis ter Salim announcedth at there was evidently no proof tha t bribery had occurred in connec-tion with the purchase of the Palapa Sa t e l l i t e . What a joke! In thePalapa case, the Department of Communications was the criminal suspector the party charged with involvement in bribery. But then i t was thevery same Department of Communications that formed the "investigativeteam," and declared that the Department of Communications was cleanand tha t t here was no "Palapa Scandal," for in legal terms there wasno acceptable proof.

And this farce took place before the noses of the people'srepresentatives in Parliament; yet nothing was done.

Other major scandals suffered "the same fa t e . " Take the Bulog4case, for example. Everyone knows that , next to Pertamina, 5 Bulog isthe Number 2 place for graft . Almost everyone also knows that thereare many Bulog of f icials who li ve in the styl e of Bud ia ji .6 But whywere the manipulations of the Dolog7 of East Kalimantan singled out?And why did Budiaji do his utmost to cover up the wrongdoing of hissuperior s? And how can one explain that of the Rp. 7,600,000,0 00"s pi r i ted away" by Budia ji, only Rp. 3,000,000,000 has been traced?Or was Budiaji t r i ed simply to demonstrate t ha t the Governmenthas at least once brought an embezzler to court? Even though, byna tional st andard s, Budiaji was a "minnow" and, moreover, a provincial

figure far removed from the center of power. But now the governmentcan say to i t s people th at i t has eradicated cor rupt ion. At the sametime, R. 0. Tambunan did not get very far when he t r ied to expose thecorruption going on al l the way up to the Cent ral Bulog itself. The1977 Parliament, too, never followed up on R. 0. Tambunanfs efforts!And thi s fa rc e, too, took place before the noses of thepeople's representatives in Parliament, without any hindrance whatso-ever .

30n January 25, 1977, Seymour Hersh reported in the New York Times that GeneralSoehardjono, a senior official in the Department of Communications, had demanded$30,000,000 in bribes from General Telephone and Electronics to arrange a $330,000,000contract for launching a communications satellite for Indonesia.**Bulog = Badan Urusan Logistik (Logistics Management Body), a vast state agencywith monopolistic powers in the production, purchase, and distribution of basic sta-ples .5Pertamina = Perusahaan Tanah Minyak Nasional, the giant state oil enterprise,dominated for many years by the well-known General Ibnu Sutowo.6In early 1977, Budiaji, head of the East Kalimantan Bulog organization, wascharged and convicted of embezzling Rp. 7,600,000,000.7Dolog = Depot Logistik, the term for provincial branches of Bulog.


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H u n d r e d s o f o t h e r m a j o r c a s e s , s u c h a s t h e P e r t a m i n a t a n k e r 8a f f a i r , t h e R p . 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 B a n k B u mi D a y a c r e d i t s e p i s o d e , 9 a n dt h e l i k e , a l l o f w h i c h d e m a n d e d a c t i o n b y t h e p e o p l e ' s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s ,s u f f e r e d t h e " s a m e f a t e . f tA n d s o w e h a v e t o c o n s i d e r w h y o u r P a r l i a m e n t i s s o i n a c t i v e a n dw h y i t c a n n o l o n g e r b e t r u s t e d t o r e p r e s e n t t h e p e o p l e ? ? ? ?T h e r e a s o n , o f c o u r s e , i s t h a t P a r l i a m e n t h a s b e e n " f i x e d " b y t h en a t i o n a l e x e c u t i v e l e a d e r s h i p t o b e c o m e s o p a r a l y z e d ! E v e n a t t h et i m e w h e n t h e o f f i c i a l l i s t o f p a r l i a me n t a r y c a n d i d a t e s f r o m t h e P o l i t -i c a l P a r t i e s a n d f r o m G o l k a r w a s b e i n g d r a w n u p f o r t h e G e n e r a l E l e c -t i o n , t h e i n d i v i d u a l s l i s t e d w e r e p i c k e d b y t h e G o v e r n m e n t . P e o p l et h o u g h t t o h a v e t o o m u c h c o u r a g e _ , i n t e g r i t y , a n d p r i n c i p l e w e r e c o n -s i d e r e d d a n g e r o u s a n d w e r e s c r a t c h e d o f f t h e l i s t . T h o s e w h o r e m a i n e do n t h e l i s t o f c a n d i d a t e s Mb l e s s e d f l b y t h e g o v e r n m e n t c o n s i s t e d o fp e o p l e w h o w e r e e i t h e r w e a k o r , a t b e s t , m o d e r a t e s , r e a d y t o s w i n g t ot h e r i g h t o r t o t h e l e f t ; b u t t h e m a j o r i t y , o f c o u r s e , w e r e w e a k .

A f t e r t h e y w e r e e l e c t e d a n d b e c a me m e m b e r s o f P a r l i a m e n t , t h e y w e r ew e l c o me d w i t h v a r i o u s s p e c i a l f a c i l i t i e s t o t r s o f t e n t h e m u p . " T h ef i r s t " s o f t e n e r 1 1 w a s a R p . 9 0 , 0 0 0 s u i t , f o l l o w e d b y a c c o m m o d a t i o n s ,t r a n s p o r t a t i o n ( m i n i m a l l y f i r s t c l a s s t r a i n t i c k e t s , n o t " p e o p l e ' sc l a s s " ) , h o n o r a r i a , a V o l k s w a g e n o n t h e i n s t a l l m e n t p l a n , a n d o t h e rt h i n g s , s u c h t h a t t h e t o t a l v a l u e a m o u n t e d t o a p p r o x i m a t e l y R p . 2 5 0 , 0 0 0a m o n t h . Mo r e o v e r , t h e i r t i m e i s b y n o m e a n s w h o l l y t a k e n u p [ w i t hp a r l i a m e n t a r y d u t i e s ] , s o t h a t t h e y c a n s t i l l p u r s u e o t h e r l u c r a t i v eo c c u p a t i o n s o n t h e s i d e ! R e m e m b e r , t o o , t h a t n o o n e c a n c h e c k t h eq u a l i t y o f t h e w o r k o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s o f P a r l i a m e n t . Wh e t h e rt h e y a r e o f t e n a b s e n t o r w o r k d i l i g e n t l y , w h e t h e r t h e y s p e a k f r e q u e n t l yo r n e v e r s p e a k a t a l l - - t h e r e i s n o t o n e p e r s o n w h o m a k e s a n i s s u e o fi t ! T h e p u b l i c c a n e v a l u a t e t h e q u a l i t y o f t h e w o r k o f P a r l i a m e n t a sa n i n s t i t u t i o n , b u t i t c a n n o t d o s o f o r t h e i n d i v i d u a l m e mb e r s o fP a r l i a me n t , b e c a u s e t h e G e n e r a l E l e c t i o n [ e l e c t o r a l ] s y s t e m f o l l o wst h e p r o p o r t i o n a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , n o t t h e e l e c t o r a l d i s t r i c t , s y s t e m .

A f t e r t h e m e m b e r s h a d b e e n s e l e c t e d a n d " s o f t e n e d u p " a s i n d i v i -d u a l s , P a r l i a m e n t i t s e l f , a s a s y s t e m o r i n s t i t u t i o n , w a s a l s o " s o f -t e n e d u p . " P a r l i a m e n t h a s b e e n t a k e n c a r e o f i n s u c h a w a y t h a t i tc a n n o l o n g e r m a k e u s e o f i t s r i g h t o f e n q u e t e [ i n v e s t i g a t i o n ] , i t sr i g h t o f i n t e r p e l l a t i o n , a n d i t s r i g h t t o d e t e r m i n e t h e b u d g e t . O nu t i l i z i n g t h e r i g h t o f e n q u e t e ( i n v e s t i g a t i n g a p r o b l e m ) , a r u l e w a se s t a b l i s h e d t h a t t h e r e a l i z a t i o n o f t h i s r i g h t w o u l d b e r e g u l a t e d b y as e p a r a t e l a w . T o p r e v e n t P a r l i a m e n t f r o m u s i n g t h i s r i g h t , t o p r e v e n tP a r l i a m e n t f r o m b e c o m i n g a n u i s a n c e , t o p r e v e n t P a r l i a m e n t f r o m m a k i n ga f u s s , t o p r e v e n t P a r l i a m e n t f r o m b e i n g n a s t y e n o u g h t o i n v e s t i g a t es u c h t h i n g s a s P e r t a m i n a , B u l o g , t h e B a n k B u mi D a y a c r e d i t s , T a p o s ,8 T h e p r i c e s wh i c h P e r t a mi n a p a i d f o r t a n k e r s w e r e f a r i n e x c e s s o f n o r ma l ma r -k e t r a t e s . Ve s s e l s we r e p u r c h a s e d a t a c o s t 5 0 p e r c e n t a b o v e t h e p r e v a i l i n g p r i c e ,a n d i n a t l e a s t o n e i n s t a n c e w h a t P e r t a mi n a r e c e i v e d w a s a u s e d t a n k e r n o t a n e w o n e ,I t wa s c h a r g e d t h a t I n d o n e s i a n o f f i c i a l s we r e b r i b e d b y t h e S i n g a p o r e b u s i n e s s ma nRo b i n L o h , a n a s s o c i a t e o f S t o wo a n d a t a n k e r b r o k e r f o r P e r t a mi n a , t o a l l o w t h ed e a l s t o g o t h r o u g h .9 T h e e n t i r e s u m wa s g r a n t e d a s c r e d i t s t o a C h i n e s e , a c l o s e f r i e n d o f t h eP r e s i d e n t ' s f a mi l y . T h e d i r e c t o r o f t h e Ba n k B u mi Da y a wa s f o r c e d t o r e s i g n f o l l o w-i n g t h i s e p i s o d e .


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Ma n g a d e g , 1 0 t h e w e a l t h o f c e r t a i n o f f i c i a l s , e t c . , e s t a b l i s h me n t o fa n y l a w r e g u l a t i n g t h e r i g h t o f e n q u e t e wa s a b o r t e d !S o P a r l i a me n t h a s n e v e r b e e n a b l e t o u s e i t s r i g h t o f e n q u e t e !

T o e n s u r e t h a t n o s u c h l a w wa s e n a c t e d wa s n o b i g p r o b l e m f o r Go l k a r ,wh i c h h o l d s a ma j o r i t y o f p a r l i a me n t a r y a n d wh i c h i s a l s o r e i n -f o r c e d b y t h e Ar me d F o r c e s f r a c t i o n a p p o i n t e d p e r s o n a l l y b y t h e P r e s i -d e n t .C a n t h e p e o p l e e x p e c t a n y t h i n g f r o m s u c h a P a r l i a me n t ? C o n -s i d e r t h e Ge n e r a l E l e c t i o n s , f o r i n s t a n c e : t h e El e c t i o n Co mmi s s i o n wa sf o r me d a n d a p p o i n t e d , n o t b y P a r l i a me n t , b u t b y t h e G o v e r n m e n t , t h o u g hi n f a c t t h e Go v e r n me n t , t h r o u g h Go l k a r , w a s a l s o a p a r t i c i p a n t i n t h eGe n e r a l E l e c t i o n s . E x c e s s e s , n a t u r a l l y , we r e u n a v o i d a b l e . E x c e s s e ss u c h a s r e f e r e e A mi r Ma c h m u d 1 1 " j o i n i n g i n t h e g a m e , " f o l l o we d b yl u r a h [ v i l l a g e h e a d me n ] a n d o a m a t [ s u b d i s t r i c t o f f i c e r s ] , a l l f o r t h es a k e o f s e c u r i n g v i c t o r y f o r Go l k a r . T h e l i t t l e p e o p l e i n t h e v i l l a g e swe r e p r e s s u r e d , a n d n o t j u s t p r e s s u r e d , b u t e v e n p e r s e c u t e d , wi t h

t h r e a t s o f b e i n g k i d n a p p e d - - e s p e c i a l l y i n c r u c i a l a r e a s s u c h a s We s tJ a v a , C e n t r a l J a v a , a n d E a s t J a v a . Ne v e r t h e l e s s Mr . Pr e s i d e n t S u h a r t o 2d e c l a r e d We s t J a v a t h e b e s t e l e c t i o n r e g i o n ! Wh e r e a s J a k a r t a , w h i c hh a d c o n d u c t e d t h e E l e c t i o n q u i e t l y a n d wi t h o u t i n c i d e n t s , wa s n o t d e -c l a r e d s u c h a r e g i o n ! Wa s t h i s b e c a u s e t h e g o v e r n o r h a p p e n e d t o b eMa r i n e L t . G e n . Al i S a d i k i n ? Or b e c a u s e t h e P P P 1 3 w o n [ i n J a k a r t a ] ,n o t Go l k a r ? T h e y r e a l l y h a v e n o g e n e r o s i t y o f s p i r i t a ta l l. . . . An d t h i s f a r c e , t o o , t o o k p l a c e b e f o r e t h e n o s e s o f t h ep e o p l e ' s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s i n P a r l i a me n t , w i t h o u t a n y h i n d r a n c e w h a t s o -e v e r .C o u l d t h e l i t t l e p e o p l e i n t h e v i l l a g e s , w h o we r e p r e s s u r e d a n d

p e r s e c u t e d d u r i n g t h e e l e c t i o n s , a s k f o r h e l p f r o m t h e p e o p l e ' s r e p r e -1 0 Ta p o s r e f e r s t o t h e 3 5 0- h e c t a r e r a n c h o f S i g i t S u h a r t o , s o n o f Pr e s i d e n tS u ha r t o ( Ta po s i s a t o wn n e a r t h e r a n c h ) . Cr e d i t s t o d e v e l o p mi x e d f a r mi n g a t t h er a n c h we r e g r a n t e d t o S i g i t S u h a r t o a s a p r i v a t e i n d i v i d u a l , a p r a c t i c e c o n t r a r y t oe s t a b l i s h e d l e g a l p r o c e d u r e s . Th e Ma n ga d e g Fo u n d a t i o n , r u n b y t h e we a l t h y Ch i n e s eS o e ka md a ni Gi t o s a r d j o n o a nd wi t h I b u Ti e n S uh a r t o s e r v i n g a s a d v i s o r , wa s o r g a ni z e dt o c o or d i n a t e t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n a nd p r e s e r v a t i o n o f ma u s o l e a f o r t h e k i n o f t h eMa n gk u n e g a r a r o y a l f a mi l y t o wh i c h Mr s . S uh a r t o c l a i ms t o b e l o n g . Ap p r o x i ma t e l yR p . 4 , 5 0 0, 0 00 h a s b e e n c o l l e c t e d f o r t h i s p u r p o s e .1 1 Ge n e r a l Ami r Ma c h mu d , l o ng - t e r m Mi n i s t e r o f t h e I n t e r i o r , g a i n e d a c e r t a i na mb i g u ou s f a me a s t h e " b u l l d o z e r " o f t h e 1 97 1 P a r l i a me n t a r y e l e c t i o ns ( a nd mo r e r e -c e n t l y o f t h e 1 97 7 e l e c t i o n s ) , me a n i n g t h a t h e u s e d t h e f u l l p o we r o f t h e Mi n i s t r y

a nd i t s t e r r i t o r i a l b u r e a u c r a c y t o e n s u r e v i c t o r y f o r Go l k a r . As t h e Mi n i s t e r wi t hp r i me r e s p on s i b i l i t y f o r e n s u r i n g t h e s mo ot h a nd i mp a r t i a l f u n c t i o ni n g o f t h e e l e c -t o r a l p r o c e s s , h i s " b u l l d oz i n g " s e e me d t o ma n y r a t h e r l i k e a r e f e r e e p a r t i c i p a t i n gi n a g a me wh o s e f a i r n e s s h e i s s u p p os e d t o g u a r a n t e e .1 2 T h e I n d o ne s i a n p hr a s e i s " S a u d a r a P r e s i d e n Su h a r t o . " Th e t e r m s a u d a r a , n o r -ma l l y a p o l i t e e n o u g h a p p e l l a t i o n i n e ve r y d a y c o nv e r s a t i o n , i s h e r e a f r i g i d s u b s t i -t u t e f o r t h e mo r e u s u a l h o n o r i f i c s " Ya n g Mu l i a " o r " Ya n g T e r h o r ma t " ( H o n o r a b l e ) .1 3 P a r t a i P e r s a t u a n P e mb a n g u na n ( Un i t e d De v e l o p me n t P a r t y ) , a f u s i o n o f v a r i o usl o n g - s t a n d i n g I s l a mi c p a r t i e s a r r a n g e d by t h e mi l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s i n 1 9 7 3 . I n t h e1 9 7 7 e l e c t i o ns , t o t h e s u r p r i s e o f s o me o bs e r v e r s , i t d e f e a t e d Go l k a r , n o t o n l y i ns t r o n g l y Mo s l e m Ac e h , b u t i n I n d o n e s i a ^ c a pi t a l c i t y a s w e l l .


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sentatives inParliament??? Thesimple answer is:No! Parliament'sCommittee II,incharge ofdealing with theproblem ofexcesses duringthe General Elections, could never meet todiscuss allthese incidentsbecause there wasnever a quorum, since theGolkar members neverattended

Can thepeople expect anything from such a Parliament? Knowingwhat they do, thepeople were not at allsurprised that duringthework-period of the1971Parliament, during allthose five years,itwas only able topass 43laws, all ofwhich were proposed by the gov-ernment. Parliament was notable tocome upwith even onelaw on itsown! This is a record worse than that of theGotong-Royong Parliamentof the OldOrder,14 which atleast wasable tocomplete twolaws[ofits own]. Some people maystill puttheir hopes in theParliamentpro-duced by the1977General Elections; but eshould remember thatthe1977 Parliament wasborn via thesame process as the1971Parliament.The majority of theleadership consists of thesame people, and thesame internal protocol isstill inoperation.

A.2. The MPRThe 1977 MPR is unconstitutional! According to Article 2 of Sec-tion I of the 1945 Constitution, Sovereignty is in the hands of the

People, and is fully exercised by the People's Consultative Assembly.This means that it is an Institution consisting of the representativesof the people that holds sovereignty. But 61 percent of the membersof the 1977 MPR are not representatives of the people!! They areappointed. The General Elections, conducted with so much effort at acost of Rp. 60,000,000,000, in which people flailed at one anothertill blood flowed, elected only 39 percent of the members of the MPRSo supposing that, in a general session of the 1977 MPR the 39 percentof the members elected through the General Elections could not bepresent_, and those present were only the 61 percent that were appointed,that session would still be legitimate.

How does this differ from the general sessions of the ProvisionalMPR?!15 There is no difference. The Provisional MPR the 1971 MPRand the 1977 MPR are all unconstitutional. That is why their functionas bearers of the people's aspirations is highly dubious. Many strangeanomalies have occurred. The Chairman of the MPRdoubles as Speaker ofParliament. The President does not account to the MPRthat electedhim. The composition of the GBHN [Garis2 Besar Haluan Negara-- BroadOutlines of State Policy] consists merely of edit ing the government'sdraft , and so forth.

1**The phrase OldOrder refers to the period of Guided Democracy under PresidentSukarno. The so-called Gotong-Royong Parliament was the quasi-legislative body ap-pointed by Sukarno not long after the reimposition of the 1945Constitution on July5, 1959. Although many members of this parliament hadbeen elected in the quite freeelections of 1955,after 1960they held office essentially at the President's plea-sure .15The Provisional MPRwasestablished in 1960 in partial fulfillment of therequirements of the newly reimposed 1945Constitution. Abody whose membershipwaswholly appointed by President Sukarno, it wasentitled "Provisional" in indirectrecognition of the fact that by the terms of the 1945Constitution, it wassupposedto select the President, not vice versa.


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1 5 9S i n c e t h e S p e a k e r o f P a r l i a me n t d o u b l e s a s Ch a i r ma n o f t h e MP R,t h e l a t t e r o f f i c e a s s u me s a s t a t u s e q u a l t o t h e p r e s i d e n c y . T h e f a c tt h a t t h e P r e s i d e n t d o e s n o t g i v e a n a c c o u n t i n g t o t h e MP R t h a t e l e c t e dh i m i s mo r e l a u g h a b l e t h a n S r i mu l a t . 1 6 P r e s i d e n t i a l a c c o u n t a b i l i t y

me a n s t h a t t h e P r e s i d e n t mu s t a n s we r f o r a l l h i s p o l i c i e s a n d [ u s e o f ]h i s e x e c u t i v e p o we r s i n c a r r y i n g o u t t h e Br o a d Ou t l i n e s o f S t a t e P o l i c y ,T h e b o d y t h a t p r o d u c e d t h a t GBHN i s t h e s a me MP R t h a t e l e c t e d h i m. T h eb o d y t h a t f o l l o we d t h e GB HN f s i mp l e me n t a t i o n f r o m d a y t o d a y i s a l s ot h e MP R t h a t e l e c t e d t h e P r e s i d e n t , f o r h i s t e n u r e o f o f f i c e c o i n c i d e swi t h i t s o wn t e r m o f l i f e . I t i s f o r t h e s e r e a s o n s t h a t t h e MP R wh i c he l e c t e d t h e P r e s i d e n t wi l l h a v e a b e t t e r f e e l f o r t h e i s s u e s , i n o r d e rt o d e t e r mi n e h o w f a r t h e P r e s i d e n t h a s c a r r i e d o u t t h e GBHN, a n d a l s oh o w f a r h e h a s d e v i a t e d f r o m i t . Bu t t h e n , a l l o f a s u d d e n , t h e a b o v ef a r c e t o o k p l a c e . An d t h e c l i ma x o f t h e f a r c e c a me wh e n t h e p e r s o nwh o e n d e d t h e d e b a t e o n wh e t h e r t h e P r e s i d e n t s h o u l d a c c o u n t t o t h e1 9 7 1 MP R o r t h e 1 9 7 7 MP R wa s Mr . P r e s i d e n t S u h a r t o h i ms e l f , d u r i n g av i s i t t o Ku a l a L u mp u r , i n a s p e e c h t o t h e l o c a l I n d o n e s i a n c o mmu n i t yt h e r e . T h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l wa y wo u l d h a v e b e e n f o r t h e 1 9 7 1 MP R t od e c i d e wh e t h e r Mr . P r e s i d e n t S u h a r t o s h o u l d b e a c c o u n t a b l e t o t h e 1 9 7 1MP R o r t h e 1 9 7 7 MP R .

I n f o r mu l a t i n g t h e GBHN f o r 1 9 7 7 - 1 9 8 3 , t h e c l o wn - s h o w p u t o n b yt h e 1 9 7 7 MP R h a s b e e n f u n n i e r t h a n S r i mu l a t , i n f a c t e v e n f u n n i e r t h a nCh a r l i e C h a p l i n ! T h e e x e c u t i v e c o mmi t t e e o f t h e 1 9 7 7 MP R, wh i c h i sc u r r e n t l y c o n c o c t i n g t h i s GBHN, i s i n f a c t me r e l y e d i t i n g t h e d r a f td r a wn u p b y Te a m I I o f t h e Co u n c i l f o r De f e n s e a n d Na t i o n a l S e c u r i t y .I t h a s n e v e r b e e n ma d e c l e a r wh y t h e MP R i s n o w s u d d e n l y d i s c u s s i n gi t s o wn GBHN. Ha s a n y o n e e v e r e v a l u a t e d t h e p r e v i o u s GB N? Wh y i st h e MP R h a s t i l y f o r mu l a t i n g a n e w GBHN? I f t h e p r e v i o u s GBHN wa s a d e -q u a t e , wh y s h o u l d we wr i t e u p a n e w o n e ? Do we i n f a c t n e e d a n e w o n e ?Ar e t h e p r e s e n t d e v i a t i o n s t h e r e s u l t o f d e f e c t s i n t h e p r e v i o u s GBHN?I n f a c t , t h e f i r s t t a s k o f t h e e x e c u t i v e c o mmi t t e e o f t h e 1 9 7 7MP R s h o u l d b e t h e e v a l u a t i o n o f t h e p r e v i o u s G BHN. An d t h i s i s n oe a s y t a s k ! S u c h a n e v a l u a t i o n s h o u l d b e a l l - e n c o mp a s s i n g s o t h a t t h ewh o l e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t we e n t h e c o n c e p t s o f t h e GBHN a n d s t a t e p o l i c i e sa n d t h e i r i mp l e me n t a t i o n b e c o me s c l e a r . I f we d o n o t r e l a t e t h e GBHNt o i t s e x e c u t i o n , h o w wi l l we e v e r k n o w wh e t h e r t h e p r e v i o u s GBHN wa sg o o d o r b a d , wr o n g o r c o r r e c t ? T h i s , t h e n , i s w h a t t h e e x e c u t i v e c o m-mi t t e e o f t h e 1 9 7 7 MP R s h o u l d d o f i r s t ; t h e n a n d o n l y t h e n s h o u l d i td e c i d e wh e t h e r i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o wr i t e u p a n e w GBHN. On l y i f r e a l l yn e c e s s a r y s h o u l d t h i s b e d o n e . No t t h e o t h e r wa y r o u n d .

A. 3 . T h e Ac c o u n t i n g Of f i c e [ BP K]T h e Ch a i r ma n o f t h e BP K s h o u l d b e a p p o i n t e d b y t h e MP R. T h e BP Ki s t h e i n s t i t u t i o n t h a t s c r u t i n i z e s t h e f i n a n c e s o f t h e Go v e r n me n t .S o i t i s a n o ma l o u s i f i t s c h a i r ma n i s a c t u a l l y a p p o i n t e d b y t h e Go v e r n -m e n t [ i t s e l f ] . On a p p o i n t me n t , h e i s s u p p o s e d t o s t a r t s c r u t i n i z i n g .E x p e r i e n c e s h o ws t h e r e a r e t wo s u b s e q u e n t p o s s i b i l i t i e s . E i t h e r t h ea p p o i n t e e i s a c l o s e f r i e n d [ o f t h e E x e c u t i v e ] , o r , i f h e s c r u t i n i z e st o o v i g o r o u s l y , h e wi l l b e f i r e d . P o s s i b l y t h i n g s wi l l n o t t u r n o u tq u i t e t h i s b a d l y . Bu t t o a v o i d e v e n t h e p o s s i b i l i t y , t h e Ch a i r ma n o f16 S r i mu l a t wa s a f a mo us c o me d i e nn e f r om Su r a b a y a . Af t e r h e r d ea t h h e r na mec on t i n u e d t o be us e d b y he r t r o up e .


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the BPK should be appointed by the MPR. Mor eov er, the BPK should re-port on its program s and their implemen tation to Parl iame nt.

A . 4 . The Supreme CourtThe Supreme Cour t is the Judic ial Body in the gove rnme ntal systemof a coun try. Acco rdin gly, it must not be influenced by the executiveto the slightest ext ent! Bu t, in our count ry, the fate of the Chair-man of the Supreme Court lies in the hands of the Pre sid ent . So he isforced to play along in safeguarding the authority of the gove rnmen t!!But political errors are not only present among the Highest Insti-tution s of St at e. They also exist in the system of the Polit ical Par-ties and Golkar.

A. 5 . The Political Parties and GolkarIn real ity, the presen t official politica l for ces, namely thePolitical Parties and Golk ar, are not genuine politic al fo rce s. It istrue that they are classified administratively as official p oliticalgroupings, but real political power lies in the hands of the Govern-ment. The Polit ical Parti es and Golkar have to follo w the will of thisgov ern men t, whet her they like it or not . If they are obs tina te, thegovernm ent will immediatel y interfere and manipu late them to ensure thatthey no longer pose a threat to the gover nment . The most obvious exam-ple at present is the "disaster 11 that has befallen the P D I . 1 7 Possiblybecause the PDI was a bit recalc itrant towards the Government, it was"coup M-ed [by the govern ment] via Isnaeni and Su na wa r. 1 8 From now on,it will be m ani pul ate d in such a way that it will no lon ger be so "re -cal cit ran t. " The Government has [here] conducted an ffamoral M policy

of expediency!!! And Mr . President Suharto has not refused to allowall this to happen.In addi tio n, the parties are not allowed to operate in the vil-lages, yet the villages are where 80 percen t of Indonesia's inhabitantslive!! If the parties are not allowed to operate in the villages, thismeans that only 20 percent of the inhabitants of Indonesia will havetheir aspira tions repre sente d. Yet the Political Parties and Golkaralway s claim to speak for the entire People of Indon esia . This is nottrue! This is what we call mani pula tion ! This is why so many "inci-dents'1 whic h have happened in the villag es have never gained the atten-tion of Parl iame nt. The reason why wides pread famine can take placewithout the "higher-upsff knowing about it is that the Political Partiesand Golkar are not allowed to operate in the villages.17Partai Demokrasi Indonesia = Indonesian Democratic Party, a fusion ofvarious nationalist and Christian parties arranged by the military authorities in1973.18Isnaeni and Sunawar have been active in the leadership of the PDI since itsinception. After 1975, they lost influence in the party, in part because they wereregarded as being too close to the government. In November 1977, the men unilaterallyformed a rival party leadership with obvious government backing, and at the February1978 party congress they returned to power.


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B. The Economic FieldThere are many policies in economic development which do not bene-

fit the common man. The government is only interested in achieving abigger GNP and in the process has forgotten everything outside thattarget. It has forgotten the principles of social just ice, self-respect, national culture, etc.

Seventy percent of foreign capital is invested in the "city11 ofJakarta. The other thirty percent is spread out al l over Indonesia.Where is the social justice in that? Who is really un-Panca Si la- ist , 1 9the students or the government? And Mr. President Suharto has not re-fused to allow the anomaly of such policies. In other words, he hasgiven it his blessing.

Most government credit falls into the hands of non- natives. Mostof those who embezzle these credits are also non- natives. Of theRp. 200,000,000,000 Bank Bumi Daya credits that disappeared, most againwas taken by non- nat ives. But it is the people who have to suffer theburden of it a ll . The people bear the consequences, but the non- nativesenjoy the fruits. Those who enjoy the fruits of development most ofal l are the non- natives. In fact , it is their per capita income thathas increased many times over. Not the people's.

Ten years ago the Astra group, the Panin group, the Central AsiaBank, Liem Soei Liong and other cukong20 were nothing to what they arenow. But the people of Krawang s t i l l starve. The government proudlyaggregates the incomes of these cukong with the incomes of the peopleof Krawang, Boyolali, and Gunung Kidul, 21 and then averages them. Nextthe government loudly proclaims that per capita income has sky-rock-eted." Is this not manipulation?? The people of Krawang, who havebeen reduced to eating water- hyacinths, have become the victims of amanipulation of the numbers that the government always worships. Thepeople of Krawang have become the victims of st at ist ics. It is saidthat in 1967 per capita income was $US 80, while by 1977 i t had in-creased to $US 130. But the fact remains that Krawang, which always

19Panca Sila consists of five principles originally formulated by Sukarno onJune 1, 1945. Taken initially as expressing a philosophical consensus underlyingmodern Indonesian nationalism, it has become, under the New Order, the core of regimeideology and claims to legitimacy. The military authorities have frequently tried toput their critics on the defensive by denouncing them as un-Panca Sila- ist (i.e.,virtually treasonous) .

20Cukongis a term for the vastly wealthy Chinese financiers of key Indonesianpolitical figures. The Astra group is a cukong business empire headed by WilliamSuryajaya (Tjia Kian Tie) and widely believed to have close ties to Mrs. Suharto andIbnu Sutowo. The Panin group stands for the cukong controllers of the Pan IndonesiaBank empire. Concerning the Central Asia Bank, we may note that Prof. Ismail Sunywas arrested on January 3, 1978, for telling a University of Indonesia panel that hehad learned on reliable authority that a very senior Indonesian official [obviouslyreferring to the President] had a personal account with this bank to the tune ofRp. 130,000,000,000 [$US 336,000,000]. Prof. Suny was imprisoned shortly thereafter.Although released within a few days, he was again imprisoned after the January 20crackdown. Liem Soei Liong is widely regarded as the key cukong behind the Suhartofami1y.

21Boyolali and Gunung Kidul (especially the latter) have traditionally beenpoor, food- deficit areas of Java.


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used to be a rich rice granary where people never suffered hunger, hastoday declined into a famine-area, where people are reduced to eatingwater-hyacinths! Do you know, friends, what water-hyacinths are?Water-hyacinths are feed for pigs.But, in the meantime, it is true that the income of the people ofGlodok and Pintu Kecil, 2 2 as well as of other non-natives, has increasedmany times over. Is Development indeed reserved for them? Those whocontributed nothing during the war for Independence are now enjoyingmost of the benefits of development. How come?On the other hand, the government's debts are piling up. We owe$US 8,000,000,000 to the IGGI. 23 Pertamina!s debts amount to$US 10,000,000,000. And over and above IGGI aid, there are many pro-jects such as the Palapa Satellite for which we owe money.

C. The Sociocultural FieldDo we still have pride as a nation?????? Do we still have a senseof nationhood??????? Ye s, do all these things still exist, if it canbe officially admitted that we are still not "masters in our own coun-try "We have no power to stop foreign factories and industries fromoperating in our country, even though they emit effluents that endan-ger our breathing, pollute the water of our rivers, and destroy ourhearing with deafening noise.In the Garut area of West Java, a foreign industrial concern hassunk wells that have drained off all the water from the wells of thepeople nearby. For the sake of the "development" of industrial cen-

ters, luxury hotels, real estate projects, etc., the people have to"permit" their homes and their rice-fields (their working capital) tobe razed. They have not been able to stop all this, even though theyare the legitimate owners of this country!!!!!!!!!Still worse, we have now become perfect "copycats. " In establish-ing "development policy" we have swallowed hook, line, and sinker thedata and analyses made by foreigners, even though they obviously haveinterests of their own. To determine the number of people who arebelow the poverty line, we use the data and analyses of the World Bank.To measure the success of development, we employ foreign measures ofgrowth, such as GNP, GDP, per capita income, and so forth.There are now many groups making a show of their regional charac-

teristics. The Indonesian language being used (even in officialspeeches!!!) is tainted with regional expressions. It is as if todaythere is only region A and ethnic group B, no longer one Indonesianpeople who speak the Indonesian language.22These are quarters of downtown Jakarta where, traditionally, Chinese (espe-cially China-born Chinese) financiers have established themselves.23IGGI = Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia, the consortium of Japan, theU.S., and various Western European states that has been the New Order's financialmainstay since the late 1960s.


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1 6 3T h e wa y o f t h i n k i n g a n d t h e s t y l e o f l i f e t h a t a r e d o mi n a n t t o d a ys e e m t o t a k e u s b a c k c e n t u r i e s t o f e u d a l t i me s . No t h a r d wo r k , b u ts t a t u s a n d p r e s t i g e a r e h i g h l y e s t e e me d . An o f f i c i a l mu s t h a v e mo r et h a n o n e h o u s e a n d o n e c a r . Co s t u me s f o r t h e i n a u g u r a t i o n o f me mb e r s

o f P a r l i a me n t ( wh o s u p p o s e d l y a r e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e p e o p l e ! ! ! )mu s t c o s t R p . 9 0 , 0 0 0 . I f V I P wi v e s g o s h o p p i n g , i t h a s t o b e t o S i n g a -p o r e , Ho n g Ko n g o r P a r i s . F a mi l y ma u s o l e a mu s t b e ma d e a s s u mp t u o u sa s p o s s i b l e ( a n d , n a t u r a l l y , a s e x p e n s i v e a s p o s s i b l e ) . 2 i * Al l s i mp l yf o r t h e s a k e o f p r e s t i g e .A g r e a t c a mp a i g n t o s t u p i d i f y t h e p e o p l e i s t a k i n g p l a c e t o d a y .T h e p e o p l e a r e b e i n g s wa mp e d wi t h v a g u e t e r mi n o l o g y o r t e r mi n o l o g yma d e v a g u e o n p u r p o s e . Wh e n p e o p l e a r e s t a r v i n g , t h e y a r e s a i d " n o tt o h a v e e n o u g h t o e a t " o r " p o s s i b l y ma y n o t h a v e e n o u g h t o e a t , " e t c .Cr i t i c i s m i s a n s we r e d b y b e i n g t e r me d " a d a n g e r t o s t a b i l i t y 1 1 o r " e v i -d e n t l y b e i n g e x p l o i t e d , 1 ' 2 5 a n d s o f o r t h . Nu mb e r s o f g o v e r n me n t o f f i -c i a l s , f r o m v i l l a g e h e a d me n r i g h t u p t o t h e h i g h e s t o f f i c i a l s o f a l l ,h a v e b e c o me a d mi n i s t r a t i v e b o s s e s a n d n o l o n g e r l e a d e r s o f t h e p e o p l e .T h e r e i s n o mo r e s o l i d a r i t y wi t h f e l l o w- c o u n t r y me n a f f l i c t e d b yp o v e r t y a n d n a t u r a l d i s a s t e r s ! ! ! !A g r o u p o f p e o p l e c e l e b r a t i n g Ne w Ye a r ' s E v e c h a r g e d R p . 3 5 , 0 0 0f o r a d mi s s i o n t o t h e p a r t y , wh i l e a t t h e s a me t i me t h e i r f e l l o w- c o u n -t r y me n i n Kr a wa n g h a v e b e e n r e d u c e d t o e a t i n g wa t e r - h y a c i n t h s .R p . 3 5 , 0 0 0 i s e q u a l t o t h e wa g e e a r n e d f o r p l o u g h i n g o n e h e c t a r e o fwe t r i c e l a n d . I t i s e n o u g h t o p r o v i d e f o r a f a mi l y f o r a wh o l e y e a r .S o me o f f i c i a l s ( a n d a l s o t h e i r c h i l d r e n ) o wn h u n d r e d s o f h e c t a r e so f l a n d , wh i l e t h e f i e l d s o f t h e p e a s a n t s a r e g e t t i n g s ma l l e r d a y b yd a y . Na t u r a l l y Mr . S i g i t S u h a r t o c a n t a l k e x p a n s i v e l y a b o u t h i s 3 5 0 -h e c t a r e " r a n c h " a t T a p o s , i n t h e k a b u p a t e n o f Bo g o r , We s t J a v a . 2 6Gi a n t d r a g n e t s a r e p e r mi t t e d t o o p e r a t e a t wi l l ( b e c a u s e t h e y" ma k e mo n e y , " o f c o u r s e ) , a n d s h o v e t o o n e s i d e t h e f i s h e r me n i n s ma l lb o a t s wi t h o u t mo t o r s . T h e f i s h e r me n o f Ci l a c a p , t h e n o r t h c o a s t o fCe n t r a l J a v a , No r t h S u ma t r a , Ac e h , Ri a u , a n d o t h e r c o a s t a l a r e a s o fI n d o n e s i a , c a n , o f c o u r s e , s a y a l o t o n t h i s q u e s t i o n !S o c i a l j u s t i c e a n d s o l i d a r i t y wi t h s u f f e r i n g f e l l o w- c o u n t r y me ns u r v i v e o n l y a s wo r d s a n d me a n i n g l e s s g e s t u r e s . Wh a t we h a v e a r e o n l ys p e e c h e s , v i s i t s t o o r p h a n a g e s , a n d " o b s e r v a t i o n t o u r s " t o d i s a s t e ra r e a s , a c c o mp a n i e d b y ma s s i v e p u b l i c i t y t o d e mo n s t r a t e t h e " g e n e r o s i t y "o f h i g h o f f i c i a l s .

D. T h e F i e l d o f L a wTh e l a w a c t u a l l y f u n c t i o n i n g i n t h i s c o u n t r y t o d a y i s " l e g a l s a n c -t i o n s f o r o r d i n a r y p e o p l e , l e g a l p r o t e c t i o n f o r b i g s h o t s . " Yo u d o n ! t2 t * h e r e f e r e n c e i s t o t h e e l a b o r a t e m a u s o l e u m u n d e r c o n s t r u c t i o n f o r P r e s i d e n tS u h a r t o a n d h i s w i f e .2 5 L i t e r a l l y , b e r i n d i k a s i d i t u n g g a n g i . B u r e a u c r a t i c s h o r t h a n d f o r b e r i n d i k a s id i t u n g g a n g i G e s t a p u / P K I , i . e . , e x p l o i t e d b y u n d e r g r o u n d c o mmu n i s t s u b v e r s i v e s .2 6 A s o n o f P r e s i d e n t S u h a r t o ( s e e n o t e 1 0 ) .


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b e l i e v e i t ? ? ? ? ? ? L e t ' s r e v i e w c e r t a i n c a s e s . Ha s I b n u S u t o wo b e e nma d e t o g i v e a f i n a l a c c o u n t i n g i n t h e P e r t a mi n a a f f a i r ? Wh a t e v e rh a p p e n e d t o t h e R p . 4 , 6 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 o f s t a t e mo n e y e mb e z z l e d b y Bu d i a j it h a t v a n i s h e d i n t o t h i n a i r ? Ki l l i n g s ( n o ma t t e r wh a t t h e j u s t i f i c a -t i o n , k i l l i n g s a r e s t i l l k i l l i n g s ! ) c o mmi t t e d b y t h e c h i l d r e n o f h i g ho f f i c i a l s a r e n e v e r t r i e d i mp a r t i a l l y . T h e s o n o f f l t h e H o n o r a b l e " Al iM u r t o p o 2 7 wa s e v e n t u a l l y a c q u i t t e d . P o l i c e - Ge n e r a l Wi d o d o e v e n b e c a meh e a d o f t h e S t a t e P o l i c e a f t e r h i s s o n s h o t s o me o n e t o d e a t h . Wh a t e v e rt h e r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n s p u t f o r wa r d , t h e s e we r e a l l mu r d e r c a s e s , t h e t a k -i n g o f h u ma n l i f e wi t h i l l e g a l we a p o n s . Ni n e t e e n s mu g g l e r s h a v e b e e nr e l e a s e d wi t h o u t j u d i c i a l p r o c e s s f r o m Nu s a Ke m b a n g a n . 2 8

I n t h e me a n t i me , h o w ma n y p e o p l e a r e s t i l l i n " t e mp o r a r y d e t e n -t i o n , " wa s t i n g a wa y f o r s o l o n g wi t h o u t a n y l e g a l r e s o l u t i o n o f t h e i rc a s e s ? ? ? ? ?Bu t i n d e e d , t h e l a w c a n n o t b e f u l l y o p e r a t i o n a l a t t h i s t i me ,b e c a u s e o u r l e g a l i n s t i t u t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g t h e v e r y h i g h e s t , a r e n o t

f r e e t o c a r r y o u t t h e i r f u n c t i o n s p r o p e r l y , ma k i n g n o d i s t i n c t i o n sb e t we e n g o v e r n me n t b i g wi g s a n d e v e r y o n e e l s e ! ! Ho w c a n t h e S u p r e meCo u r t g e n u i n e l y a c t a s t h e h i g h e s t j u d i c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n i f t h e Ch a i r -ma n o f t h e S u p r e me Co u r t i s a p p o i n t e d b y t h e P r e s i d e n t ? ? ? ? ? ? ?I I I . T H E R E A S O NS F O R T H E P R E S E N T C O ND I T I O N OF T H E C OU NT R Y

Al l a s p e c t s o f t h e n a t i o n a l c o n d i t i o n a p p a r e n t t o d a y a r e t h e r e -s u l t o f t wo c e n t r a l f a c t o r s , n a me l y : 1 . T h e Na t i o n a l L e a d e r s h i p ;2 . T h e De v e l o p me n t S t r a t e g y .1 . T h e s t y l e o f a n a t i o n a l l e a d e r s h i p t h a t h a s c o n c e n t r a t e d a l l p o we ri n i t s o wn h a n d s h a s c r i p p l e d t h e o f f i c i a l c o n s t i t u t i o n a l p o l i t i c a lf o r c e s . T h e P o l i t i c a l P a r t i e s a n d Go l k a r c a n n o t c o n v e y t h e v o i c e o ft h e p e o p l e b e c a u s e t h e y h a v e n o r e a l p o we r . T h u s t h e c h a n n e l i n g o ft h e p e o p l e ' s a s p i r a t i o n s t h r o u g h P a r l i a me n t i s j u s t a f a r c e . An d t h i sc e n t r a l i z a t i o n o f p o l i t i c a l p o we r i s d o n e s i mp l y t o s a f e g u a r d i t s o wnc o n t i n u a t i o n .

I n a d d i t i o n , t h e l i f e s t y l e o f t h e f a mi l y o f Mr . P r e s i d e n t S u h a r t oh a s h a d a g r e a t s o c i o c u l t u r a l i mp a c t o n t h e ma j o r i t y o f o u r p e o p l e .Hi s [ S u h a r t o ' s ] n e p o t i s m t o wa r d s h i s c h i l d r e n a n d y o u n g e r s i b l i n g s h a sb e e n c o p i e d b y ma n y g o v e r n me n t o f f i c i a l s o f a l l r a n k s , s u c h a s Go v e r -n o r s , B u p a t i , v i l l a g e h e a d me n , a n d s o f o r t h . T h e f a c t t h a t t h e f a mi l yo f P r e s i d e n t S u h a r t o h a s b e c o me v a s t l y we a l t h y s i n c e h e b e c a me He a d o fS t a t e s o me y e a r s a g o ( s e e , e . g . , T a p o s , Ma n g a d e g ) h a s g i v e n t h e i mp r e s -s i o n t o l o we r o f f i c i a l s t h a t t h e y t o o h a v e t h e r i g h t t o a c t l i k e t h e i r

27 Ge n e r a l Al i Mu r t o p o , c ur r e nt l y M n i s t e r o f I n f o r ma t i o n , h a s l o ng b ee n r e -ga r de d a s Pr e s i d e n t Su h a r t o ' s t op p o l i t i c a l o p e r a t i v e a nd t r o u b l e - s h oo t e r . Th e mu r -d e r r e f e r r e d t o wa s c ommi t t e d b y Al i Mu r t o p o f s s o n, a h i g h s c ho o l s t u d e nt i n J a k a r t a .Ac c or d i n g t o t he Mu r t o po f a mi l y , t he s o n wa s a s s a ul t e d b y o t h e r t e e na ge r s a nd d e -f e nd e d h i ms e l f wi t h h i s f a t h e r ' s p i s t o l , wh i c h h e a l wa ys c a r r i e d .2 A " ma xi mu m s e c u r i t y " pe na l c ol o ny o n a s ma l l i s l a nd o f f t h e s o u t h c o a s t o fCe nt r a l J a v a .


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President. In this way, the wealth of Mr. President Suharto has ex-erted great influence on the development of a culture of corruption inIndonesia IOn the other hand, if we look at the leaders of our struggle forIndependence, did Bung Karno, Bung Hatta or Bung Syahrir have "super-abundant wealth"? Did Bung Karno, who was Mput away1' in prison foryears, ever demand superabundant wealth in payment for his sacrifices?Even though he had the opportunity to enrich himself, when he was sovery powerful as President, he did not do so.Bung Hatta, Bung Syahrir, and other genuine leaders of the peoplenever demanded superabundant wealth to compensate for their long yearsin prison, in exile, or being persecuted. They "loved Indonesia," notthemselves. If today Suharto*s tomb is being constructed at untoldcost, Bung Karno1s is small and inexpensive. But that is exactly whyit is so revered.And this is why the individual Suharto is deviating further andfurther from the true identity of the Armed Forces. As the years goby he is becoming an ever larger stain on the Armed Forces 1 good name.

2. The second factor that is influencing the present condition of ourcountry is our "development strategy." In order to safeguard thisdevelopment strategy, the whole system of government, politics, cul-ture and society is being sacrificed. The rottenness of Parliamentand the unconstitutionality of the MPR, described earlier, have beenplotted by the government precisely to safeguard its developmentstrategy. Parliament has been put to sleep. The Parties are weak.The BPK is inoperative. Cultural values are no longer maintained.All of this is for the sake of achieving a rapid increase in GNP.That is why, with the exception of a 7 percent increase in GNP, wehave suffered a decline in every other respect, even worse than underthe Old Order.

Take, for example, our sense of nationhood: we dare to guaranteethat if today a kind of "Trik ora" 29 were sounded, only a handful ofyoung people would enlist as volunteers. This amounts to a devastatingsetback. In fact, such non-economic issues can not be expressed bynumbers, as GNP can be . So a development strategy oriented solelytowards increasing GNP is a stunted strategy. The ruinous conditionof our country is precisely a consequence of this stunted developmentstrategy!

IV. THIS IS WHY THE STUDENTS STRUGGLE

Observing all the suffering of the "common people"3 whose lothas not changed since the Old Order, indeed in some cases has becomeeven more wretched, students can not remain unmoved. Peasants are29Trikora = Tri Komando Rakyat (Three People's Commands). The reference is toSukarno's famous speech of December 19, 1961, calling for mass mobilization of volun-teers to achieve the integration of West Irian into Indonesia.30Rakyat jelata--see note 2.


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VARIOUS INDICATORS OF THE FAILUREOF THE SUHARTO GOVERNMENT

"Many people are of the op i n i on t ha t the d e f e c t s and the f a i l u r e sof the development car r i ed out by the Suharto government have beencaused simply by e r r o r s on the p a r t of its executors --incompetence,c o r r u p t i o n , etc . But in f ac t the bigges t e r ror does not lie in theelement of execu t i on . Ra t he r , i t l i e s in the development strategyand in the development policies themselves."This paper is an effort to analyze [our] development st rategy,especially as i t relat es to development pol icies . It has become evi-dent that the policy followed at present has deviated from the direc-tion and goal of true development. From a ser ies of discussions andanalyses carried out by the authors of this paper, we have reached avery start l ing conclusion: Namely, the designers of our present devel-opment, Bappenas and the Departments of the government, are in fact

aware and do realize that there are defects and errors in the presentdevelopment strategy. But why do they remain silent? Why do theyremain mute although their policy errors have made millions of peoplesuffer? Perhaps they remain silen t because they are int el lec tua l pros-t i tutes who do not have sci en tific in tegr ity! Or do they belong to thegroup who enjoy the nfruits of development" precisely because of theirpolicy errors??Before we continue our discussion, may we remind those who, con-sciously or unconsciously, have joined that small group of people whodetermine the development polic ies in our country, that :

"The poor manfs conscience is clear; yet he is ashamed....He feelshimself out of the sight of others, groping in the dark. Mankindtakes no notice of him. He rambles and wanders unheeded. In themidst of a crowd, at church, in the market...he is in as much ob-scurity as he would be in a garret or a cellar. He is not disap-proved, censured, or reproached; he is only not seen. This totalinattention is to him mortifying, painful, and cruel. He suffersa misery from this consideration, which is sharpened by the con-sciousness that others have no fellow-feeling with him in this dis-tress ."

John Adams[Discourses on Davila, III]For the past few years Indonesia has begun to carry out planneddevelopment. The essence of a plan is a policy based on the "politicalwill11 of a government in power: If the government in power is notgenuinely committed to improving the welfare of the masses,32 it willthrow together a hand-me-down plan to guarantee s tabi l i ty in the shortrun and to prevent popular upris ings. But such a plan will ignorelong-term benefit s. It will only produce short- term benefi ts for thesake of keeping the regime in power.32The Indonesian is rakyat banyak. In contrast to rakyat jelata, this phrasehas faintly elitist and rightwing overtones. "The masses" is not a wholly satisfac-tory translation.


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Many cases have shown that the government will always blame policyerrors on poor execution or on natural disasters (a very primitive wayof thinking!!).A simple example: the Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Profes-sor Doctor Thoyib Hadiwijaya, has stated that efforts to increase riceproduction have failed because of natural disasters, such as irregular-ity of seasons, and pests. Domestic production can not meet food needsbecause per capita consumption of rice . . . . e t c . , etc. But has he everobserved that a major error in agricultural strategy and policy hasbeen committed? Committed, in fact, by the Honorable Mr. Thoyib Hadi-wijaya and Mr. Wijoyo of Bappenas.33 To facilitate our discussion ofthe government's policy errors, we hope that the reader will firststudy the definition of "policy" appended to this paper.

I . AgricultureIn Pelita I and II and also in Repelita I I I 31 * the government hasscreamed from the rooftops that the major emphasis of economic develop-ment lies in the field of agriculture (in line with Tritura35 and theGBHN). In accord with the above, [our] agricultural developmentstrategy should be directed at:a) Fulfilling domestic needs for food;b) Creating employment opportunities for and increasing the in-come of the masses;c) Increasing sources of foreign exchange.

But let us now see what has happened in the field of Agriculture aftertwo five-year plans.Ri c e I mp o r t P r o j e c t i o n s( i n mi l l i o n s o f t o n s )

1 . 0 50 . 9 60 . 8 00 . 5 8

Y e a r

1 9 7 51 9 7 61 9 7 71 9 7 8

Ac t u a l Ri c e I mp o r t s( i n mi l l i o n s o f t o n s )7 . 01 . 62 . 02 . 4

33 Bappen as = Badan Peran cang Pembangunan N asiona l (N at ion al Development P lann ingBody) .3**(Re)pelita = (Rencana) Pembangunan Lima Tahun, national five- year developmentplans which have run in succession since 1969.3 5

T r i t u r a = Tri Tunt tan Rakyat (Three P eop lefs Demands). These were the primeslogan of the s tudent activists who he lped overthrow Sukarno in thespring of 1966.The demands were: 1) dissolut ion of theCommunist P ar ty; 2) dismissal of the cabi-

n e t ; and 3) reduct ion of p r i c e s .


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millionsof tons

2.0

1.5

1.0

7.0

0.5

1.05

2.42.0

1.6

0.96 0.80.58

400%Estimated rice

importsActual rice

imports

1975 1976 1977 1978

If welook at1978,ittranspires that actual imports exceed esti-mated imports by 400percent. Well...well ... magine that, Mr. ThoyibHadiwij aya! ! !Anyone who hasever been tocollege will know that themaximumtolerable margin oferror is 20percent. What do we do nowwiththe400 percent error ofMr. Thoyib and thegentlemen36 inBappenas?? Tofool thepublic, Mr. Thoyib, theHead of theLogistics Body, BustanulArifin, 37 andWijoyo have stated that theincrease iscaused by theseasons, pests, andalso by theincrease inpopulation. Let's try torefute thestatements ofthese gentlemen, asfollows. Yousee,to com-pensate for itserrors ofprojection and policy, thegovernmenthasimported rice from South Korea, Japan, theUnited States, Australia,and thePhilippines with thefollowing price comparison:

Price of ricein Rp./Kg.200

10 0

200

10 0Rice subsidy perkg.: Rp. 100Tota l subs idy :2 .4 mi l l i o n t o n s x Rp. 100 =Rp. 240,000,000,000

domes t ic fo re ignThe reader will of course notice that the price of the importedrice is Rp. 100 per kilogram more expensive than domestic rice. Thismeans that the Indonesian government is feeding (subsidizing) farmers36The authors sarcastically use the "colonial" honorific term tuan (master)37General Bustanul Arifin is married to Mrs.Suhartofs niece.


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from South Korea, Japan, Australia, etc. at a rate of Rp. 100 per kilo.Well, well, Mr. Thoyib Hadiwijaya, Mr. Bustanul Arifin, and you gentle-men in Bappenas, how come you actually help to increase agriculturalproduction in other countries?? Isn!t there something funny here??Did you get your palms greased, maybe?? It's not only that you areunable to increase domestic production, but hey! you're actuallyhelping to increase someone else's agricultural production. You'llpay for it some day,friends!!!! 38

The subsidy provided by the government for rice imports during1978 amounts to 2.4 million tons multiplied by Rp. 100 per kilo, i.e.,Rp. 240,000,000,000. If we compare this to the amount of credit giventhe farmers through the Bimas program in 1974,which amounted to onlyRp. 44,000,000,000, it becomes obvious that the subsidy to [Indonesian]farmers is much smaller than the subsidy for rice imports from abroad.Readers, do you know what measures the government apparatus takesagainst farmers who can not pay back their Bimas credits? Officers ofthe local KORAMIL (Komando Rayon Militer [Military Zone Command]) willconfiscate the farmers' stoves, bicycles , and household goods as col-lateral until the debts are paid off. Pretty sadistic, huh? Especiallywhen youcompare it to the amount given to farmers abroad (Rp. 240,000,-000,000) .

Now let us analyze the Government's policies (planner: Bappenas;executor: the Minister of Agriculture) in the field of agriculture.In an effort to meet domestic rice needs, the government has carriedout the Agricultural Intensification Programs (Bimas and Inmas). 39They are the main programs of the government in its effort to increaserice production. If we study the following graph,Tons

2 . 2 5

2 .00

1.751.70

Est imated average r i ce y ie ld per h e c t a r e2.09

2 . 031.961.891.831.72

to1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978

it is obvious that the agricultural intensification effort has onlybeen able to increase rice production by a maximum of 2.09 tons per38The Indonesian phrase is "kualat nanti, mas." Here the Javanese term ofaddress mas (elder brother) is used to indicate the writers1 skepticism of these topofficials' competence and integrity.39Inmas = Intensifikasi Massal (Mass Intensification), a program very similarto Bimas, but voluntary.


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1 7 1h e c t a r e . I n o t h e r w o r d s , a g r i c u l t u r a l i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n h a s a d e f i n i t ep r o d u c t i v e l i m i t . I f a l l t h e w e t r i c e f i e l d s i n I n d o n e s i a w e r e f u l l y" i n t e n s i f i e d , " w i t h a m a x i m u m p r o d u c t i o n o f 2 . 0 9 t o n s p e r h e c t a r e ,w o u l d d o me s t i c v i c e n e e d s b e me t ? ? We a r e s u r e t h e y w o u l d n o t ! ! !

E s p e c i a l l y n o t w h e n w e c o n s i d e r f u t u r e n e e d s . I n o t h e r w o r d s , wec a n s a y t h a t a g r i c u l t u r a l i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n p r o g r a ms c a n n e v e r me e td o m e s t i c r i c e n e e d s i n t h e l o n g r u n . B u t s t r a n g e l y e n o u g h . . . t h e G o v -e r n m e n t i s s t i l l d o g g e d l y d e t e r m i n e d t o c a r r y o u t i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n p r o -g r a m s ? ? ? ? ? ?T h e r e a r e s e v e r a l p o s s i b l e w a y s t o e x p l a i n w h y t h e G o v e r n m e n t i ss o a d a ma n t i n p u s h i n g t h r o u g h p r o g r a m s s u c h a s B i m a s a n d I n m a s .i ) T h e B i m a s a n d I n ma s p r o g r a m s a r e p r o g r a m s t h a t i n t r o d u c e n e wt e c h n o l o g y a n d e q u i p me n t t o t h e f a r m e r . C a n t h e r e a d e r c a l c u l a t eh o w m u c h i n t h e w a y o f f e r t i l i z e r s , i n s e c t i c i d e s , a n d m o d e r n a g r i -c u l t u r a l e q u i p m e n t w i l l b e n e e d e d t o " B i m a s 1 ' a l l t h e w e t r i c e l a n di n I n d o n e s i a ? F a n t a s t i c . . . . a mu l t i - m i l l i o n p r o j e c t . . . . w o w ! . . .Wh o f l l c l e a n u p ? ? ? * * 0 O b v i o u s l y t h e c a p i t a l i s t s a n d f o r e i g nc a p i t a l a n d t h e i r s t o o g e s i n I n d o n e s i a .i i ) T h e e x i s t e n c e o f p r o g r a m s s u c h a s B i m a s a n d I n ma s w i l l s h o we r" t h e f r u i t s o f d e v e l o p me n t 1 1 o n m a n y e x e c u t i v e i n s t i t u t i o n s i n t h ef o r m s o f c o m m i s s i o n s a n d i n c e n t i v e s p e r r i c e f i e l d a c r e a g e .A g r i c u l t u r a l d e v e l o p m e n t w a s a l s o m e a n t a s a n e f f o r t t o p r o v i d ej o b s . B u t t h i s i s n o t h i n g b u t d a y d r e a m i n g , s i n c e t h e f a r m e r r s a v e r a g el a n d h o l d i n g i s s o s m a l l ( 0 . 1 6 h e c t a r e s p e r f a mi l y h e a d ) . C o n s i d e r i n gt h e s c a l e o f l a n d o w n e r s h i p , h o w c o u l d a g r i c u l t u r a l i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n p o s -s i b l y b e a b l e t o a b s o r b t h e 8 0 p e r c e n t o f t h e a n n u a l i n c r e a s e o f ma n -p o w e r ( 1 . 2 m i l l i o n p e o p l e ) l i v i n g i n r u r a l a r e a s ?Wh a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t ( t h e Mi n i s t e r o f A g r i c u l t u r e a n d B a p p e n a s )s h o u l d h a v e d o n e , o n c e t h e y r e a l i z e d t h a t i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n p r o g r a m sw o u l d n e v e r b e a b l e t o m e e t d o m e s t i c r i c e n e e d s , w a s t o u n d e r t a k e ap r o g r a m o f e x t e n s i f i c a t i o n o r e x p a n s i o n o f a g r i c u l t u r a l a c r e a g e o n ab r o a d n a t i o n a l s c a l e . I n t h e l o n g r u n , t h e e x t e n s i f i c a t i o n o f a g r i c u l -t u r e w i l l f u l f i l l d o m e s t i c r i c e n e e d s , a b s o r b i n c r e a s e s i n m a n p o w e r ,a n d s p r e a d e c o n o mi c a c t i v i t y o v e r t h e w h o l e c o u n t r y . N o t j u s t i n J a v a .I n c a s e y o u a r e i n t e r e s t e d t o f i n d o u t . . . . w h a t h a s b e e n d o n e b y Mr .T h o y i b H a d i w i j a y a w i t h r e g a r d t o a g r i c u l t u r a l e x t e n s i f i c a t i o n , t h ea n s w e r i s a l m o s t n o t h i n g ! ! ! ! ! !L e t u s n o w s c r u t i n i z e t h e c o n c e p t o f p r i c e s t a b i l i t y a n d i t s r e l a -t i o n s h i p t o f a r m e r s 1 i n c o m e . A s w e k n o w , t h e d e v e l o p me n t " t r i l o g y 1 1

t h a t h a s b e e n b a n d i e d a b o u t f o r s o l o n g - - e c o n o mi c d e v e l o p me n t , e q u a l i -z a t i o n o f t h e f r u i t s o f d e v e l o p m e n t , a n d s t a b i l i t y - - f o r m s t h e b a s i s o fG o v e r n me n t p o l i c y . B u t t h i s p o l i c y h a s a l r e a d y i n f l i c t e d g r e a t l o s s e so n t h e m a s s e s . T h e f r e e z i n g o f a " r i c e p r i c e " f o r n i n e ma j o r s t a p l ec o mm o d i t i e s i s a p o l i c y t h a t i s b a s e d o n t h e c o n c e p t o f s t a b i l i t y .Wh a t d o t h e y e x p e c t w i l l h a p p e n t o t h e p r i c e o f t h e s e n i n e m a j o r s t a p l ec o mm o d i t i e s w h i c h , b y t h e w a y , a r e t h e p r o d u c t o f t h e f a r m e r s , o f v i l -l a g e p e o p l e ? T h e y a r e o n l y a l l o w e d t o s e l l t h e i r p r o d u c t s u p t o a c e r -t a i n p r i c e ma x i mu m. T h e y a r e n o t a l l o we d t o s e l l a t p r i c e s h i g h e r t h a nt h i s ma x i mu m.

* * T h e s e p h r a s e s a r e i n S n d a n e s e .


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They face a fixed-price barrier. Yet if the villagers who producethese nine major staple commodities want to buy capital goods or pro-duction equipment from the cities, they have to pay for these materialsat the "market price" prevailing in the big cities. There are nopricemaximums for goods that aresold in thecities. The price of thesegoods follows the principles of "liberal economics" and depends on de-mand, on need.

Here we see a basic anomaly, an anomaly that emerges as a conse-quence of the policy errors of the Government. The village people, theproducers of these nine stable commodities, should enjoy benefits fromthe pattern of economic relationships between the village and the city,since they are the group in society that [most] ought to be protected--they are the majority of the Indonesian nation. But what actually hashappened? As a result of a policy that is based on the stability prin-ciple, it is precisely the majority of the people, the rural villagers,who are most hurt. All of this for the sake of stability. If we alsocalculate transportation costs, the result is disaster!! Whatthe villagers receive is themaximum price minus transportation costs,while what they have to pay is themarket price plus transportationcosts .

What ever happened to the land-reform law? Has it ever been putinto effect?? It is evident that this law to protect farmers existsonly on paper. In other words, it has never been implemented. Whatis even worse, new landlords have recently emerged, consisting of highIndonesian officials and money-men. (Would somebody please ask Mr.Sigit Suharto how many hectares of land he owns?) The government-organized improvement of irrigation and building of dams quite oftenhas the effect of evicting the farmers near those installations fromthe wet riceland they formerly owned--eviction under pressure from thecapitalists. The fatcats have unleashed their money to buy up thou-sands of hectares of land. This has become a kind of status symbol.Go to the villages and the villagers will tell you right away that thisland belongs to General So-and-So, and the land across the river be-longs to Mr. Such-and-Such. These are facts. Dams are also used togenerate electric power. Butwhat has actually happened? In Jatiluhur,under the network of transmission and distribution lines there livethousands of Indonesian people who have no access to electricity. Isthis development for the masses?????....

II . FinanceThe Government often boasts that i t pays great attention to thesmall and weak entrepreneur. These Government efforts are reflected

in the provision of credits such as K.I.K., K.M.K.P., and CandakKulak.**1 But what the proportion of credits given to small and weakentrepreneurs is when compared to the total volume of credit remains abig question. Is i t 2 percent 1 percent or even less????As a matter of fact, this proportion can be used as a measure of the= Kredi t In du st r i K eci l (Smal l Indust r y Cr ed i t s) , KMKP = Kredit ModalKeper luan Pr ibumi (Credi ts for Nat ive Capi t a l Needs) , and Candak Kulak: are programsdes igned to pr ov i de c r ed i t for smal l i ndus t ry and sm a l l m er chan t s , pa r t i cu l a r l y inr u r a l a r e a s .


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1 7 3s e n s e o f Na t i o n a l i s m o f S u h a r t o a n d C o . 4 2

S h a l l we a s k wh o h a s r e c e i v e d h u n d r e d s o f b i l l i o n s wo r t h o fc r e d i t s ? ? ? T h e a n s we r i s e a s y t o g u e s s , n a me l y t h e n o n - n a t i v eb u s i n e s s me n . I f t h e c r e d i t p r o b l e ms o f t h e Ba n k Bu mi Da y a ( Rp . 2 0 0 , -0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 ) a n d o t h e r g o v e r n me n t b a n k s a r e e v e r s c r u t i n i z e d i n c o u r t ,i t wi l l b e c o me o b v i o u s t h a t t h e s e p r o b l e ms h a v e b e e n c a u s e d b y c l o s ec o o p e r a t i o n b e t we e n c e r t a i n h i g h o f f i c i a l s a n d n o n - n a t i v e b u s i n e s s me no r b u s i n e s s me n wh o e n j o y a n i n f o r ma l a n d c l o s e r e l a t i o n s h i p wi t h o f f i -c i a l s . We c a n d r a w t h e c o n c l u s i o n f r o m s u c h c a s e s t h a t c o n s c i o u s l y o ru n c o n s c i o u s l y t h e S u h a r t o r e g i me h a s g i v e n g r e a t o p p o r t u n i t i e s t on o n - n a t i v e b u s i n e s s me n t o d o mi n a t e t h e e c o n o mi c l i f e o f I n d o n e s i a .F r o m t h e a b o v e , r e a d e r s c a n d e t e r mi n e f o r t h e ms e l v e s t h e d e g r e e o fNa t i o n a l i s m o f t h e S u h a r t o r e g i me .

S o f a r we h a v e n o t h e a r d o f a n y a c t i o n t a k e n a g a i n s t t h e e l e me n t swh o we r e t o b l a me f o r t h e s e c r e d i t ma n i p u l a t i o n s . Co mp a r e t h i s t o t h ef o r c e f u l a c t i o n s t a k e n b y g o v e r n me n t o f f i c i a l s a g a i n s t f a r me r s e n r o l l e di n t h e Bi ma s a n d I n ma s p r o g r a ms . T h e y h a v e b e e n c o mp e l l e d t o s u r r e n d e rt h e i r s t o v e s , p r e s s u r e l a mp s , a n d b i c y c l e s a s c o l l a t e r a l f o r l a t e p a y -me n t s wo r t h o n l y s o me t e n s o r h u n d r e d s o f t h o u s a n d s o f r u p i a h .

T h e G o v e r n me n t h a s s t i l l n o t f u l l y i mp l e me n t e d a p r o g r e s s i v e t a xs y s t e m, i . e . , o n e wh e r e t h e r i c h mu s t p a y h i g h e r t a x e s t h a n t h o s e wh oa r e n o t s o we l l o f f . E x a mp l e : mo v i e h o u s e s , mo s t o f wh i c h a r e o wn e db y n o n - n a t i v e b u s i n e s s me n , o f t e n d e ma n d a n e n t r a n c e f e e o f u p t oR p . 3 5 , 0 0 0 p e r p e r s o n . Ar e t h e t a x e s p a i d b y t h e s e mo v i e - h o u s e o p e r a -t o r s t h e s a me a s t h e t a x e s o f t h o s e wn o o n l y c h a r g e Rp . 4 0 0 ? ? ? n t h i sc a s e , t h e g o v e r n me n t h a s n o t f u l l y f o l l o we d t h e p r i n c i p l e o f p r o g r e s -s i v e t a x a t i o n .Di r e c t a n d i n d i r e c t t a x e s a r e s o me o f t h e s o u r c e s f o r t h e s t a t e ' s

d e v e l o p me n t b u d g e t a n d r o u t i n e b u d g e t . Di r e c t t a x e s a p p e a r t o c o n -t r i b u t e 2 . 5 t i me s mo r e t h a n i n d i r e c t t a x e s .I n r e a l i t y , t h e i n d i v i d u a l s a n d c o r p o r a t i o n s wh o a r e s u b j e c t t o[ d i r e c t ] t a x a t i o n k e e p t wo s e t s o f b o o k s . On e s e t , s h o wi n g a h i g h r a t eo f p r o f i t , i s u s e d t o g u a r a n t e e t h e i r b o n a f i d e s i n d e a l i n g s wi t h b a n k s .An o t h e r s e t , s h o wi n g a s ma l l p r o f i t , i s u s e d i n d e a l i n g s wi t h t h e Re v e -n u e S e r v i c e t o l o we r t h e i r t a x e s . T h e r e i s n o n e e d t o c o n c e a l t h e f a c tt h a t t o d a y o n e c a n n e g o t i a t e t h e a mo u n t o f o n e ' s t a x e s .

A Re v e n u e o f f i c i a l wi l l f i r s t f i x a h i g h r a t e o f t a x . F o ri n s t a n c e , h e mi g h t d e t e r mi n e t h a t Mr . P r o b o s u t e j o * * 3 s h o u l d p a y :R p . 1 0 mi l l i o n . Af t e r n e g o t i a t i o n s o f t h e k i n d me n t i o n e d a b o v e ,i t i s a g r e e d t h a t R p . 4 mi l l i o n i s e n o u g h . Bu t t h e s t o r y d o e sn o t e n d h e r e . Of t h i s R p . 4 mi l l i o n , R p . 2 mi l l i o n wi l l b e p a i dt o t h e Re v e n u e S e r v i c e , wh i l e t h e o t h e r R p . 2 mi l l i o n i s e a r ma r k e da s " n e g o t i a t i o n c o s t s " a n d g i v e n t o t h e i n d i v i d u a l o f f i c i a l b y t h eRe v e n u e S e r v i c e a s h i s f o r ma l s h a r e .

I n don e s i a n i s " Su h a r t o d kk . " Th e a bs e nc e o f t he t i t l e Pr e s i d e nt a nd t h eus e o f t he b r u s q ue a c r o ny m f o r " d a n k a wa n 2n ya " a r e c l e a r l y d e l i b e r a t e .* * 3Pr o bo s u t e j o , on e o f t h e we a l t h i e s t me n i n I n d o n e s i a , i s a b r o t h e r o f Pr e s i -d e nt Su ha r t o .


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In the eyes of the wor ld, Indonesia is a developing country (thatis, the contributi on of the agricultural sector is larger than that ofthe industrial sector ) . To finance development plans we have a policyof borrowing from abroad. While not everybody knows how much moneyhas been borrowed, we know of terms such as "government commitmentloans." Figur es on this type of loan are easy to find. But there arestill other types of loan, such as for the Palapa Satellite proj ect,and other non-commitment loan s, the precise figures for which are dif-ficult to discover-- indeed they may actually be hidden. There are alsofunds that are named "Project Support F u n d s . " ^ The value of thesefunds runs into billion s of U. S. dol lar s. The cost calculat ions arefar above market rates and quite often no spare parts are provided.

There are two important factors that greatly influence theNational e conomic syste m, namely the rate of inflation and the exter-nal exchan ge ra te. The Government has recently declared that the in-flation rate for 1977 amounted to 11.82 perc ent. The facts , howe ver,show that the buyi ng powe r of the rupiah has declin ed muc h faster thanthe stated rate of inf lat ion . This prove s that the rate of inflatio nclaime d by the Govern ment is much smal ler than the actua l rate of in-flation .

Exampl e: As soon as Op sti b^ 5 was launched, transportationcosts rose (because the amoun t of freight carr ied by a vehic lewas kept in line with its ton nag e, i.e., it could no longer carrygoods above its official capacity). What happened then to theprice of goods?? ??? Everything went up . Possibly Opstib-r elatedprice-ri ses are a better measure of the real rate of infla tion.

H I . Transm igratio n, Cooperativ es, Industry, and Regional DevelopmentIn Line wit h the goal stated in Pelita ILL, it was hope d that theindustrial sector would be one of the fields capable of absorbing in-creases in man pow er. There are guidelines for the investment of for-eign capital and the investment of domestic ca pit al. But what is thereality???Over the past eight ye ar s, the industrial sector has only beenable to absor b 1.2 milli on pe op le . This is an abs orpt ion rate of only12.5 perce nt of available manp ower . This proves that the present pol-icy in the field of industry will never be able to absorb the increase sin the labor fo rce . The pic ture becom es wor se if we also take intoaccount the loss of job opportunities in nationa l companie s that havehad to close down because of the influx of foreign capital . The onlylocal raw mater ial used by the Tndo Milk Compa ny, for in stanc e, is

wat er. The milk concentra te itself is imported from Aust rali a. Whilethe job market has not expanded, the side effects are wrecking thelife of the nation.The Government's industrial policy should have been geared towardsthe develop ment of industry designed to support agr icu ltur e, because

loans for specified projects .f5Opstib = Operasi Tertib (Operation Control), a much-vaunted anticorruptioncampaign launched by Kopkamtib in the fall of 1977.


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a g r i c u l t u r e i s t h e [ ma i n ] s o u r c e o f i n c o me f o r 6 0 p e r c e n t o f t h e I n d o -n e s i a n p e o p l e . Ye t wh a t w e n o w s e e i s t h e r a p i d g r o wt h o f c o n s u me r -o r i e n t e d i n d u s t r i e s , s u c h a s t h e mo t o r c y c l e a n d c a r i n d u s t r i e s , n o t o fa g r i c u l t u r e - s u p p o r t i n g i n d u s t r i e s .i n t h e f i e l d o f r e g i o n a l d e v e l o p me n t , i t q u i t e o f t e n h a p p e n s t h a tt h e d e v e l o p me n t p l a n f o r a p a r t i c u l a r a r e a i s i n f l u e n c e d b y b i g c i t ya n d f o r e i g n i n t e r e s t s . E v e r y b o d y r e a l i z e s t h a t t h e a r e a s o u t s i d e t h ei s l a n d o f J a v a mu s t b e d e v e l o p e d t o s o l v e t h e p r o b l e ms o f i n c r e a s i n gf o o d p r o d u c t i o n , e x p a n d i n g j o b o p p o r t u n i t i e s , a n d s a f e g u a r d i n g t h ee c o l o g y . T h e e x a mp l e g i v e n b e l o w wi l l s h o w t h a t t h e d e v e l o p me n t p l a n -n e r s i n I n d o n e s i a ( Ba p p e n a s ) d o n o t y e t h a v e a r e g i o n a l d e v e l o p me n ts t r a t e g y t h a t i s a p p r o p r i a t e f o r a r e a s o u t s i d e J a v a , b e c a u s e t h e yb l i n d l y f o l l o w t h e c r i t e r i a l a i d d o wn b y f o r e i g n c o u n t r i e s .

E x a m p l e : T h e i n f l u x o f f o r e i g n l o a n s h a s f o r c e d u s t o a c c e p tt h e s t i p u l a t i o n s o f t h e c r e d i t o r c o u n t r i e s . No ma t t e r wh e t h e r i ti s t h e Wo r l d B a n k , t h e I G G I , t h e ADB [ As i a n De v e l o p me n t B a n k ] , o ro t h e r p a r t i e s , t h e y wi l l o n l y l e n d t h e i r mo n e y i f t h e p a r t i c u l a rp r o j e c t i s s e e n a s f e a s i b l e i n q u a n t i t a t i v e t e r ms . An d s o a l o to f " f e a s i b i l i t y s t u d i e s " p o p u p . I t h a s a l s o b e e n s t i p u l a t e d t h a tt h e c o s t - b e n e f i t r a t i o [ s ^ - - s h o u l d b e b e n e f i t - c o s t r a t i o ] mu s tb e g r e a t e r t h a n 1 a n d wi t h a r a t e o f r e t u r n b a s e d o n t h e r e q u i r e -me n t s o f t h e Wo r l d Ba n k . I n mo n e t a r y t e r ms , t h e r e a r e t wo t y p e so f b e n e f i t t h a t a r e p r o j e c t e d : f i r s t , d i r e c t b e n e f i t s , a n ds e c o n d , i n d i r e c t b e n e f i t s , wh i c h a r e a b s t r a c t i n c h a r a c t e r . Amo n gv a r i o u s d e t e r mi n i n g f a c t o r s a r e t h e l e v e l s o f d e v e l o p me n t o f p a r -t i c u l a r a r e a s . I t h a s o f t e n b e e n f o u n d t h a t t h e b e n e f i t - c o s tr a t i o o f d e v e l o p me n t o u t s i d e J a v a i s l e s s t h a n 1 . I s t h e f e a s i -b i l i t y s t u d y R EAL L Y T HE ONE AND ONL Y ME AS U RE T O DE T E R MI NE T HEACCE P TABI L I T Y o f a p a r t i c u l a r d e v e l o p me n t p r o j e c t ? ?

Bu t t h a t i s t h e o n l y wa y t o s a t i s f y t h e t a s t e o f t h e c r e d i t o r .Wh e t h e r we a d mi t i t o r n o t , we a r e f a c e d wi t h wh a t i s c a l l e d t h eRe g i o n a l I n d e x . ^ 6 T h e c o s t o f l a n d a c q u i s i t i o n f o r t h e J a g o r a wi p r o -j e c t * * 7 r e a c h e d mo r e t h a n R p . 2 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . Of t h i s , a l mo s t t wo - t h i r d swa s u s e d t o b u y l a n d i n t h e J a k a r t a r e g i o n . To i mp r o v e t h e " r i n g r o a d "i n J a k a r t a , R p . 3 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 we r e n e e d e d p e r k i l o me t e r . Bu t wh a t i st h e b u d g e t f o r A c e h , o r S o u t h S u ma t r a , o r Ce n t r a l Ka l i ma n t a n ? ? 'Th e g o v e r n me n t ' s t r a n s mi g r a t i o n p o l i c i e s , i . e . , t h e t r a n s f e r o fp o p u l a t i o n s f r o m J a v a t o t h e o u t e r i s l a n d s , a r e c a r r i e d o u t o n l y i n as e c t o r a l a n d p a r t i a l wa y . T h i s me a n s t h a t t r a n s mi g r a t i o n p o l i c i e s a r en o t c l e a r l y i n t e g r a t e d wi t h e f f o r t s t o d i s t r i b u t e e c o n o mi c a c t i v i t i e sa n d we l f a r e e v e n l y a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y .T h e c a p a c i t y o f t h e Go v e r n me n t t o mo v e p e o p l e o

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