Election news digest 17, 27 May - 16 June 2009

Contents:

Indonesian Politics: Prospects for the Coming Presidential Election [26 May]
The emergence of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party as the first party with 27 percent of the parliamentary seats has allowed the President to negotiate from a
position of strength with other parties to form a coalition and to impose his choice of vice-presidential candidate, Boediono on the four Islamic parties.  The victory of the Democratic Party has also dashed Jusuf Kalla's hopes of running as Yudhoyono's vice president. [full story]

Also: What Can Voters Do When the Choice Of Candidates Is No Choice at All? [5 June] [full story…]

Record number of female legislators elected into the House [27 May]
The House of Representatives welcomes a record number of 102 female legislators for the 2009-2014 period, or around 18 percent of the total seats. [full story…]

Victims’ statements to political parties [3 May]
Texts of statements to PD, PPP, and PDI-P [full story…]

Also: May 1998 Families Hit Out at Generals [full story…]

Toxic Mud Flies in Indonesia Poll Lead-Up [30 May]
Exactly three years ago a punctured oil and gas well in East Java began oozing toxic hot sludge. Since then, more than 15,000 people have been made homeless, thousands of hectares of land have been rendered unusable and the company at the centre of the fiasco has remained above the mire.  That firm, PT Lapindo Brantas, is owned by the family of People's Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie, a wealthy leading light in the Golkar party, which rules in coalition with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democrat Party. [full story…]

Most complaints filed with Constitutional Court regarding the elections are from Papua [1 June]
A member of the Elections Supervisory Commission (Panwaslu) has said that most complaints filed with the Constitutional Court regarding the legislative elections in April have come from Papua. [full story…]

Also: More Brimob officers sent to Jayapura [9 June] [full story…]

FACTBOX-Indonesia's Presidential Vote: Economic Platforms [2 June]
Key points on the economic platforms of the three presidential pairings. [full story…]

Military factor still plays a role [3 June]
Political and military expert Syarief Hidayatullah said that the political culture of the New Order led to people linking the military with leadership abilities. 'We may not consider the military-civilian dichotomy as relevant any more but the general public tend to believe that an ex-military will be a good leader,' he said. [full story…]

Also: Prabowo Says Rights Record No Barrier To Office [8 June] [full story…]

Signs of change, but Indon military still holds sway [9 June] [full story…]

Wiranto Defends Human Rights Record [10 June] [full story…]

Indonesia ‘War Crimes’ General Prabowo Subianto Seeks Election [14 June] [full story…]

House of Representatives The Most Corrupt Institution: Survey [3 June]
The House of Representatives is regarded as the most corrupt institution in the country, due to a number of corruption cases implicating lawmakers, a survey by the Transparency
International has revealed. [full story…]

No Debate on Human Rights [5 June]
The General Elections Commission says human rights had been left off the list of official topics for discussions during the upcoming presidential and vice presidential debates because of objections from the campaign teams of the three candidate pairings. [full story…]

Also: Presidential election debates must include human rights: TAPOL [10 June] [full story…]

KontraS letter to the National Election Commission [4 June] [full story…]

Past rights abuses no priority for candidates [8 June] [full story…]

The Indonesian freedom agenda, don't let it rest [10 June] [full story…]

Indonesia poll finds landslide less likely [9 June]
THE re-election of the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, may not be the cakewalk many are anticipating. A new poll suggests he may be forced to face a second election
to secure power. [full story…]

The Thinker: The Money Trail To Merdeka Palace [8 June]
Will the wealth of the Presidential candidates and their parties lead to election success? [full story…]

Van Zorge: It’s Time to Ask the Difficult Questions, But What Are the Odds That We Will? [12 June]
When the presidential hopefuls and their running mates take the podium next week to debate before the nation, there is a hope it will prove to be a real opportunity for Indonesia’s electorate to weigh the policy positions of each candidate and make enlightened choices. One must wonder, however, if the candidates will truly be tested before the panel of moderators. [full story…]

Star-studded intel war underlines election [11 June]
The three presidential hopefuls have kicked off their campaigns with heavy contributions from retired top brass from the intelligence community. The involvement of former top commanders has resulted in a clandestine war of strategies since before the legislative elections on April 9. [full story…]

More Chinese in Indonesian politics [10 June]
As Indonesia leaves the tragic anti-Chinese riots of May 1998 further behind, its Chinese community is gradually venturing back into the political arena. At least 12 ethnic Chinese politicians, mostly from secular nationalist parties, have secured places in the 560-seat national Parliament after the April 9 legislative elections, compared with 13 in the 2004 election and six in the 1999 polls. [full story…]

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Indonesian Politics: Prospects for the Coming Presidential Election

The Association of Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies (AJISS)
Commentary No. 68
May 26, 2009
Takashi Shiraishi

The result of the parliamentary elections held in Indonesia on April 9 is now out officially. The Democratic Party (PD) with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as its patron has emerged as the first party with 150 seats (out of 560), followed by the Golkar Party headed by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) led by former President Megawati Sukarnoputri. The four leading Islamic parties -- the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP), and the National Awakening Party (PKB) -- did badly, with their combined votes plummeting from 44% in the previous 2004 elections to 25% this time.

What does this mean for Indonesian politics, above all, the presidential election scheduled on July 8? The revised presidential election law states that only parties, or coalitions of parties, that win at least 20% of votes in the parliamentary election, or 25% of the parliamentary seats, can nominate candidates for the presidential election. This revision was originally engineered by Golkar and other parties, which did not have promising presidential candidates for the election, to extract concessions from Yudhoyono. The emergence of Yudhoyono's Democratic Party as the first party with 27 percent of the parliamentary seats, however, has rendered this maneuver moot. His party's victory has allowed Yudhoyono to negotiate from a position of strength with other parties to form a coalition and to impose his choice of vice-presidential candidate,  B Boediono, a respected economist who served as Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs and then as Central Banker under President Yudhoyono, on the four Islamic parties.

The victory of the Democratic Party has also dashed Jusuf Kalla's hopes of running as Yudhoyono's vice president. Yudhoyono's first-term administration was built on an equal partnership between the President and Vice President Jusuf Kalla. It was an open secret that Yudhoyono was often irritated by Jusuf Kalla's outspokenness, frequent intervention in policy-making processes, and ill-considered remarks and outbursts. Yudhoyono no doubt decided that he would no longer tolerate this partnership and ditched Jusuf Kalla as his running mate for the re-election, leaving Kalla with no other choice but to run for the presidency himself. Kalla has picked as his running mate Wiranto, the former military commander who oversaw the transition from President Soeharto's New Order regime to the current decentralized democracy and who was responsible (as President Habibie's military commander and Defense Minister) for the destruction of Dili in the wake of the referendum in which East Timorese overwhelmingly opted for their independence.

The poor showing of the Megawati-led PDIP also underlined the point (repeatedly shown in public-opinion surveys) that Megawati would not be able to beat Yudhoyono in the presidential election, even though her followers naturally expected her to run again. This put the PDIP leadership in a quandary. Megawati did not want to run for the presidency if she did not have a chance of winning. Practically all the other PDIP leaders wanted to join the Democratic Party-led coalition. But negotiations broke down at the last minute, when Prabowo, Soeharto's former son-in-law, with his small Gerindo party, agreed to be her running mate.

The presidential election will now be fought among three sets of candidates: Yudhoyono-Boediono, Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto, and Megawati-Prabowo. It is hard to imagine either Jusuf Kalla or Megawati winning the election, given their vice-presidential running mates' tainted reputation for human rights abuses.
Public opinion surveys place the Yudhoyono-Boediono slate well ahead of other parties. The only question is whether Yudhoyono-Boediono will win fifty percent of the votes in the first round, or whether they will go through the second round of election in early September.

The past eleven years have seen a restoration of the people's faith in Indonesia as a national project, with the Indonesian polity achieving a new dynamic equilibrium in the form of a decentralized democracy in which many contending parties, small and large, have become stakeholders in the political process both in Jakarta and in the provinces, districts, and municipalities.

In his first term, Yudhoyono achieved domestic peace for the first time in Indonesian post-colonial history, presiding over an Indonesia in which the military is not engaged in any major counter-insurgency operations. He has maintained macro-economic stability and achieved decent economic growth despite the global financial and economic crisis. He has also demonstrated that he can make tough decisions, for example, raising fuel prices even at the risk of losing public support in the early part of 2008.

Once Yudhoyono is re-elected, he and his team will face the challenges of overcoming the current crisis, maintaining domestic peace, and restoring ASEAN's status as the hub of East Asian region-making. How he goes about meeting these challenges will be the true test of his leadership.

Takashi Shiraishi (siraisi@grips.ac.jp) is President of the Institute of Developing Economies - Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO), and Professor of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. The views expressed in this piece are the author's own and should not be attributed to The Association of Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies.

AJISS-Commentary is an occasional op-ed type publication of The Association of Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies (AJISS) consisting of three leading Japanese think tanks: Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS), The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), and Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS).

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What Can Voters Do When the Choice Of Candidates Is No Choice at All?

The Jakarta Globe
June 5, 2009
Bramantyo Prijosusilo

Opinion

As the presidential hopefuls kick off their campaigns, it is time for “we the people” to contemplate our choices. Soon each of us will go to the polling booths to execute our constitutional rights and choose one of the three candidates, or alternatively, we can take the fourth option and elect not to choose. With one pair of candidates promising a totally new “people’s economy,” another promising accelerated development and the incumbent and his running mate promising continuation, at face value it all seems straightforward. On the surface it seems that the choice will be between three different economic systems and development strategies. However, if one were to look deeper into the claims of the candidates, one begins to sense
that not all is exactly as it seems and that perhaps what first appears to be choices are not choices at all.

Take, for instance, Megawati and Prabowo’s “people’s economy.” What does this mean? As the wealthiest of the candidates, Prabowo was born with a silver spoon. After being discharged from the military during the fall of his then father-in-law, Suharto, he became a businessman, and a very successful one at that. Currently he keeps a stable of dozens of horses, some of which reportedly cost up to Rp 3 billion ($297,000). Does he really expect people to believe he knows what it feels like for a family of three to survive on Rp 10,000 a day?

His campaign team was swift to say that these expensive horses have actually served the country, representing Indonesia in competitions and such, but surely there are other, more sensitive ways to boost Indonesia’s standing in the world of sports. One of Prabowo’s businesses is palm oil and pulp, both of which are notorious for their environmental impact. Is he serious when he talks about sustainable agriculture? A respected economist has warned that this talk of a “people’s economy” is risky and that there is a danger that the speaker will prove to be a demagogue who will whip up emotions and take us all for a roller-coaster ride.

Jusuf Kalla claims that he and Wiranto, the retired general, will accelerate development, but if the tragic violence surrounding the East Timor referendum and the horror of Jakarta in May 1998 are any indication of Wiranto’s leadership skills, it is impossible to imagine him as anything but a handicap to accelerating development.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s slogan is “Continue!” and again it is not clear precisely what this means. His greatest economic achievement in the eyes of the man on the street was probably lowering fuel prices, but that was because of the fall of oil prices globally. Surely, he doesn’t mean that if he is
given another term he will bring oil prices down again, when last year’s price drops had nothing to do with him? However, his choice of Boediono as his running mate does allow for hope; at least this professor does know what he is talking about when he speaks of the economy. Thus, for “We the People” it might be
safe to say that the incumbent’s team offers the most hope, economically.

For those of us who are not squeamish about blood and oppression in our politics, this election is an exciting one, and there should be no problems in choosing the team to lead the country for the next five years. However, not all of us are comfortable with the idea of being responsible for electing a president who disregards human rights. If human rights are an issue, then this election poses a real dilemma, for not one team has a completely clean record.

Although the incumbent has an image of being rather more respectful toward human rights than his other ex-military opponents, Amnesty International reports that in the last year Yudhoyohno’s Indonesia imprisoned 85 people for their political views. News from Papua is rather scarce, but the impression we get from the eastern side of the nation is one of unrest and injustice. In Papua it is common for people to be killed by the state apparatus because of their political beliefs expressed in such peaceful ways as the raising of a flag.

Yudhoyono’s reliance on the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which originated as secret cells designed from the blueprint of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, is a worry to many observers. To the disappointment of many supporters who wanted a truly Islamist party representing them, the power-hungry elite of the PKS have demonstrated that they are prepared to bend their Islamist principles to get a share of power. This suggests that Islamism in the PKS elite is only skin deep, and when you look beneath the veneer of Shariah, their true colors are those of the chameleon. To the dismay of their supporters, they have acted in ways that portray the idea that they are prepared to use Islam for worldly gain, even to the extent of denying their Brotherhood roots when they see fit. However, many observers agree that if the PKS does get into power it will revert to its original platform of Islamism.

The attack by members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) on supporters of Pancasila last year, the support they received from mainstream politicians and the subsequent lenient sentences that were handed down to their leaders indicate just how fragile our pluralistic society is. In this respect, it seems that only Megawati and Prabowo have declared their commitment to guarding the foundations of our state, for example with their promise of revoking the discriminative antipornography law, which was pushed through the legislature by the parties of Yudhoyono and Kalla last year.

On Kalla’s new campaign team there are also such unsavoury characters as Ali Mochtar Ngabalin, who has been recorded as saying the blood of people who are against the antiporn law is halal to spill.

On the issue of human rights some have suggested that we should vote for the candidates with the least problematic rights record. However, when one contemplates the principle that the oppression of one is the same as the oppression of the whole human race, it would be obvious that this presidential race will not bring about the changes “We the People” deserve. For that we might have to wait for the next generation.

Sadly, nearly all the younger politicians who are the next generation have unashamedly latched on to their seniors, proving that for them too, human rights matter little.

Bramantyo Prijosusilo is an artist, poet and organic farmer in Ngawi, East Java.

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Record number of female legislators elected into the House

The Jakarta Post [web site]
May 27, 2009

The House of Representatives welcomes a record number of 102 female legislators for the 2009-2014 period, or around 18 percent of the total seats.

Some of these elected legislators have beaten their male rivals in the last legislative elections in April.

In West Java II district, for example, Rieke Diah Pitaloka from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) gathered more votes than Taufik Kiemas, an incumbent legislator and also husband of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Actress Nurul Arifin from the Golkar Party, Megawati’s niece Puti Guntur Soekarno and daughter Puan Maharani, both from PDI-P, earned the highest votes in their respective districts.

Puan even managed to gain more votes than Hidayat Nur Wahid, who is the People's Consultative Assembly Speaker from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

According to the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party (PD) contributes the highest number of female legislators with 37 out of the total available 150 seats for the party.

PDI-P comes in second with 19 out of the available 95 seats for the party.

Meanwhile, Islamic based party PKS becomes the least contributor of female representatives with only three out of the available 57 seats for the party.

The highest number of women seated in the House was recorded during the 1987-1992 period, when 65 women, or 13 percent, won the House seats. This number dropped to 9 percent in the 1999-2004 before rising slightly to 11 percent during the 2004-2009 period. (fmb)

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The Commission for Dissapeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS)
Jl. Borobudur No. 14 Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10320 Indonesia
phone : 62-21-3926983
fax : 62-21-3926821
email : kontras_98@kontras.org
website : www.kontras.org
mailinglist : info_kontras@yahoogroups.co.uk

The Democratic Party’s position on human rights

To the honorable

Mr. Hadi Utomo, S.H., M.M
Head of the Democratic Party (PD)

Dear Mr. Utomo,

We, the families of victims joined together in the Victims’ Families Solidarity Network, are pleased that the legislative elections were generally peaceful and took place without significant acts of violence. The process, however, was not without faults, and were especially disappointed by the problems with the voters list (DPT). We hope that the presidential election will take place in a similarly peaceful manner. We also hope for a significant strengthening of the people’s agenda and human rights for the upcoming presidential campaign.

We hope that political parties, in the midst of their competition, will consider human rights issues, especially in pushing for the resolution of past human rights violations. The Democratic Party has led the government for the last five years, and in the coming five years the Democratic Party will also make up the majority of the parliament. Progress (or retreat) in the human rights agenda and the resolution of past human rights cases depends on the policies and attitude of the Democratic Party.

However, in the current contest we are worried that the Democratic Party is taking shortcuts towards gaining more power by disregarding cases of human rights violations. It has used a human rights agenda for political purposes, which does not give a feeling of justice for the victims.

We believe President Yudhoyono has not been resolute in solving past human rights cases, and additionally has ignored the victims of the 2006 mud flow tragedy in Sidoardjo. When President Yudhoyono met with victims’ families on March 28, 2008, he made a commitment to solve past human rights cases. The weekly vigils held every Thursday by victims’ families, undertaken 108 times so far, have also not yet received a response from the Democratic Party-led government.

Another worrying development is the emergence of Prabowo from the Gerindra Party and Wiranto from Hanura Party as candidates for vice-president. Official government documents have identified Prabowo and Wiranto as responsible parties in several human rights cases from the past, including the activist kidnappings in 1997-98, Semanggi I and II, the May 1998 tragedy and violations in East Timor. The government has failed up to this point to break the chains of impunity, meaning that those who should be asked to take responsibility for their actions can now put themselves forward as candidates for national office.

In this context, we remind you that human rights violators are now  considered enemies of mankind (hostis humanis generis)  in international law. This means that those committing evil acts cannot use their position as President or Vice-President to protect themselves from prosecution. We remind the political parties that leaders such as Augusto Pinochet, Charles Taylor, Saddam Hussein, Omar al-Bashir and others have been singled out by the international community to be held responsible for their violations. We hope that we will not have a similar experience with a future leader of our country. Human rights violators, no matter who they are or when they committed their acts, will not be free from the law, especially international human rights law ( the no safe haven principle). Power cannot be used as a shield to maintain impunity.   

Based on the analysis above, first, we ask that the Democratic Party not get caught up with short-term political issues and ignore a pro-people and pro-human rights agenda.
We hope that victims of human rights violations can channel their aspirations through the Democratic Party, especially in the solving of cases of the past. Second, we hope you can work together with other political parties that have a full commitment to the respect, protection, and fulfillment of human rights. Third, we especially hope that the Democratic Party can take concrete steps to solve the cases as a sign of their commitment to human rights.

We remind you that power must be used to help the welfare of all the people, and not as a betrayal of their welfare. It should be used to fulfill the people’s prosperity and security, and work towards justice and truth. We hope that the coalitions formed by the political powers are not just based on the divvying up of power but also on an agenda of economic, social, and civil-political rights.   

Thank you for your attention and cooperation.

Jakarta, May 4, 2009

Tuti Koto, Family member of a kidnapping and forced disappearance victim
Sumarsih,  Family member of a Trisakti Semanggi victim
Ruminah, , Family member of the May 1998 tragedy victim
Suciwati, Family member of the killed human rights activist Munir
Bedjo Untung, Victim of the 1965/1966 tragedy
Kabul, , Family member of a Talangsari 1989 victim
Nurhasanah, Family member of a kidnapping and forced disappearance victim
Irta Sumitra, Victim of the Tanjung Priok 1984 massacre
Amang, Family member of the May 1998 tragedy victim
Benny Biki, Family member of a victim of Tanjung Priok
Wanmayeti, Family member of a victim of Tanjung Priok

 

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s position on human rights

To the honorable

Megawati Soekarnoputri
Head of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)

Dear Mrs. Soekarnoputri,

We, the families of victims joined together in the Victims’ Families Solidarity Network, are pleased that the legislative elections were generally peaceful and took place without significant acts of violence. The process, however, was not without faults, and were especially disappointed by the problems with the voters list (DPT). We hope that the presidential election will take place in a similarly peaceful manner. We also hope for a significant strengthening of the people’s agenda and human rights for the upcoming presidential campaign.

We, the families of the victims of human rights violations hope that political parties, in the midst of their competition, will consider human rights issues, especially in pushing for the resolution of past human rights violations. PDI-P has shown concern towards the legal process in cases of grave human rights violations, especially in the work of the PDI-P faction in parliament regarding the Trisakti and Semanggi I dan II (TSS) cases and the kidnapping/disappearances of activists in 1997-98. In parliamentary committees, the PDI-P faction has always taken the lead position in discussing these cases.

As a party that emerged during the repression of the New Order regime, PDI-P is not limited to the distinguishing factors between the old PDI and the new PDI-P. It is also part of the struggle against all forms of oppression. However, in the current contest we are worried that PDI-P is taking shortcuts towards gaining more power by disregarding cases of human rights violations. The issue of a coalition of PDI-P and the Gerindra and Hanura parties is casting a shadow over its commitment to human rights issues in the future. Official government documents have identified Prabowo and Wiranto as responsible parties in several human rights cases from the past, including the activist kidnappings in 1997-98, Semanggi I and II, the May 1998 tragedy and violations in East Timor. If this coalition happens, it means that all the work of PDI-P is taking up human rights issues in parliament has been meaningless. 

In another side we need to remind all political parties that human rights violators are now  considered enemies of mankind (hostis humanis generis) in international law. This means that those committing evil acts cannot use their position as President or Vice-President to protect themselves from prosecution. We remind the political parties that leaders such as Augusto Pinochet, Charles Taylor, Saddam Hussein, Omar al-Bashir and others have been singled out by the international community to be held responsible for their violations. We hope that we will not have a similar experience with a future leader of our country. Human rights violators, no matter who they are or when they committed their acts, will not be free from the law, especially international human rights law (the no safe haven principle). Power cannot be used as a shield to maintain impunity.   

Based on the analysis above, first, we hope that PDI-P does not get caught up with short-term political issues and ignore a pro-people and pro-human rights agenda. We hope that in the future, PDI-P will continue to be a party through which victims of human rights violations can channel their aspirations, and push for the solving of past cases - as shown by its members in parliament. We are sure that the choice of the people of PDI-P is linked with the hopes to solve these cases of human rights violations. We can see PDI-P’s attitude to human rights from the many pro-human rights activist candidates put forward in the last legislative election.

Second, we hope that PDI-P maintains distance from human rights violators in the election. Power must be used to help the welfare of all the people, and not as a betrayal of their welfare. It should be used to fulfill the people’s prosperity and security, and work towards justice and truth. We hope that the coalitions formed by the political powers are not just based on the divvying up of power but also on an agenda of economic, social, and civil-political rights.  

Jakarta, 30 April 2009

Tuti Koto, Family member of a kidnapping and forced disappearance victim
Sumarsih,  Family member of a Trisakti Semanggi victim
Ruminah, , Family member of the May 1998 tragedy victim
Suciwati, Family member of the killed human rights activist Munir
Bedjo Untung, Victim of the 1965/1966 tragedy
Kabul, , Family member of a Talangsari 1989 victim
Nurhasanah, Family member of a kidnapping and forced disappearance victim
Irta Sumitra, Victim of the Tanjung Priok 1984 massacre
Amang, Family member of the May 1998 tragedy victim
Saeful Hadi, victim of the Tanjung Priok massacre



The United Development Party’s position on human rights

To the honorable
Mr. Suryadharma Ali
Head of the United Development Party (PPP) 


Dear Mr. Ali,

We are pleased that the legislative elections were generally peaceful and took place without significant acts of violence. However, we are concerned about the problems with the voters list (DPT) which left many without their right to vote. We hope the process to improve the quality of the voter rolls before the presidential elections can be carried out in a peaceful manner. 


Regarding the presidential elections, we hope that the competing political parties can show their concern for the human rights agenda, especially in the solving of past human rights violations. What is truly worrying is that in their fight to gain power, political parties are making coalitions with human rights violators, giving the violators a connection to future political power. 

We wish to remind all political parties that human rights violators are now considered enemies of mankind (hostis humanis generis)  in international law. This means that those committing evil acts cannot use their position as President or Vice-President to protect themselves from prosecution. We remind the political parties that leaders such as Augusto Pinochet, Charles Taylor, Saddam Hussein, Omar al-Bashir and others have been singled out by the international community to be held responsible for their violations. We hope that we will not have a similar experience with a future leader of our country. Human rights violators, no matter who they are or when they committed their acts, will not be free from the law, especially international human rights law (the no safe haven principle). Power cannot be used as a shield to maintain impunity.

So far, we believe that PPP has been committed to the rule of law and respect of human rights, as expressed in the party’s mission statement. We hope that the strengthening of the people and human rights is on the agenda for this year’s presidential election. However, we are very worried by the presidential choices this year. Almost all the political parties are working to keep their power by joining together with other parties purely for political reasons.

Based on the analysis above, first, we ask that PPP not get caught up with short-term political needs, relative to its pro-people and pro human rights agenda. Second, we hope that PPP prioritizes ethical and moral issues and maintains distance from human rights violators in the election. Power must be used to help the welfare of all the people, and not as a betrayal of their welfare. It should be used to fulfill the people’s prosperity and security, and work towards justice and truth. We hope that the coalitions formed by the political powers are not just based on the divvying up of power but also on an agenda of economic, social, and civil-political rights.  

Jakarta, May 3, 2009

Tuti Koto, Family member of a kidnapping and forced disappearance victim
Sumarsih,  Family member of a Trisakti Semanggi victim
Ruminah, , Family member of the May 1998 tragedy victim
Suciwati, Family member of the killed human rights activist Munir
Bedjo Untung, Victim of the 1965/1966 tragedy
Kabul, , Family member of a Talangsari 1989 victim
Amang, Family member of the May 1998 tragedy victim
Benny Biki, Family member of a victim of Tanjung Priok

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May 1998 Families Hit Out at Generals

Jakarta Globe
May 12, 2009
Nurfika Osman, Heru Andriyanto & Markus Junianto Sihaloho

The families of victims of the May 1998 riots have lashed out on the anniversary, expressing anger that the full story has not been told ­ and that two of the key military figures from that era are now involved in presidential politics.

“The former chief of the Army’s Special Forces [Kopassus], Prabowo Subianto, and military chief Wiranto have never been charged,” said Ruyati Darwin, the mother of Eten Karyana, a University of Indonesia student who was killed in the Yogya department store fire in East Jakarta. “Now they are running in the presidential election. This country has failed to uphold the law.”

Prabowo, although better known as head of Kopassus, was heading the Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad) in May 1998.

The two retired generals have never been formally accused of involvement in the riots but critics have long called for them to be held accountable.

On May 12, 1998, four Trisakti University students were shot while rallying in front of their campus in West Jakarta. Two days later, hundreds died when the Yogya department store caught fire as mobs of angry rioters looted stores.

“We will never forget this tragedy as it is a gross violation of human rights,” Ruyati said at the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) to mark the 1998 tragedy. “They can never bring back our children but they have to be fully responsible for what they have done.”

Ruyati’s son was among some 400 people caught in the burning department store. Eten, she said, had tried to save a girl who was choking on the thick smoke. He was identified by police who found his wallet and identify card.

Tuti Koto, the mother of Yani Afri, an activist believed to have been abducted by the military in May 1998, warned citizens to be careful in choosing their leaders in the election.

“Please do not vote for Prabowo and Wiranto. They are the killers of our sons,” Tuti said, adding that her son’s fate remained unknown. “We are still struggling now as we do not want this kind of violence to recur.”

In a report on Monday to House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees law and politics, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji reiterated that his office could not bring the Trisakti killings to a rights tribunal because the case had been taken over by a military court and settled long ago.

Suspected officers in the shooting had been “tried by the military court and their convictions are final,” Hendarman said, adding that they had been dismissed from the military and have served jail terms.

The Attorney General’s Office has several times rejected documents from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) demanding a tribunal, most recently on March 28, 2008.

As for the alleged abductions of 13 activists by the military in 1997-98, Hendarman insisted that a rights tribunal must be established by presidential decree via a legislative recommendation, not by the AGO.

Hendarman’s report to the commission said the military court had dismissed and imprisoned a number of officers from the so-called Tim Mawar (Rose Team) inside Kopassus for kidnapping 10 other activists more than a decade ago.

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Toxic Mud Flies in Indonesia Poll Lead-Up

The Australian
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta correspondent

ELECTION candidates often throw political mud hoping some will stick, but Indonesia's presidential aspirants are using the real thing.

Exactly three years ago a punctured oil and gas well in East Java began oozing toxic hot sludge. Since then, more than 15,000 people have been made homeless, countless businesses have gone under, thousands of hectares of land have been rendered unusable and the company at the centre of the fiasco has remained above the mire.

That firm, PT Lapindo Brantas, is owned by the family of People's Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie, a wealthy leading light in the Golkar party, which rules in coalition with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democrat Party.

Mr Bakrie's fortunes have declined with the global crisis, but those affected by his company's "mud volcano" disaster have had an absolutely rotten few days.

The Supreme Court announced it had thrown out a case brought by the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute calling for criminal prosecutions against 13 executives in the firm.

And despite government demands that Lapindo compensate victims, the company says the financial crisis means it can only do so in small instalments.

Many despair of ever receiving anything. The candidates for the July 8 presidential poll know this is all fertile, if murky, ground for campaigning.

Megawati Sukarnoputri, the former president described this week by a member of Dr Yudhoyono's re-election team as "a housewife who deals with chilli", says the Government has done too little.

"We have to know whether the mud's going to stop flowing or not," she said indignantly, promising that if elected she would end the empty promises.

Golkar vice-president Jusuf Kalla, now running on his own presidential ticket, told the newspaper Koran Tempo: "The Government must be stronger towards Lapindo, must be more firm."

That would, of course, be his Government, which remains in office until October.

Dr Yudhoyono, trying to avoid mud references altogether, read some of his own poetry at a campaign stop. The warrior-poet is also dealing with a dirty campaign against accusations of "neo-liberalism" - a bit of mud-slinging that seems to suggest he and running mate Boediono, a respected economist and former central bank chief, will sell the country to the highest bidder.

About a dozen rag-tag protesters gathered in the CBD during the week to add fuel to this fire.

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Most complaints filed with Constitutional Court regarding the elections are from Papua

Translation of items from Cenderawasih Pos, 1 June 2009
abridged in translation by TAPOL

A member of the Elections Supervisory Commission (Panwaslu) has said that most complaints filed with the Constitutional Court regarding the legislative elections in April have come from Papua.

Onny JJ Lebelauw said that the complaint filed came from political party witnesses and from candidates, saying that they felt they had been harmed in one way or another by the way the election had been  conducted.

He was not able to say how many complaints have been filed because the complaints had been filed with the Court and not with Panwaslu. 'The cases are still under consideration,' he said. As far as he knew, most complaints from Papua came from the Central Highlands  and were related to people who had lost their right to vote and also inflated figures which benefited certain parties. It also involved the 'purchase of votes'.

The problems in Yahukimo were so acute that they had been reported and commented on nationally. The impression was that the complainants felt that there had been intervention from members of the local government.

He thought that the problem could lead to sanctions against members of the local electoral commissions in question. This was originally thought to involve eight local commissions but that number could increase. He would not say what form these sanctions might take.

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More Brimob officers sent to Jayapura


The Jakarta Post ,  Jayapura
Tue, 06/09/2009 
Angela Flassy

The government is sending reinforcement to Papua ahead of the July 8 presidential election by deploying three platoons of the elite police Mobile Brigade (Brimob).

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A.S. said two platoons would be sent from Jakarta and one from Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Earlier in April, two Brimob platoons were sent from Jakarta and Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi.
Widodo arrived Monday in Papua with Home Minister Mardiyanto, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso, National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Syamsir Siregar and 15 other officials from the various security agencies.

Widodo said the visit was held to gauge Papua's readiness to hold the election.

"With the recent escalation in security problems, we are sending three more Brimob platoons," he said after arriving in Jayapura.

The two-day visit will see the entourage meet Monday evening with Papua and West Papua leaders, including governors, provincial legislative councils, the Papua People's Council, the regional General Elections Commissions (KPUD) and Elections Supervisory Committees, and the Jayapura mayor and regent.

On Tuesday, the entourage will meet with the Cendrawasih Military Command chief, Jayapura Main Naval Base chief, Jayapura Air Force Base chief, Sarmi regent and Mamberamo acting regent.

Security in Papua has deteriorated since the April 9 legislative polls. A day before polling day, a Molotov cocktail was found in the Tami River estuary. On polling day, the Abepura Police station was attacked, while the rector's office at Cendrawasih University was set on fire.

Other incidents in Jayapura included the shooting of civilians in East Koya and a fire at the Papua KPUD office. There was also an attack on police officers collecting ballots in Tinggi Nambut, Puncak Jaya regency, and the seizure of the Kapeso airstrip in Mamberamo Raya regency in early May by a group of 150 armed men allegedly led by a military deserter. Police stormed the airfield early Saturday after weeks of negotiations. Three people were killed and six others injured in the incident.

Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. F.X. Bagus Ekodanto identified the leader as Dekcy Imbiri, allegedly skilled in battlefield strategy and assembling makeshift firearms. Bagus said the police had yet to identify the unit Dekcy was from.

Cendrawasih Military Command chief Maj. Gen. A.Y. Nasution, however, denied the claims, saying only two soldiers had a last name Imbiri. "One is stationed in Serui and the other is dead," he said.

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FACTBOX-Indonesia's Presidential Vote: Economic Platforms

JAKARTA, June 2 (Reuters) - Indonesia launched on campaigning on Tuesday for a presidential election, with the economy set to be the main issue in a vote that could decide the pace of further reforms in the world's fourth most populous country.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is currently a clear favourite to win a second term in the July 8 election, faces challenges from Vice President Jusuf Kalla and opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Southeast Asia's largest economy has managed to avoid recession during the global downturn, unlike some more export-reliant neighbours, but key challenges remain such as fixing shoddy infrastructure, boosting investment and reforming a bloated bureaucracy.

Here are some key points on the economic platforms of the three presidential pairings.

YUDHOYONO

Yudhoyono has presided over one of Indonesia's best economic performances, with economic growth topping 6 percent in the last few years, despite forecasts of a slowdown this year. A second term for the president is regarded as the most investor-friendly outcome.

Markets have widely reflected a Yudhoyono win, helping make the rupiah the best performing currency in Asia this year and drive up the main stock index more than 40 percent. He has picked respected technocrat and former Central Bank Governor Boediono as his running mate, stressing the need for an experienced
economic hand to help steer the economy. But the choice has been attacked by some opponents who accuse Boediono of being too pro-market and close to foreign business interests.

KEY POINTS FROM THEIR ECONOMIC PLATFORM

- Aim to lift economic growth to 7 percent and keep inflation below 6 percent by 2014

- Pledge to ensure growth is broad-based and will help protect the poor

- Plan to improve the investment climate by spending 10 percent of the budget on infrastructure and pushing a culture of change -- although not job cuts -- in the bloated bureaucracy. – Not opposed to some protectionism in the economy, but do not support indiscriminate protection.

- Back markets efficiency principles but also to support government intervention to protect the poor.

MEGAWATI

Former President Megawati favours nationalist policies and a tougher line with foreign investors. Not known for her grasp of economic issues, she has said she would delegate many economic powers to her running mate, former general Prabowo Subianto.

Investors are unlikely to favour a win by Megawati, particularly given her lacklustre performance in managing the economy and tackling graft when she was president from 2001 to 2004.

KEY POINTS FROM THEIR ECONOMIC PLATFORM

- Aim to achieve 10 percent economic growth, helped by boosting agriculture.

- Pledge policies designed to help the poor, as well as farmers and fishermen, including microcredit and loans.

- Megawati promises to be tougher in contract negotiations with foreign resources companies.

- Prabowo views state owned enterprises as key economic drivers, opposes privatisation and wants a moratorium on foreign loans.

- Prabowo says he favours greater use of geothermal energy and bio-ethanol crops to address energy shortages.

KALLA

- Kalla, a former businessman, and his vice presidential running mate Wiranto, a retired general, also favour nationalistic economic policies and taking a tougher line with foreign investors.

But there are concerns that the pairing would be unlikely to tackle much-needed reforms such overhauling the civil service.

KEY POINTS FROM THEIR ECONOMIC PLATFORM

- Targeting 8 percent growth by 2011

- Kalla wants to promote an "independent, nationalist economy".

- Pledge to prioritise infrastructure and electricity output in the blackout plagued country, and export only surplus energy resources.

- Kalla has called for "fair trade, not free trade."

- Singled out "unfair" contracts with foreign companies, citing the pricing of gas from the BP-led Tangguh project in Papua as an example.

(Compiled by Sunanda Creagh and Ed Davies; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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Military factor still plays a role

Items from SINDO, 3 June
Abridged in translation by TAPOL

The military factor will still play a role in the coming presidential elections, and the three contesting candidates are certain to take it into consideration.

Political and military expert Syarief Hidayatullah said that the political culture of the New Order led to people linking the military with leadership abilities. 'We may not consider the military-civilian dichotomy as relevant any more but the general public tend to believe that an ex-military will be a good leader,' he said.

Another speaker at the discussion held in the parliamentary building said that the New Order led us to believe that military figures are the right ones to lead. A similar opinion was expressed by Ikrar Nusa Bhakti of LIPI. 'The country's long experience under the New Order government has led people to believe that military people are better than civilians.'

A military or civilian background should not be taken into consideration, he said. What is important is the person's character.

A member of the National Campaign Team for  Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto said that although background was not relevant, this dichotomy was still likely to win sympathy. He said that among many people, the military are still seen as the people capable of uniting the nation.

The fact is that all three contesting presidential duos include an ex-military man. 'Kalla is a civilian but he has the discipline of a military man. But the background is not important. The important thing is not background but the ability to be decisive and act fast.'

An activist working for the SBY-Budiono team  said that whoever wins will run the government as a civilian. Contestants in elections come from all kinds of backgrounds. 'Being from the military is just your background and nothing more. 'The main thing is to have the courage to act and to stand up to foreigners.

'They don’t even have the courage to stand up to the Malaysians!' [The latter is no doubt a reference to the current dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over the island of Ambalat.]

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Prabowo Says Rights Record No Barrier To Office

Radio Australia
June 8, 2009

Campaigning for the presidential elections in Indonesia are in full swing - with president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono giving his campaign a green touch, by cycling from South to central Jakarta to commemorate International Environment Day on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Megawati - Prabowo campaign is firmly focussed on drumming up support from the nation's impoverished.

Presenter: Girish Sawlani

Speaker: Prabowo Subianto, Indonesian vice presidential candidate

SAWLANI: In keeping with his party's focus on eradicating poverty, vice presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto delivered a message of hope to thousands of his supporters. Standing on a makeshift platform on a small river, flanked by slum dwellings in central Jogjakarta, he promised to improve the lives of the poor, through more equitable wealth distribution. Prabowo is seeking to reignite his political career, after previous efforts in seeking to become a presidential candidate himself failed. But the former army general, who's often been linked to human rights abuses in the past is back in the fray, with his Great Indonesia Movement Party winning 4.5 per cent of the votes during parliamentary elections in April and is now running alongside presidential candidate and former president, Megawati Sukarnoputri. But with current president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono strongly favoured to win, Prabowo believes he and Megawati will perform well.

PRABOWO: If the process is clean, honest, no cheating I think we'll do well. Our experience in the legislative election 49 million Indonesians didn't vote, this is the official figures given out by our Electoral Commission. Of those who voted I think there were about 12-million voting sheets that were disqualified, so 49 million plus 12 million disqualified, so a sizeable segment of the Indonesian people were not counted and
we felt that there was some negative profiling. Some of our strongholds, villages where Garindra is very strong, villages where PDIP is very strong, they get on the electoral list.

SAWLANI: You're focussing your campaign also largely on the poor. If you were voted in and Megawati were voted in what would you do to make things different, how would you improve the lives of those living in poverty?

PRABOWO: I think our whole strategy would be different, we consider the present economic strategy to be not solving the problems of the Indonesian economy, Indonesian people. We have massive poverty, massive unemployment and allocation of resources it's detrimental to the majority of the Indonesian
people who are actually peasants, farmers, low-income workers. For instance our budget of 100-billion dollars, only one-point-six-billion is allocated for agriculture, for the agriculture sector, one-point-six, that's one-point-six per cent for 60 per cent of the Indonesian people who live from the agriculture sector. Sixty per cent of the Indonesian people live from agriculture but our national budget we only get allocation
of one-point-six per cent, that is injustice in our opinion. And we say that this will create unrest and this cannot hold, this is not sustainable. We cannot have a small group of people who are rich and around them a sea of poverty, it doesn't hold. Nowhere in the world can there be such unequal distribution of
wealth and there will be no social unrest, no social explosion. We're not against big business, I'm also a businessman, we're not against big business, what we're saying is there must be synergy, the big business should spend on its own and should not eat up the resources that can be allocated for a more equitable
distribution of wealth.

SAWLANI: So what would you consider equitable?

PRABOWO: At least 15-20 per cent, more spending in the villages, more spending for schools, more spending for poly-clinics, job creation and we don't believe in handouts. To give out money handouts is not a real long-term solution. We have to create employment, and in our opinion we still have the resources to
create this employment through the agriculture sector.

SAWLANI: In the past you've been accused of human rights abuses when you were head of the Special Forces Kopassus, do you think your reputation in the past could affect your chances of victory?

PRABOWO: Eleven years ago a lot of accusations were been held against me, none of them have been proved. I've faced it direct. I think the main problems of Indonesia is disempowerment, poverty, inequality, that's the main problem. Human rights and this yes, the most important human right is the right to live. How can you live if you can't eat? How can you eat if you have no job? How can you have a job if our economic resources are not controlled by Indonesia?

SAWLANI: We've seen especially since Reformasi that the military has distanced itself from national politics. But there's concern that Indonesia's armed forces is lacking financial resources through the budget, so would you seek to strengthen the military?

PRABOWO: The military has withdrawn from politics but every country needs a strong defence capability. Indonesia is I think the weakest, the smallest defence per capita, the smallest defence spending, the smallest number of airforce planes, the smallest number of navy ships in comparative terms. So we have
very, very low defence spending in Indonesia.

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Signs of change, but Indon military still holds sway

The World Today
Tuesday, 9 June , 2009  12:38:00
Reporter: Peter Cave

PETER CAVE: Indonesia's leading human rights advocate says Indonesia's military remains above the law but he remains optimistic that change is underway in his country.

Lawyer Usman Hamid heads KONTRAS, the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence in Indonesia.

He says he takes heart from the fact that police felt confident enough to at least charge a former senior general and head of Intelligence with the murder of his predecessor as head of KONTRAS.

But he says it's worrying that former general Prabowo Subianto, accused of gross abuses of human rights in East Timor, is currently campaigning to become vice-president.

Usman Hamid is in Australia to address a conference on reform of the security sector in Indonesia.

I asked him why he believed the military remained above the law.
USMAN HAMID: Ten years after the fall of Suharto, military business, military violation, remains unaccountable. There are many human rights abuses in the past during Suharto's era which has not been 
brought to justice.

Particularly crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999 and not a single person for those responsible for the crimes have been brought to justice.

PETER CAVE: Do you think it will ever happen?

USMAN HAMID: I think it should happen. I mean, the recent result of Indonesian election has bring a new composition in the Parliament where it can bring a new hope for bringing past human right abuses to 
a tribunal through the approval of Parliament.

PETER CAVE: You've talked about bringing the people who committed human rights abuses in the past to justice. What about the current situation?

USMAN HAMID: I think the current situation has shown more space of freedom but has some limits, especially with relations to religious freedoms but also on the other hand, there are some violence that 
remains continuous.

On one hand in Aceh, a peace process has bring a new hope for peace, for security in Aceh, but on the other hand, violence remains continued in Papua, or in the case of the murder of human right 
defenders six years after the fall of Suharto, in this case Munir Said Thalib, has shown a very serious threats against democratisation in Indonesia and I think this is a challenge for Indonesian chief of 
society to work democratisations.

PETER CAVE: Munir of course was your predecessor. Does it give you some hope that at last a senior member of the security forces looks like he may be brought to book for this murder?

USMAN HAMID: I think last year did arrest and detention of former commander of Indonesia Special Forces Major General Muchdi PR is a very significant step taken by the police, by the Indonesian 
authorities in relation to the involvement of senior level of military generals, but the recent decision of the court acquitted the general have shown that impunity is still very strong. It has never been happened.

In the case of East Timor where international community has been paying so much attention, there was no single former military general or police who has been detained for crimes against humanity in East 
Timor so in this case I think it is the first time ever that international police detained former military general in relations to the murder of human rights activists.

PETER CAVE: And that makes you optimistic?

USMAN HAMID: I think it gives a new hope. It gives a window of opportunity for change in Indonesia.

PETER CAVE: That was lawyer Usman Hamid, who heads KONTRAS - the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence in Indonesia.

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Wiranto Defends Human Rights Record

The Jakarta Post [web site]
June 10, 2009

Vice presidential candidate Wiranto, who has been linked to various atrocities involving the military, braved Wedensday a forum organized by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) to assess his human rights record.

“Most people still consider me a perpetrator of human rights violations, but I have to accept it as a consequence of my past duties,” he told a public discussion to hear his platforms on human rights and human security.

Wiranto was accused of crimes against humanity during the May 1998 riots and after an independence vote in East Timor in 1999 due to his job as the Indonesian Military chief at that time. He has never prosecuted for the cases.

“It’s not that I’m untouchable. I followed all the process but I was neither a suspect nor defendant in the past human rights cases,” he said.

During the discussion, dozens of family members of the May riot victims and human rights activist were protesting outside the YLBHI building. They unfurled posters and shouted “Bring Wiranto to trial”.

“There’s a growing concern that if I was elected the vice president, settlement of past human rights violations would be disrupted. But, I support the spirit of human rights violations settlement,” said Wiranto, the running mate for presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla. (fmb)

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Indonesia ‘War Crimes’ General Prabowo Subianto Seeks Election

The Sunday Times (UK)
June 14, 2009

Michael Sheridan and Dewi Loveard, Jakarta

One of the darkest characters from Indonesia’s bloody past has reinvented himself as a respectable candidate for vice-president and could emerge as the country’s most powerful politician after elections next month.

He is Prabowo Subianto, 58, a former special forces commander and army lieutenant-general, who married Titiek, the second daughter of the late dictator Suharto, and was associated with the violence and nepotism of his regime.

Human rights groups have condemned his record in East Timor and Jakarta, where men under his command shot demonstrators and kidnapped opponents. Last week activists called for voters to shun him.

Prabowo refused to talk about his past when questioned by The Sunday Times last week. Over the years he has repeatedly denied all the allegations. But they will not go away.

He served four tours of duty in East Timor, where Indonesian occupation forces were accused of war crimes including torture, rape and murder. In the last years of the Suharto regime, special units under his command were blamed for abductions and disappearances of pro-democracy activists.

The Indonesian media reported widespread rumours that he organised mobs to loot, burn, kill and rape throughout Jakarta’s
Chinatown in 1998 in an attempt to sow chaos and pave the way for a coup.

After Suharto stepped down, Prabowo was accused of threatening the new president, B J Habibie, by deploying his commandos around the palace.

Prabowo went into exile but has made a comeback thanks to a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign funded by his brother, a tycoon. He is standing as running mate to Megawati Sukarnoputri, who served an undistinguished term as president from 2001 to 2004.

“I would like to see Indonesia as a more prosperous and self-reliant country and to be able to better manage its resources for the benefit of the people,” he said.

Political analysts see Megawati as weak and ineffective. They believe that if she won the presidency, Prabowo would become the stronger figure.

Megawati is the daughter of Sukarno, Indonesia’s first president, while Prabowo is casting himself in Sukarno’s role as a friend of the poor.

“I realised the only way to make a difference was through the political system,” he said.

The pair are challenging President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is standing on a platform of competence and personal integrity.

President Barack Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia ­ the most populous Muslim nation with 210m people ­ is planning a symbolic visit later this year to continue improving relations between America and Islam.

The prospect that he may be greeted by Prabowo is likely to dampen the enthusiasm of White House planners.

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House The Most Corrupt Institution: Survey

The Jakarta Post [web site]
June 3, 2009

The House of Representatives is regarded as the most corrupt institution in the country, due to a number of corruption cases implicating lawmakers, a survey by the Transparency International has revealed.

The survey, titled “Global Corruption Barometer 2009”, was conducted in 69 countries by interviewing a total of 73,132 respondents from October last year to March of this year. In Indonesia, the institution asked for opinions from 500 people living in Jakarta and Surabaya between Nov. 11 and Nov. 20 last year.

Respondents in 13 countries surveyed deemed private and business corporations as the most corrupt entities, while those in 11 countries considered the parliaments and judiciary institutions the most corrupt ones.

In Indonesia, the House was scored 4.4 in the survey, followed by the judiciary institution with 4.1. Political parties and state officials came third and fourth with 4.0 each, while the media were fifth with 2.3.

The scale ranges from for the most to the least corrupt, with 5 being the most corrupt index.

Transparency International Indonesia (TII) general secretary Teten Masduki said 74 percent of the respondents said the government had taken effective efforts to combat corruption.

“We believe the performance of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has influenced people’s optimistic perspective about the fight against graft,” he told a press conference Wednesday.

In response to the survey, lawmaker Gayus Lumbuun admitted the House had always been associated with corruption.

“I do not reject such opinion and we should work together to curb corruption practices in all institutions,” said Gayus, who leads the House’s disciplinary council. (ewd)

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No Debate on Human Rights

The Jakarta Globe
June 5, 2009
Camelia Pasandaran

The General Elections Commission says human rights had been left off the list of official topics for discussions during the upcoming presidential and vice presidential debates because of objections from the campaign teams of the three candidate pairings.

KPU Chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary was responding to criticisms on Thursday about the omission of the topic in the commission-organized debates.

Abdul did say, however, that he would again discuss the issue with the campaign teams, and that they could “replace one of the debate topics” to include the subject.

Earlier in the day, several leading human rights organizations criticized the KPU for the omission, demanding the election organizer include the topic during the five public debates to be aired on separate television stations.

The groups said that due to the weak rule of law and poor enforcement of human rights violations, it was important to learn about the vision of the candidates regarding these issues.

“It’s important to know the candidates’ point of view on these subjects, because none of the candidates are free from past human rights violations,” Syamsuddin Radjab, chairman of Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, alleged on Thursday.

The controversial human rights records of vice presidential candidates Prabowo Subianto and Wiranto, both former generals, are well known, but a group statement alleged that Yudhoyono’s government had a low-level commitment to protecting its citizens, citing the Lapindo mudflow disaster and unresolved human rights abuses, including those allegedly involving Prabowo and Wiranto.

The organizations said that the human rights topic’s absence from the planned presidential candidates’ debate is possibly a way to avoid the public demand for better human rights enforcement in Indonesia.

“Debate on this topic will be valuable for the public to see their commitment on law and human rights enforcement,” Patra M. Zen, director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, said on Thursday.

He said that problem regarding unsolved cases of human rights and law enforcement should be solved as soon as possible.

“Without highlighting this issue, the next government may run from its responsibilities and repeat human rights violations again in the future,” Patra said.

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Presidential election debates must include human rights

TAPOL press release

10 June 2009 - The decision to exclude human rights from the topics to be discussed by the presidential and vice presidential candidates in televised debates organised by Indonesia's General Elections Commission will deprive the electorate of information about the records and views of the candidates on a matter of grave importance, says TAPOL, the UK-based organisation that promotes human rights, peace and democracy in Indonesia.

"We can only conclude that this decision was taken under pressure from the contesting duos, each of which includes a retired general. It is symptomatic of the continuing influence of the military within the country's political elite," says Carmel Budiardjo of TAPOL.

Vice-presidential candidate Wiranto, the running mate of incumbent Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, has been formally indicted on crimes against humanity charges in East Timor for his role in the abuses committed by the armed forces under his command at the time of the August 1999 vote for independence.

At least 1,400 Timorese were killed, the country's infrastructure suffered widespread destruction, and tens of thousands of Timorese were forcibly removed to Indonesian West Timor.  Wiranto has been saved from facing trial by Indonesia's refusal to hand him over to the East Timorese authorities.

Prabowo Subianto, the running mate of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri is allegedly responsible for the disappearance of dozens of pro-democracy activists in May 1998 during the final days of the Suharto era.  Many of the disappeared have still not been accounted for.  He also undertook a tour of duty in East Timor.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is predicted to win a second term in July, is also a retired general. He has chosen an economist, Boediono, as his running mate. During his current five-year term, the President has failed to deal with the numerous human rights violations perpetrated in Indonesia over the past four decades, thus reinforcing the culture of impunity.

In particular, despite pledging to give high priority to the case, his administration has failed to bring to justice the masterminds behind the murder of Indonesia's foremost human rights activist, Munir, who died of poisoning in September 2004, just one month before President Yudhoyono took office.

Both under the Suharto dictatorship and during the subsequent reformasi era, virtually nothing has been done to bring to justice anyone responsible for egregious humans right violations. This is a matter of profound importance for the Indonesian electorate. They need to know whether the forthcoming elections will result in any improvements in the rule of law and the enforcement of human rights.

TAPOL believes that the culture of impunity has protected many senior military officers from facing justice for crimes against humanity and a host of human rights violations over the past four decades.

"We are deeply concerned that the decision to exclude human rights from the presidential and vice-presidential debates will contribute to the new administration continuing the pattern of neglect that has characterised all Indonesian governments up until the present.

"We call upon the General Elections Commission to include human rights as a topic for debate and ensure that it gets a full airing not only in these presidential discussions but also during the overall campaigning up until the election on 8 July," says Carmel Budiardjo

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OPEN LETTER TO THE NATIONAL ELECTION COMMISSION (KPU)
Requesting KPU to insert Human Rights theme in the Presidential/Vice Presidential Candidate debate as Commitment in Human Rights Enforcement

To The Distinguished.
Chairman of The National Election Commission
Abdul Hafidz Anshary

With all Respect,

Through this letter, we the civil society groups which concern for democratization and Human Rights enforcement in Indonesia request the National Election Council to put Human Rights theme in an agenda for the Presidential/ Vice Presidential candidacy debate, that will complete the issues of debate for this Presidential/ Vice Presidential candidacy debate. Based on track record of the candidate, clearly shown that Human Rights is not there priority Even though they were ask to present their future Human Rights programme, they will likely to present it normatively or just merely a lip service. 

We see that the obligation for the state to respect, protect and enforce Human Rights, must put into real practice as a form of pure nation political commitment. After 10 years of reform, many Human Rights case happened, should given serious attention by the candidates of national leadership. This could not be responded by a mere normative stance.

First, Recognition of Human Rights discourse in various existing formal legislation- including the constitution- implies that Human Rights is a collective consensus that became a framework in the nation livelihood. Meanwhile, the implementation is still low.

Second, weak respect, protection and enforcement of the Human Rights because the state still neglect economic, social, and cultural rights of the citizen. Hunger, malnutrition, poverty, expensive education, lack of health facility, environment disruption are a few serious humanity issues that could threat the future of the nation.

Third, the absence of political will to protect and fulfill Human Rights of the citizen. Long and slow handling of the Lapindo hot mud, no freedom of religion, ongoing capital punishment, and enduring violence to indigenous people trying to preserve their land and home, are issues need to be solved. Not to mention the existence of candidate with a track record of Human Rights gross violence involvement in the past. In the reality, several succession of political leadership in this country, didn't gave just solution in solving Human Rights violation in the past, either legally or politically. This enduring process will preserve impunity that is suppose to be abolish.

We are deeply concern if this discourse didnt discussed clearly, than it will became an attempt to avoid state responsibility over similar incidence in the future. Meanwhile, demand for responsibility of past regime will remain exist, as long those Human Rights cases never been solved. Nevertheless, State’s obligation to conduct investigation, execution and remedy for the victim will endure forever.

It is the utmost importance to be able to hear the future leader debates of their effort on implementing respect, protection, fulfillment and enforcement of Human Rights, it will be an indicator to measure their political commitment in favour of their people. The people have the right to consider their choice in order to obtain future President and Vice President with a clear programme in fulfilling their Human Rights.

Hereby so this motion to be consider.

Jakarta, 4 June 2009
 
Best Regards,
Komisi Untuk Orang Hilang dan korban Tindak Kekerasan (KontraS)
Yayasan LBH Indonesia (YLBHI)
Pusat Studi Hukum dan Kebijakan Indonesia (PSHK)
Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (LBH Masyarakat)
Jaringan Advokasi Tambang (JATAM)
Perhimpunan Bantuan Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia Indonesia (PBHI)

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Past rights abuses no priority for candidates

The Jakarta Post
Monday, June 8, 2009
Dicky Christanto and Adianto P. Simamora

All presidential candidates contesting the July 8 poll have promised to better protect human rights but failed to commit to improving much-criticized poor law enforcements of past human rights violations.

Democratic Party deputy chairman Anas Urbaningrum said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono would improve human rights protections if elected.

“It would be better if we didn’t always go back to the past but instead focused on the future. The most important thing is to improve human rights protections to prevent past cases from happening again.”

Anas said SBY would place human rights issue as his top priority.

Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto also said they were ready to espouse human rights to achieve a quality democratic system.

Kalla-Wiranto campaign team member Yus Usmanegara said the pair would respect human rights, including freedom of speech.

“There is no bargaining for human rights if the country wants to advance democracy. So, for JK-Wiranto, human rights must be upheld,” Yus told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

“Pak Kalla’s platform also ensures that the media will not be muzzled.”

When asked about Wiranto’s human rights track record, Yus said it was a smear campaign since Wiranto had never been named as a suspect.

“I think the fact that he contested the 2004 presidential election proved that Wiranto has nothing to do with the alleged human rights violations.”

Wiranto, as the military commander from 1998 to 1999, was accused of crimes against humanity in Timor Leste, which claimed lives of thousands leading up to and subsequent to the 1999 referendum that saw locals opting for independence.

Retired general Wiranto, who is now chairman of the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), was also in command during the 1998 May riots, in which thousands of men and women died on the streets of Jakarta. Wiranto never faced trial.

Deputy Chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) Fadli Zon said Megawati Soekarnoputri and Prabowo planned to develop people’s economic and social rights if elected later on.

“We would prioritize improving people’s economic and social rights as we have noticed that these two fields are the most vulnerable parts of our people that being hit by crisis these days,” he told the Post Saturday.

“It is not that we are not paying serious attention to people’s political rights but that, for now, I think it would be better for us to develop the fields that have a direct impact on the people’s livelihoods,” He said further implementation could be found in the pair’s eight working programs, which aimed to provide jobs, among other things.

Prabowo, former Army Special Force (Kopassus) commander, was also accused of the kidnapping and murder of anti-Soeharto activists during the 1998 turmoil but never faced trial.

Both Wiranto and Prabowo managed to develop political comebacks after creating their own political parties.

Wiranto founded Hanura while Prabowo established the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).

The two parties secured the top ten ranks out of 38 parties competing in legislative elections in April.

Human rights activists have repeatedly called on the government to enforce the law by jailing past human rights violators, and have asked that human rights topics be included in the presidential debate. Anas said SBY would have no problem debating human rights issues. (bbs)

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The Indonesian freedom agenda, don't let it rest

Jakarta Post
Wed, 06/10/2009
Endy M. Bayuni

Going through the vision and mission statements of all three presidential candidates, one would be hard-pressed to find the word freedom. The nearest we read or hear in the current election campaign is the term liberal, and even then, it is used more in the pejorative context of neoliberalism to attack the economic policies of the incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Boediono.

Isn't anyone concerned about the state of our freedom anymore?

We are hearing a lot from all three candidates and their running mates about how they plan to address poverty, unemployment, governance, corruption and now even defend the country against foreign aggression. Some candidates admittedly talk about democracy and human rights, but given their largely poor track record on these issues, they come across more as lip service than reflecting a genuine concern.

But nobody is talking about how to address the freedom deficit in this country.

Just because the rights to these freedoms are now firmly enshrined in the Constitution, it doesn't mean the issues are no longer important. Freedoms of expression, of association and of religion are not mere ornaments in the Constitution. They are there to be observed and respected. The onus should be on the state, and our elected leaders, to make sure these rights are protected for all citizens.

There are plenty of examples to suggest that freedom remains illusive in this country, enough to become an election issue as important as others in deciding the outcome.

On freedom of expression, we still have people being harassed, intimidated, jailed and harmed for speaking out in the real or virtual world. On freedom of religion, the minorities are being squeezed out by policies favoring the majority religion.

There have been times when the state (police) sat back and watched while one group physically attacked another because of their faith. Religious persecution is alive and well in this country, as is racial and ethnical discrimination.

Some of us can take comfort in the fact Indonesia has come a long way from the days when the state controlled just about every facet of our lives and when many of our personal freedoms were denied. There was not even freedom to think before the state came and took us away on charges of entertaining subversive thoughts.

Freedom, or merdeka, was the rallying cry of our founding fathers during the independence struggle in the late 1940s. The reform movement that led to the collapse of the Soeharto regime in 1998 listed guarantees of freedom at the top of the agenda. And the word merdeka is mentioned many times in the 1945 Constitution.

Ironically, merdeka is the traditional greeting the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) of Megawati Soekarno-putri, but have we heard her addressing the issues of freedom of speech or freedom of religion in her campaign speeches?

The silence of all three candidates on personal freedom seems conspiratorial, but not that surprising since all are products of the political culture of the Soeharto days, which accepted the notion of trading freedom for stability and economic development.

Considering that one presidential candidate and two vice presidential candidates are former Army generals, the military mentality in our politics seems more pervasive today compared to the 2004 and 1999 elections.

Freedom, it appears, is simply not in the political lexicon of our soldiers. If we let them have their way, they may even turn freedom and liberal into dirty words.

But just because the candidates are not addressing the lack of freedom in this country, it does not mean voters should let them get away with it. Voters, rather than candidates, should drive the agenda and the election themes.

We may not find the word freedom in their elaborate vision and mission statements, but we should be able to scrutinize their track records to be able to tell how they will perform on this issue if they are elected as Indonesia's next leaders.

As the popular song during the civil rights movement in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s goes. we who believe in freedom cannot rest, until it comes.

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Indonesia poll finds landslide less likely

The Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tom Allard Herald Correspondent in Jakarta

THE re-election of the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, may not be the cakewalk many are anticipating. A new poll suggests he may be forced to face a second election to secure power.

The presidential campaign began formally last week and Dr Yudhoyono appears to have come off second best in early skirmishes.

Opinion survey results released at the weekend by the Information Research Institute show he retains a relatively slim lead over the Vice-President, Jusuf Kalla, and the former president, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Dr Yudhoyono drew 33 per cent support, Mr Kalla 29 per cent and Ms Soekarnoputri 20 per cent.

An earlier survey by the Indonesia Survey Institute found Dr Yudhoyono and his running mate, the former central bank chief Boediono, had the backing of 70 per cent of Indonesians

While both surveys must be viewed with caution, political analysts agreed it had been a ponderous beginning to campaigning for the incumbent.

"JK [Jusuf Kalla] is getting the best media coverage," said Sri Budi Eko Wardani, from the University of Indonesia. "He has been much more active."

Indonesia's leader has expressed confidence he will be re-elected in the first round of voting on July 8 by garnering more than 50 per cent of votes.

A second poll - a showdown between the two best-performing candidates - will be held in September if there is no clear winner next month.

Dr Yudhoyono has been distracted by claims his re-election team has a "neo-liberal" agenda and a controversy about anti-Arab comments by a senior adviser.

Also, his campaign has been reported to police by the country's election supervisory board for alleged breaches of campaign rules.

Mr Kalla, a businessman from South Sulawesi, is running under a campaign slogan of "Faster, Better", a thinly veiled reference to Dr Yudhoyono's slow decision-making.

Ms Soekarnoputri is promoting a populist agenda, frequently accusing the incumbent of favouring foreigners at the expense of the rural and urban poor.

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The Thinker: The Money Trail To Merdeka Palace

The Jakarta Globe
June 8, 2009
Taufik Darusman

People with money to invest should seek financial advice from none other than Prabowo Subianto, the running mate of presidential candidate Megawati Sukarnoputri. He has managed to increase his wealth 160-fold, from Rp 10.1 billion ($1 million) in 2003 to Rp 1.6 trillion today.

No mean feat given Prabowo spent most of his professional career in the military, not in business. However, it must be said, he does come from one of Indonesia’s most prominent families.

Prabowo’s father, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, a former trade minister, is acknowledged as Indonesia’s economics guru, while his younger brother, Hashim, is one of the country’s wealthiest businessmen.

His brother-in-law, Soedradjad Djiwandono, also happens to be a former governor of the central bank, while Prabowo himself was once married to one of former President Suharto’s daughters, a business player in her own right with assets running into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Ahmad Mujani, the secretary general of Prabowo’s political party, Gerindra, said that 65 percent of Prabowo’s wealth was in the form of shares in 27 domestic companies (plantations and energy) and in several more overseas.

Prabowo, he added, also has cash holdings of $2.8 million in rupiah and foreign currencies, in addition to assets such as jewelry, a stable of 84 thoroughbred horses and a dozen motor vehicles, “but no private jet.”

Prabowo’s wealth far exceeds that of others in the presidential race, including Jusuf Kalla, who is said to be worth $33 million, and Megawati at $25 million.

Few raised their eyebrows when they saw the figures for Kalla and Megawati. The former is a successful businessman who made his fortune from his Toyota franchise, a cement plant and hotels in his hometown, Makassar in South Sulawesi.

Megawati’s husband, Taufiq Kiemas, owns, among other businesses, a string of gas stations that helped his wife build a political career.

Kalla’s running mate, retired four-star Army general and former Armed Forces commander Wiranto, trails in fourth place in the wealth stakes at $8.3 million.

Lest there be any question as to how he managed to accumulate such wealth, Wiranto, in a talk show last week, was ready with an explanation.

“I’ve been assigned to different regions during my long military career, and in each place, I always bought property,” he said. “And over time their value had risen to a level which often even surprises myself.”

The “poorest” among the candidates is incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at $728,000, with his running mate, Boediono, outdistancing him at $2.1 million.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) have confirmed these figures. They seem more concerned, however, with the accuracy of the figures — submitted by all three presidential candidates and their running mates — than with how the wealth was acquired.

All six candidates have debunked the myth that you can’t go far, as least financially, by working in public service.

So how deep are the campaign coffers for the five-week run-up to the July 8 presidential election?

According to the KPU, as of June 1, the Megawati-Prabowo pair had $2 million in hand, about the same as Yudhoyono and Boediono. A KPU official disclosed that Prabowo personally donated $1.5 million to the campaign, with Megawati making up the balance.

Funds for the Yudhoyono-Boediono camp have come from the Democratic Party, well-oiled by supertycoons such as Murdayati Poo, the franchise holder of Nike in Indonesia.

Kalla and Wiranto’s $1 million war chest comes from Kalla’s political base, the Golkar Party ($700,000), with Wiranto’s People’s Conscience Party chipping in the rest.

But there’s little correlation between wealth — the parties’ campaign budgets and the candidates’ individual wealth — and public popularity.

A recent poll showed that if the election were held late last month, Yudhoyono and Boediono would have breezed home with 71 percent of the votes, followed by Megawati-Prabowo (16.4 percent) and Kalla-Wiranto (6.6 percent).

In politics, as in life, money helps to reach your goals. But in the end, it’s style and substance, not just sustenance.

Taufik Darusman is a veteran Jakarta-based journalist.

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It’s Time to Ask the Difficult Questions, But What Are the Odds That We Will?

The Jakarta Globe
June 12, 2009
James Van Zorge

Opinion

When the presidential hopefuls and their running mates take the podium next week to debate before the nation, there is a hope it will prove to be a real opportunity for Indonesia’s electorate to weigh the policy positions of each candidate and make enlightened choices.

So far, voters have heard only bits and pieces of what the candidates stand for and their intentions.

One must wonder, however, if the candidates will truly be tested before the panel of moderators. After all, all three — Jusuf Kalla, Megawati Sukarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono — have already served in high office.

Megawati was Yudhoyono’s predecessor and Kalla has enjoyed unprecedented influence as vice president. With that exercise of power, we already know a lot about their character, their capacity to govern, past policies and their respective strengths and weaknesses. Surely, given what we do know, some very tough
questions could be posed and, if answered, provide everybody with some real insight.

For example, Kalla has served as a sort of economics and business czar for almost five years. He claims to be faster and better than Yudhoyono. He also criticizes the president’s pick as vice president, Boediono, as a neo-liberal, although nobody is quite sure what that really means.

Kalla also fancies himself as a nationalist, saying that foreign companies are making too much money and that more of their profits should be lining the pockets of Indonesians.

Granted, Kalla does deserve credit as a man of action. With his background as a businessman and a trader of sorts, he is enamored with the art of making deals.

Faster than Yudhoyono, yes. But better? Better based on what standard of policy outcomes? Have his multitude of decisions served the national interest and, if so, how?

There are numerous stories of how members of Kalla’s family and circle of friends have benefited from his dealings in office, in some cases involving huge projects in the energy sector.

Is this the type of nationalism that Kalla is referring to when he says that he wants to take a tougher stance against multinational companies and become Indonesia’s version of Robin Hood? Or does he have something else in mind, namely to redistribute corporate profits to the poor?

If so, why should only foreigners foot the bill? Are Indonesia’s tycoons too poor themselves to contribute? What exactly, then, are Kalla’s true intentions, and for whose benefit?

Ostensibly, helping the poor is an integral part of Megawati’s platform. The presidential debates would be an ideal time for Indonesia to ask her what exactly her achievements have been in the fight against poverty.

What policies did she espouse as president that ended up putting more rice into the mouths of needy citizens? Beyond the rhetoric, is there any evidence of action? If not, then why should she deserve a second chance?

Like Kalla, Megawati promotes herself as a nationalist. And also similar to Kalla, one must wonder what type of nationalism she supports. According to businessmen and former members of her party, Megawati’s husband, Taufiq Kiemas, was heavily involved in self-dealing and looked after himself during her presidency.
Hence, the same question posed to Kalla should also be put before Megawati: As a nationalist, who would benefit from her policies?

Maybe Megawati has changed, maybe she has nobler intentions this time around and, just maybe, she has learned from her past mistakes, but is there any reason to believe that her husband will behave any differently than before?

To be fair, equally tough questions should be directed at the incumbent. Considered to be more honest than his opponents, Yudhoyono certainly has less to worry about if questions about abuses of power were to arise. Nonetheless, some critics and even his supporters would probably like to learn more about his attitudes toward favoritism and the ethical compromises that commonly afflict politicians in high office.

For example, the nation should be extremely curious to learn more about what he really thinks about the Lapindo mudflow and the issue of accountability. Given the evidence produced about the mudflow and the culpability of the company run by the coordinating minister for people’s welfare, Aburizal Bakrie,
what does the president personally believe?

Does he, for example, believe that the courts’ decision on the mudflow, which destroyed the livelihoods of scores of his supporters, was, in fact, based on credible evidence and not influenced by higher politics? Does he believe that justice has been served? Legal niceties aside, how does he explain allowing
Bakrie to retain his position as minister under such circumstances?

Another issue that moderators should raise with Yudhoyono is his philosophy on mixing religion with politics. As founder of the Democratic Party, which champions itself as a vanguard for democracy in Indonesia, Yudhoyono should be asked to explain whether he thinks sectarian politics can work in harmony with a
democratic state. If not, then he should be asked to explain why he allowed the antipornography bill to become the law of the land. What would he have to say to his female supporters who decried passage of the bill as a veiled version of Shariah law and an affront to women’s rights?

Yudhoyono should also be asked to defend his position in inviting Islamic parties to join his coalition, in particular the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). Many well-educated Indonesians fear that the PKS has a hidden agenda to create an Islamic state, and many of the president’s supporters are die-hard secularists.

Of course, the PKS argues that it is a modern party, and has no intention of introducing Shariah if it is in a position of power. So far, the party’s actions seem to conflict with its words. Hence, Yudhoyono should be asked whether he is personally convinced that the PKS will abide by the principles of a secular state, and whether he will use the powers accorded to him as president to ensure the sanctity of these principles?

Of course, one should not be so naive to believe that these sort of pointed and probing questions will be posed to the candidates. Regardless of how rude and morally offensive a politician’s actions in office are, it is considered normal practice in Javanese culture to ask polite questions and take the answers at face value.

We can therefore rest assured that the candidates will be given some very simple questions: Do you believe in democracy? Do you think poverty is an important issue? How will you grow the economy? Do you respect human rights? And it is guaranteed that they will all answer, “Of course we believe in democracy,” “Yes, we will fight poverty” and “We are able to grow a modern economy while at the same time being great protectors of human rights.”

Why, of course, ladies and gentlemen, what else would you expect? Apparently, it is not what you do, but what you say that counts more than anything else in our politics. Now isn’t that the truth?

James Van Zorge is a partner in Van Zorge, Heffernan & Associates, a business strategy and government relations consulting firm based in Jakarta. He can be reached at vanheff@gmail.com.

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Star-studded intel war underlines election

The Jakarta Post
Thursday, June 11, 2009

The three presidential hopefuls have kicked off their campaigns with heavy contributions from retired top brass from the intelligence community. The involvement of former top commanders has resulted in a clandestine war of strategies since before the legislative elections on April 9. The Jakarta Post' s Rendi A.
Witular takes a look at the figures moving the pawns on the chessboard of the political arena, and the campaign strategies being applied on the ground. Here are the stories.

The ancient Chinese military philosopher Sun Tzu once said that victory in a battle was decided not on the battlefield, but in the preparation.

Ingrained with this teaching ever since their first years as cadets, presidential hopeful Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and rival vice presidential hopefuls Gen. (ret) Wiranto and Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto have called on a host of retired military top brass as their trusted advisers to put Sun Tzu's
doctrine to work in securing the presidency.

As the incumbent, President Yudhoyono has the upper hand in applying his intelligence strategy long before the election, apparent in his Democratic Party's almost threefold surge in votes as it swept the April polls.

Dubbed a "silent operation" by his inner circle, Yudhoyono`s strategy includes not only mapping out and identifying potential sources of votes, but also the strengths and weaknesses of his rivals, according to a Democratic Party legislator.

"It's obvious we've employed retired military generals for intelligence gathering. We've been working [on the legislative and presidential elections] since long before voting day," says Democratic Party spokesman Max Sopacua, who has been with Yudhoyono since the 2004 elections.

"We're applying Sun Tzu's philosophy; winning a war is not decided in battle, but in how it is prepared."

In 2005, Yudhoyono, who spent most of his military career in the territorial ranks, began assembling his retired military peers with intelligence background to design a strategy for a victory in 2009.

Among them, according to his election team, are Maj. Gen. (ret) Achdari, deputy chief of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) intelligence agency (Bais) in 1994; Maj. Gen. (ret) Sardan Marbun, director of the TNI's intelligence center between 1999-2000; and Maj. Gen. (ret) Soeprapto, a former assistant personnel to the Army chief of staff between 2000 to 2001.

Besides buffing Yudhoyono's image, their job also includes recruiting high-profile figures and compiling information on potential threats from political rivals.

The Golkar Party, chaired by rival candidate Jusuf Kalla, once accused Yudhoyono's inner circle of masterminding internal rifts, through intelligence-style operations, in Golkar, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP).

Presidential spokesman and Democratic Party executive Andi Mallarangeng has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Analysts say Yudhoyono's squad of former spooks may have  met their match in the lineup picked by Prabowo, the running mate of presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Gen. (ret.) Hendropriyono, former head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) between 2001 and 2004, Maj. Gen (ret) Theo Syafei, former Udayana military commander between 1993 and 1994, and Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwopranjono, former TNI Special Forces (Kopassus) commander in 1998, are lending their
considerable talents to the Megawati-Prabowo team.

Prabowo, himself a legendary Kopassus commander between 1995 and 1998, is spearheading the campaign team by drawing up its tactics and on-the-ground execution.

"The experiences of the retired generals in the race are shaping the style of the campaign," says ProPatria Institute military analyst Hari Prihatono.

"For instance, Megawati and Prabowo tend to apply lethal, sudden attacks because of the strong Kopassus influence there."

Other examples include the raising of "neoliberalism" and "pro-foreigner" allegations against the team of Yudhoyono and Boediono, the US-educated former central bank governor.

"Yudhoyono's team prefers a more drawn-out territorial strategy, in which they lay the groundwork in peace time and before any war erupts," Hari says.

"The team works mostly in a defensive mode, as stability and control are their utmost priorities."

The third team in the equation, that of Kalla and his running mate Wiranto, tend to be less aggressive than the Megawati-Prabowo ticket, Hari says, perhaps because of Wiranto's character being shaped within the Army's strategic reserves, or Kostrad.

But analysts believe the military nuances in the Kalla-Wiranto ticket are less pronounced that in the two other tickets due to Kalla's astuteness in engineering political ploys.

"Kalla doesn't need military-style strategies to win the election. He is by nature a smart guy. Wiranto is on board to help deal with voters in Java," says businessman Sofjan Wanandi, part of the inner circle of Kalla's campaign team.

Political analyst Maswadi Rauf of the University of Indonesia says Kalla is catching up fast, jacking up his low popularity through the use of more concrete actions, comical speeches and punchy comments for the media to devour.

"If the other candidates don't adapt to Kalla's style, they risk losing a lot," Maswadi says.

"And I guess Kalla's strategy isn't engineered by former military top brass."

Maswadi stresses the "star war" between former officers is necessary to nurture democracy, as long as active TNI officers do not join the fray.

"The good thing is these former generals are spread across several parties. It would be perilous if all of them backed just one party," he says.

"They can also prevent each other from recruiting active TNI and police officers."

Despite the glistening show-within-a-show, the TNI and the police are unlikely to improve in terms of structure and welfare.

"In their time, these former generals failed to make the TNI a more professional institution," Hari says.

"Whatever they're playing at now, the TNI will remain in a poor state regardless of the pledges they made to fix it."

- Additional reporting by Erwida Maulia and Alfian

Key players in the SBY-Boediono team

Lt. Gen. (ret) Tiopan Bernhard Silalahi. The most senior member of Yudhoyono's advisory team. Planning assistant to the Army's chief of staff (1986) and former minister for state administrative reform (1993-1998). Role: Strategic adviser.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Achdari. Deputy chief of the TNI's intelligence agency (Bais) in 1994. Role: Gathering information on rivals, identifying potential problems, mapping out political condition, drawing up action plans.

Gen. (ret) Djoko Suyanto. TNI commander (2006 and 2007). Role: Leading Echo Team to mobilize regional support through military territorial technique.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Yahya Sacawiria. Assistant deputy for social politics to the TNI chief of staff (1998). Role: Campaign team strategist and field commander, ensuring all strategies are well implemented.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Sardan Marbun. Director for TNI's intelligence center (1999-2000). Role: Strategist and propaganda chief. Also gathers information about negative cases involving rivals. Not on the official list of campaign team members registered with the KPU.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Soeprapto. Assistant to the Army chief of staff (2000 to 2001) and currently independent commissioner for publicly listed PT Indosat, the nation's second-largest telecommunications company. Role: Leading Sekoci Team to pool support from noted figures, including businessmen and religious
leaders. The team has been around since 2004.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Abi Kusno. Assistant for logistics to the TNI commander (2006-2008). Role: Logistics coordinator, pooling donations and assistance from various parties.

Lt. Gen. (ret) Sudi Silalahi. Cabinet secretary. Role: Strategic planning adviser. Also tasked with raising support from activists and religious leaders. Not on the official list of campaign team members.

Purnomo Yusgiantoro. Energy and mineral resources minister. Role: Adviser and donor. Not on the official list of campaign team members, denies any involvement in the campaign.

Key players in the Kalla-Wiranto team

Aksa Mahmud. Kalla's brother-in-law, chairman of the Bosowa business group. Role: Strategic planning adviser, financier and lobbyist.

Alwi Hamu. Kalla's longtime friend. Role: Strategic planning adviser and lobbyist to garner regional support.

Erwin Aksa. Kalla's nephew, son of Aksa Mahmud. Role: Financier and recruiter of potential businessmen.

Solihin Kalla. Kalla's son. Role: Financier and head of treasury division for the campaign team.

Suhaeli Kalla. Kalla's younger brother. Role: Head of logistics for the campaign team.

Sofjan Wanandi. Businessman. Role: Strategic planning adviser.

Gen. (ret) Facrul Razi. Deputy TNI commander (2000-2001) and current Hanura executive. Role: Intelligence gathering.

Lt. Gen. (ret) Sumarsono. Golkar secretary-general. Role: Party coordinator and strategic planner.

Fahmi Idris. Industry Minister. Role: Campaign team head.

Lt. Gen. (ret) Suaidy Marasabessy. East Timor war veteran and current Hanura executive. Role: Strategic planner.

Surya Paloh. Golkar advisory board head and media tycoon. Role: Public relations adviser. <br>

Key players in the Megawati-Prabowo team

Taufiq Kiemas. Businessman and Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband. Role: Strategic planner and external lobbyist.

Hashim Djojohadikusumo. Businessman and younger brother of Prabowo Subianto. Role: Financier, strategic planner and logistics provider.

Moerdiono. Former state secretary in the Soeharto administration. Role: Strategic planner.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Theo Syafei. Udayana military commander (1993-1994). Role: Campaign team head. Also a strategic planner and intelligence gatherer.

Gen. (ret) Hendropriyono. Former head of the National Intelligence Agency (2001-2004). Role: Strategic planner and intelligence gatherer.

Pramono Anung. PDI-P secretary-general. Role: External relations. Also a prominent lobbyist for the party.

Fadli Zon. Gerindra secretary-general. Role: External relations, public relations, image-building and lobbying.

Lt. Gen. (ret) M. Yasin. Former deputy to Yudhoyono as coordinating minister for security (2001-2004). Spearheaded Yudhoyono's 2004 presidential election campaign, where he mobilized support from retired high-ranking military brass and their supporters. Jumped ship after the April 2009 legislative elections to side with Megawati and Prabowo.

Tjahyo Kumolo. Chairman of the PDI-P at the House of Representatives. Role: Mobilize support at the provincial level and from prominent figures.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwopranjono. Former TNI Special Forces (Kopassus) commander in 1998 and current Gerindra deputy chairman. Role: Prabowo confidant and adviser.

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More Chinese in Indonesian politics

The Straits Times (Singapore)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Lynn Lee, Indonesia Correspondent

At least 12 have secured seats in Parliament, up from only six in 1999

JAKARTA: As Indonesia leaves the tragic anti-Chinese riots of May 1998 further behind, its Chinese community is gradually venturing back into the political arena.

At least 12 ethnic Chinese politicians, mostly from secular nationalist parties, have secured places in the 560-seat national Parliament after the April 9 legislative elections, compared with 13 in the 2004 election and six in the 1999 polls.

The Nationalist Democratic Forum (Fordeka), an association of Chinese-Indonesian activists and politicians, estimated that many more gained seats in provincial and district parliaments this year, especially in areas populated by the community, such as West Kalimantan and the Riau Islands province.

Said Fordeka chairman Hartono: 'More ethnic Chinese are taking part in elections. This year, around 150 took part in the national election.'

Fewer than 50 ethnic Chinese contested Indonesia's first democratic election in June 1999. During former president Suharto's 30-year authoritarian rule from the 1960s, the community had been subjected to a series of discriminatory laws like banning of Chinese schools, programmes and the celebration of Chinese New Year.

In May 1998, protests calling for Suharto to end his rule escalated into riots in cities like Jakarta, Medan and Solo.

Chinese homes and shops were looted and burnt, while people were shot, beaten and raped. Media reports said around 1,200 people died while many fled to Hong Kong and Singapore.

The founding chairman of the Chinese-Indonesian Association, Mr Eddie Lembong, pointed to how things have changed since.

The discriminatory laws against the Chinese have been repealed by successive governments since 1999.

With the return of ethnic Chinese legislators in Parliament, they - along with activists - were instrumental in lobbying for the Citizenship Law of 2006, which among other things recognised Chinese-Indonesians as indigenous people.

In the Suharto days, ethnic Chinese were forced to carry special papers to prove their citizenship.

'We have democracy, and legally and politically, there is no more discrimination. So I'm optimistic that we will not see a repeat of May 1998, but that doesn't mean there will never be any more anti- Chinese sentiment,' Mr Lembong said. He added that this can be managed if the community continues to integrate
itself with the rest of society.

Ethnic Chinese legislators agree that there is not much discrimination to fight against these days, but they still want to see the practice of viewing Chinese-Indonesians as 'cash cows' abolished.

First-time politician Eddy Sadeli from the Democratic Party described how bureaucrats seek payoffs from them in return for government services.

Legislator Alvin Lie from the National Mandate Party added: 'But this practice is due to corruption rather than dislike for Chinese per se. So the biggest challenge is to engineer a change in the behaviour of these officials.'

Aside from this, ethnic Chinese legislators have generally preferred to focus on national issues close to the hearts of all their constituents, instead of playing the race card.

This includes issues like promoting religious tolerance, better health care and education as well as economic advancement.

With ethnic political parties capturing only a fraction of the Chinese vote in 1999 and 2004, there was realisation that the community prefers to back larger secular-nationalist parties, while for many politicians, their support has also come from outside the community.

The ethnic parties have ceased to exist since.

Centre for Strategic and International Studies researcher Christine Susanna Tjhin said she would like to see more ethnic Chinese politicians, who usually come from the business world and are based in Jakarta, interact more with their constituents at the local level in between elections.

'In some cases the parties also do not engage these ethnic Chinese politicians and are just content to see them as the party's ATMs.... but they should really invest more time to build their base of constituents,' she said.

lynnlee@sph.com.sg

NO MORE DISCRIMINATION

'We have democracy, and legally and politically, there is no more discrimination. So I'm optimistic that we will not see a repeat of May 1998, but that doesn't mean there will never be any more anti-Chinese sentiment.'

Mr Eddie Lembong, founding chairman of the Chinese-Indonesian Association

PARTY ATMS

'In some cases, the parties also do not engage these ethnic Chinese politicians and are just content to see them as the party's ATMs...but they should really invest more time to build their base of constituents.'

Centre for Strategic and International Studies researcher Christine Susanna Tjhin

CHANGE NEEDED
'This practice is due to corruption rather than dislike for Chinese per se. So the biggest challenge is to engineer a change in the behaviour of these officials.'

Legislator Alvin Lie from the National Mandate Party on how bureaucrats seek payoffs from them when they require government services.

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