Suharto's party poised for dramatic return to power

[psychopomp]

Indonesia's own turbulent political melodrama continues...Megawati is perceived to be too weak, despite the crackdown on breakaway radical Muslims in the south. I was there in 2000 and was impressed by how political ordinary people were: T-shirts with one's supported candidate were quite common at the time.

The Independent

Given the repression, corruption and human rights abuses that characterised the regime of President Suharto, it seems inconceivable that Indonesians would consider voting for anyone associated with the former dictator.

But six years after Mr Suharto stepped down amid street protests, his party looks likely to win the majority of parliamentary seats in a general election to be held in the world's most populous Muslim nation on Monday.

Opinion polls put the Golkar party ahead of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is facing discontent over the slow pace of reform, falling standards of living and entrenched corruption.

If the polls prove correct, Mrs Megawati's days as president could be numbered. If Golkar fares better than the PDI-P, it is likely to field its own candidate in presidential elections scheduled for July.

(more)

[realdeal22k]

1. I don't know jack about this election

Which one is left and which one is right? Whom for do we cheer?

[Aquarian_Conspirator]

2. And the winner is...

Suharto is a murdering fascist. I can't believe they're thinking about re-electing that fat old creep! It's like us re-electing for Bush.

[psychopomp]

3. Party politics

Yes, Suharto is still around, but it is his party that is being favored, not necessarily he himself.

As for good and/or bad guys, the criticisms of Megawati's government are likely true; bribery and corruption has not been effectively eradicated. However, a return to Suharto's party would be a step backwards for Indonesian democracy, IMHO.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

5. Erm...I doubt Suharto is a contender

Suharto is in quite poor health –although I understand that his condition has stabilized-and I remember reading an article stating that he spent most of his time relaxing at home and watching the “Discovery” Channel. He’s had a few strokes if I remember correctly.

However his daughter is rumoured to be eying a presidential bid at some point in the future –although she doesn’t seem to be running in this election.

The scary thing is that these elections may elevate General Wiranto to the presidency. Wiranto is a sadistic bloodthirsty butcher who was responsible for the atrocities and massacres in East Timor during 1998-1999 (as well as countless atrocities beforehand) and he is considered a war criminal by the UN. He makes Suharto look like a paragon of honesty, integrity and virtue. He is a truly frightening reprehensible man who should be locked up in the Hague at the moment and his elevation to the presidency would a slap in the face to all that is good in the world

[sushi]

6. No, he is too old and ailing

It's his daughter (nickname Tutut) who is pretending to be a champion of the poor. Unfortunately the masses might fall for it. So here is Tutut, the daughter of an ex-president (Suharto) trying to defeat the current leader, Megawati (or Mega), the daughter of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno. Btw, both ladies haven't had much of an education. They're the "shop till you drop" types.

[sushi]

4. They're all bad

It doesn't matter who is in power. The people (over 200 million) will suffer for a long time because corruption is a way of life. All we can hope for is that Jemaah Islamyah (the local al-Qa'ida) doesn't make things worse.

[psychopomp]

9. That is true

The reason that it is important who gets into power is that this is the most populated country in the world after China, India and the U.S.,with important influence on major shipping lanes in the Southern Pacific.

If Indonesia breaks up or falls into chaos the destabalization will affect not only the people of Indonesia but will have a major effect on the rest of the world.

[GermanDJ]

7. More info about the history of Indonesia

can be found here, maybe this helps a little bit to put the recent events in some context:

http://www.namebase.org/scott.html

"The slaughter of Sukarno's left-wing allies was a product of widespread paranoia as well as of conspiratorial policy, and represents a tragedy beyond the intentions of any single group or coalition. Nor is it suggested that in 1965 the only provocations and violence came from the right-wing Indonesian military, their contacts in the United States, or (also important, but barely touched on here) their mutual contacts in British, German and Japanese intelligence."

(...)

"The CIA was extremely proud of its successful and recommended it as a model for future operations ." Ambassador Green reports of an interview with Nixon in 1967:
The Indonesian experience had been one of particular interest to because things had gone well in Indonesia. I think he was very interested in that whole experience as pointing to the way we should handle our relationships on a wider basis in Southeast Asia generally, and maybe in the world.

Such unchallenged assessments help explain the role of Indonesians in the Nixon-sponsored overthrow of Sihanouk in Cambodia in 1970, the use of the Jakarta scenario for the overthrow of Allende in Chile in 1973, and the U.S. sponsorship today of the death squad regimes in Central America."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,530478,00.html

"Roland Challis, a former BBC south Asia correspondent, has described how British diplomats planted misleading stories in British newspapers at the time. But there is also evidence that the British and US responsibility for the fall of Sukarno goes back to the event that triggered it - an alleged left-wing coup attempt in 1965."

"It has been known for more than 10 years that the CIA supplied lists of names for Suharto's assassination squads. What is less widely known is that the supposed pro-communist coup that triggered the crisis was almost certainly also the work of the CIA. Sukarno was finally removed from power in 1967. Suharto, meanwhile, was offered economic aid and the British lifted their embargo on sales of military aircraft. Suharto's massacres were whitewashed in a campaign of disinformation in which the British government willingly participated. The operation to "save" Indonesia, according to enthusiastic reports in, amongst others, the Atlantic Monthly, was a resounding success"

[Judi Lynn]

8. Thanks for taking the time to post those excellent links.

I've known next to nothing about Indonesia, Sukarno, Suharto, and after I've read your first link thouroughly, I'm going to feel a whole lot more informed.

Read your short, second link already, and thanks.

Now we have the incentive we need to start finding out more about a subject which was completely wildly misrepresented to the American public at the time, and covered up completely in the years after.

What a shock to know just HOW far from the truth our own public's picture was of these people and the bloodthirsty events we unknowingly financed were.

Hideous, merciless, and stupid bloodbaths. For shame. I hope more and more people find out about this.