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.
'Maybe personal feelings were hurt, I don't know,' said Goenawan of the German protests. Referring to the president, he said: 'Maybe he was embarrassed, ashamed, angry. I don't know. If you are not used to this kind of thing, then even if somebody sneezes in front of you, you would consider it a kind of offence. So, it seems like a political sneeze.
'I've no reason to think the demonstration which took place in Germany would affect Germany's foreign policy on Indonesia. So many things are at stake with German business and investment here. To me, the best thing is to consider [such protests] a routine thing, a kind of ritual.' Goenawan was in Germany on holiday before Mr Suharto's visit. He said he only learned of the protests from a Singapore newspaper on his return.
Bambang Harymurti was one of the journalists involved in forming the Association of Independent Journalists following the crackdown on the press last year. The association is not recognised by the Government and membership in it precludes the possibility of a job in Indonesia's legal media.
'You have to understand the mind of security people,' he said. 'When you are tasked with securing the President, especially abroad, and you have these problems [demonstrations], then there's got to be a black sheep somewhere.
'It's not easy, especially for military people who are not used to other cultures, to think there is no conspiracy behind everything.' The hunt for scapegoats seems almost like a case of rounding up the usual suspects. 'Everybody know it's ridiculous. There's no proof . . .,' a highly placed intellectual said. Perhaps the threat of arrest was simply that, a form of harassment unlikely to be acted on. Perhaps not, he added.
Either way, the message behind presidential accusations of insanity is one of the perils of success.
