Politics is personal in Indonesia

PRESIDENT Suharto of Indonesia is not a happy man. Insulted during a visit to Germany last week by demonstrations against his ruling style and human rights record, he has launched a witch-hunt in Jakarta.

Fuming over the protests - considered a natural part of political life in the West - Mr Suharto is showing the personal is political in Indonesia. He described Indonesians suspected of involvement in the protests as 'insane', 'no longer possessing a healthy mind', 'not rational', and 'mad'.

That is ostensibly why activist Yeni Rosa Damayanti, legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas and journalist Goenawan Mohamad are now threatened with arrest. All three were in Germany before or during the presidential visit. So far, Goenawan and Sri Bintang Pamungkas have denied any role in the demonstrations. Ms Damayanti is still abroad.

Yesterday, Mr Suharto approved the interrogation of Sri Bintang Pamungkas. Police said Ms Damayanti and Goenawan would also be questioned.

'Politics [in Indonesia] is becoming more and more personalised because there's no real politics,' said Goenawan, after learning he had become a target. 'There is only politics among princes - palace politics. That's why it's not the influence you have on the population [that matters], but how much you hurt someone.' Goenawan was the editor of the popular news weekly, Tempo. The weekly was banned last year, along with two other publications, following its coverage of a controversial deal to purchase formerly East German warships. The deal was brokered by Indonesia's powerful Minister for Technology, B. J. Habibie, a close ally of the president.

'I don't think that by reading Tempo people would start to question the legitimacy of the government or the purchase of ships,' Goenawan said. 'But the article hurt somebody's feeling at the top, so it was considered dangerous. So danger is no longer a political thing, it's a personal thing.' The same reasoning seems applicable to this latest bout of presidential pique.