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Contents:
More Brimob officers sent to Jayapura [9 June]
The government is sending reinforcements to Papua ahead of the July 8 presidential election by deploying three platoons of the elite police Mobile Brigade (Brimob). [full story…]
Jakarta Globe editorial: Debate Fails to Tackle Human Rights Issues [19 June]
The overall tone of the first official presidential debate was civil and the three
candidates were asked a range of questions. But on the most crucial issue, that of human rights and how the next government would deal with past abuses and ensure basic freedoms, none of the candidates addressed the questions squarely or adequately. [full story…]
Also: Jakarta Post Editorial: The Human Rights Agenda [29 June] [full story…]
Jakarta Post on Candidates’ past controversies and achievements [1 July] [full story…]
ETAN/Kontras: Joint Statement on Accountability in the Run-up to the Indonesian Presidential Elections [2 July] [full story…]
FORUM-ASIA: Indonesia must not allow human rights violators in its next government! [3 July] [full story…]
Inside Indonesia: The eagle [Prabowo Subianto] has crash-landed [July–Sept 2009] [full story…]
Van Zorge: The Candidates for Indonesia’s Future Bear a Strong Resemblance to the Past [19 June]
All three presidential hopefuls are, in their own way, creatures of Indonesia’s past. Just a decade into the reform period, the major political figures all came into prominence during the Suharto era. Among them, I see one as a classic Suharto-esque businessman, another as a woman longing for a return to the glory days of her father and the third as a transitional liberal willing to break with the past but uncertain how to do so decisively. [full story…]
NGO Finds 2.2 Million Fictitious Voters [23 June]
Youth organization Pemuda Pancasila filed a report with the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Tuesday containing allegations of incorrect electoral rolls involving some 2.2 million fictitious voters in East Java. [full story…]
Kalla Runs With Peacemaker Message In Kalimantan, Papua Campaigning [19 June]
Supporters of presidential aspirant Jusuf Kalla have talked up his talents as a peace broker, saying it makes him fit for the office of president. [full story…]
Candidates fail to address autonomy `seriously' [4 July]
They may support pluralism and national unity, but the three presidential candidates missed the chance to address more crucial issues on the immature and still troublesome regional autonomy. Counterproductive bylaws and the looming threat of a full-fledged independence movement in Papua were only glossed over. [full story…]
Inside Indonesia: Election Politics [July 2009]
A series of articles examining the role of money, religion and much else in this year’s elections. [full story…]
Time: As Indonesia's Election Day Nears, Complaints of Fraud Grow Louder [5 July]
Indonesia's election season came to a close on July 4, ending three weeks of campaigning by the three candidates hoping to lead the country for the next five years. With just a few days left before an expected 170 million people go to the polls on July 8, most surveys indicate that incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will take more than 60% of the votes, with his two challengers trailing far behind. But the opposition is warning that the election will be fraught with irregularities [full story…]
Presidential elections to go ahead despite problematic voters list [5 July]
General Elections Commission chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshari said that the commission would not postpone the presidential elections, slated on July 8, and would update voters list from time to time. [full story…]
Police Officer Identified as Suspect in Aceh Poll Attacks [6 July]
A suspect in a string of violent attacks against political parties in Aceh ahead of the April 9 legislative elections is an active-duty police officer. In the run-up to the legislative elections, the offices of several political parties in the province, in particular the Aceh Party, which was established by former members of the secessionist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), were targeted by grenade and arson attacks. [full story…]
More Brimob officers sent to Jayapura
The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Angela Flassy
The government is sending reinforcements 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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Debate Fails to Tackle Human Rights Issues
The Jakarta Globe
June 19, 2009
Editorial
Millions of Indonesians across the country would have tuned in on Thursday night to watch the first official presidential debate. The overall tone of the debate was civil and the three candidates were asked a range of questions. But on the most crucial issue, that of human rights and how the next government
would deal with past abuses and ensure basic freedoms, none of the candidates addressed the questions squarely or adequately.
None of the candidates, for example, touched on the most fundamental human right — the right to freely worship one’s God. Our national ideology, Pancasila, enshrines the belief in one God and the right to worship one’s God without fear. This is a God-given right, but sadly neither the state nor previous
governments have prevented church burnings or the open persecution of the Ahmadiyah sect.
Religion is at the very heart of our society. If we do not respect each other’s beliefs, how can we discuss human rights? This also applies to the how we treat women in our society. As long as women are not accorded full and equal rights, we have no starting point on this issue.
The second most important human right is the right to a secure life. Governments in the past have trampled on the lives of ordinary citizens through kidnappings and torture. It is the duty of the next president to provide hope and succor to ordinary citizens by creating good policies, displaying
leadership and investing in infrastructure, education and health care. In a nutshell, to empower the people to create better lives for themselves.
Do we as a country excel in the promotion and protection of these human rights? Do our citizens feel safe and secure in their own country from their own government?
Human beings have several basic needs that must be met for a fulfilled life. These start from meeting physical needs, such as food and shelter, to feeling safe and secure, being loved and having self-esteem. Irrespective of race, religion, skin color and ethnic background, is every Indonesian proud to be an Indonesian?
In today’s Indonesia, unfortunately we do not have a Martin Luther King Jr. or a Kartini championing human rights. One of the worst perpetrators of human rights in this country has been the military establishment, and all three presidential candidates have direct or indirect links to the military. Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono is a retired general while the vice presidential running mates of both Megawati Sukarnoputri and Jusuf Kalla are former generals.
There is no denying this fact and it colors the whole debate over human rights. Two of the vice presidential candidates are connected to human rights issues that have not been resolved. If we are to move forward, we must resolve and account for what happened in May 1998, when innocent Indonesians were raped and murdered. No inquiry has been held and no attempt has been made
at punishing the perpetrators, as well as those who fueled the violence.
Unless this issue is resolved, there can be no credible discussion on human rights. Educated Indonesians watching the debate will have made up their own minds.
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Editorial: The Human Rights Agenda
The Jakarta Post
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Jakarta Post
The release of two separate human rights reports in the past weeks could not be timelier given the fact that Indonesians will vote for their next president next week.
Unfinished Business — Police Accountability in Indonesia, a report by the London-based International Amnesty, and What Did I Do Wrong? Papuans in Merauke Face Abuses by Indonesian Special Forces, released by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, should remind the nation that the reforms begun after the collapse of the authoritarian Soeharto regime in 1998 must continue.
Our claim to be the world’s third largest democracy will be seriously compromised unless the presidential candidates address these reports, from two credible international institutions, and heed their recommendations.
Sadly, all three candidates and their running mates have consistently skirted the human rights issue completely. Each time questions have been raised about the abuses committed during the Soeharto years, the candidates insist they have all been resolved and that there is nothing more to be done — end of discussion.
This is sad indeed because, as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reported, the culture of impunity for vagrant abuses by powerful state institutions in this country remains in tact. Anyone looking for examples of Fareed Zakaria’s “illiberal democracy” need look no further than Indonesia, its living
proof, at least going by these reports. One would be tempted to call Indonesia an illiberal and unjust democracy.
The National Police and Kopassus (Army Special Forces) that the reports single out for their continued human rights abuses have undergone some reforms in the last 11 years, but clearly these have not been far reaching enough.
Granted, the victims of these reported human rights abuses are specific groups and not the public in general, as was the case in the past; but that does not make it right. Amnesty International said “criminal suspects living in poor and marginalized communities, in particular women and repeat offenders, suffer disproportionately from a range of human rights violations.” The Human Rights Watch report was more
specific, detailing the abuse of residents of Merauke, a town in the southeast corner of Papua province suspected of harbouring separatists and their sympathizers.
Victims interviewed in the reports gave graphic details of the kind of torture methods employed by the police and the Kopassus to coerce them into giving incriminating confessions, or, in the case of the police, to extort bribes. These interrogation techniques are unacceptable in a democratic and civilized nation.
In the Soeharto years, reports of abuses in Indonesia were main staples for human rights organizations; the regime simply chose to ignore and deny the allegations. The government, and those institutions named in the report, would be making a grave mistake to simply dismiss these reports this time around. A credible and independent inquiry, as both reports proposed, must be conducted using the materials gathered by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Since Indonesia is in election mode, now is the time to ensure all candidates public commit to improving human rights for all people in Indonesia.
We have three generals running for office: the incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and vice presidential candidates Wiranto and Prabowo Subianto (himself a former Kopassus chief).
Given their military backgrounds, they should be more than familiar with the human rights problems in Indonesia. They can either end this culture of impunity once and for all, or maintain it. Let’s hope Indonesia makes the right choice.
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Special Reports: Lapindo case, Munir's murder, 1998 riot haunt candidates' past
The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Megawati Soekarnoputri
Past CONTROVERSIES:
1. While Megawati was in office, noted human rights activist Munir was poisoned to death on board a flight with state airline Garuda Indonesia to the Netherlands on Sept. 7, 2004. Officials with the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) were initially accused of involvement in the case. On Jan. 25, 2008, the
Supreme Court granted an appeal from prosecutors to detain Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, a possible BIN agent, over his role in Munir's death. Pollycarpus is currently serving 20 years in jail. Another suspect, former BIN deputy chairman Muchdi Pr, was acquitted by the court on Dec. 31, 2008. Prosecutors are currently awaiting an appeal with the Supreme Court.
2. Megawati declared Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam a conflict zone, igniting a massive military effort against the rebel movement. More than 2,000 people were killed between 2001 and 2004.
3. Megawati signed a deal in 2002 to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Tangguh field in Papua to China's Fujian province. The deal drew heated criticism due to the low prices agreed upon in the contract. Yudhoyono and Kalla dubbed it "the most devastating contract ever made". Under the terms, the price was pegged at US$2.40 per million British thermal units (mmbtu), regardless of the increases in crude oil prices.
4. It was during Megawati's term that state holdings in PT Indosat, the nation's second largest telecommunication company, were controversially sold to Singapore's Temasek Holdings in late 2002. A lack of transparency throughout the sale prompted widespread criticism.
Noted Achievements
1. Megawati was accredited with repairing the country's economy and mobilizing fiscal policy toward stabilizing the markets for companies to function successfully and encourage entrepreneurs. The economy grew by 5.2 percent in 2004 against 3.32 percent in 2001.
2. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was formed during Megawati's time in office.
Wealth (As of Dec. 9, 2004)
Rp 86.26 billion
Prabowo Subianto
Past Controversies
1. Prabowo oversaw the kidnapping of dozens of political activists while serving as commander of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) between 1995 and 1998. 10 activists remain missing.
The military honorary council discharged Prabowo on Aug. 24, 1998, for his role in the abductions. The council also stripped Prabowo's colleague Maj. Gen. Muchdi Pr from his post as Kopassus commander and barred him from future promotion as a consequence of his alleged involvement with assisting Prabowo.
2. Prabowo was allegedly involved in the deadly Jakarta riots between May 13 and 15, and the shooting of Trisakti University students during a protest on May 13. Four students were killed and 11 injured. Prabowo was the commander of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) at that time. He has
repeatedly denied any involvement in the riots.
Noted achievements
As President Soeharto's son-in-law, Prabowo had all the funding and authority necessary to develop Kopassus into a highly effective force. In 2000, Prabowo and Titiek Soeharto divorced.
Wealth (As of May 18, 2009)
Rp 1.7 trillion.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Past controversies
1. 1996 riot: Allegedly involved in engineering a deadly riot after a mob took over the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) at the height of a power struggle between Megawati Soekarnoputri and rival Soerjadi on July 27, 1996. According to the National Human Rights Commission, five civilians were killed, 149 were injured and 23 were unaccounted for in the incident. However, several witness accounts say dozens were killed during the incident. Yudhoyono's position as
Jakarta's military command chief of staff overseeing logistics and finance linked him to the case, along with former Jakarta governor, commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso. On May 19, 2000, then Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Yudhoyono was questioned by the National Police as a witness in the case
against Sutiyoso, who was named as a suspect in this incident. On Aug. 28, 2000, Yudhoyono said the case was engineered by an institution, not an individual, and denied any involvement. On June 11, 2004, Sutiyoso cleared Yudhoyono of involvement.
2. Lapindo mudflow disaster: Yudhoyono allegedly protected the family of Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Aburizal Bakrie from legal prosecution for gross negligence after his family's company, Lapindo Brantas, allegedly caused the eruption of a mud geyser, that has displaced more than 2,000 families, while it was mining for gas in Sidoardjo, East Java, on May 29, 2006. Yudhoyono has repeatedly denied allegations he is protecting the Bakries, who in large part financed his 2004
presidential campaign.
Noted achievements
1. Rooting out corruption at the tax office and the customs and excise office. Yudhoyono fully supported a proposal by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to launch a reform of the tax and customs system in mid 2007, which has gone a long way in stopping protracted graft at the offices.
2. Security and political stability. Yudhoyono fully supported Vice President Jusuf Kalla's proposal to end the three-decade separatist conflict in Nangroe Aceh Darussalam in mid 2005 by negotiating with rebel leaders for a peace treaty.
Wealth (As of July 2, 2007)
Rp 7.14 billion and US$44.887
Boediono
Past controversies
1. BLBI Scandal: No issue taints Boediono other than his alleged involvement in the channelling of Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI), which were intended to help keep the banking system afloat during the financial crisis in late 1997. Although allegations of his involvement remain blurred, critics and
opposing politicians often blame him for the misuse of Rp 150 trillion (US$15 billion) by bank owners as he was Bank Indonesia (BI) director between 1993 and early 1998. Boediono and BI governor Soedradjad Djiwandono were sacked by former president Soeharto, partly for their actions towards banks owned by the Soeharto family and their cronies. On April 15, 2002, Boediono testified before court in a case involving businessmen Kaharuddin Ongko and Leonard Tanubrata, shareholders of the
now-defunct Bank Umum Nasional, over their use of BLBI funds. Mohamad Bob Hasan, a golf buddy of Soeharto, is also a shareholder in the bank. In April 2003, the court dismissed all charges against the businessmen. Soedrajdad was named a suspect by the Attorney General's Office on May 30, 2002. Although the case is on going, Boediono has been cleared of any charges.
2. Proliferating graft at the tax and customs offices: During his tenure as Finance Minister between 2001 and 2004, Boediono had been seen as making less of an effort to clamp down on corruption at the offices. Analysts saw Boediono as being "clean" and honest personally, but failing to ensure the same
was true of the institution as a whole.
Noted Achievements
1. During his tenure as finance minister, Boediono was accredited improving the country's macro-economy indicators and mobilizing fiscal policy to stabilize the economy. The economy grew by 5.2 percent in 2004, as compared to 3.32 percent in 2001.
Wealth (As of May 31, 2008)
Rp 18.6 billion and US$10,000
Jusuf Kalla
Past controversies
1. Lapindo mudflow disaster: Kalla and Yudhoyono have allegedly protected the family of Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Aburizal Bakrie from legal prosecution for gross negligence after his family's company, Lapindo Brantas, allegedly caused the eruption of a mud geyser, that has displaced more than 2,000 families, while it was mining for gas in Sidoardjo, East Java, on May 29, 2006. Kalla has repeatedly denied allegations he is protecting the Bakries, who in large part financed his 2004 vice presidential campaign. Aburizal has contributed the most to Kalla's political rise from a regional player from South Sulawesi to the Vice President and now, a contender for the presidency.
2. China factor: Kalla has spearheaded extensive deals with China related to the construction of power plants as part of the 10,000 megawatt power programs. The plants will be financed by Chinese banks in exchange for the inflow of Chinese steel, materials and manpower for use in several of the construction
projects. Critics point out that this directly contradicts Kalla's repeated claims that he is for prioritizing the use of domestically made products.
3. Conflict of interest: Critics and opposing politicians have expressed concern that a conflict of interest exists between Kalla and his business group, NV Hadji Kalla. Kalla's company once imported 12 used helicopters from Germany without going through the proper procedures, leading Finance Minister Sri
Mulyani Indrawati to confiscate the helicopters in 2006. Kalla said the helicopters were imported to contain forest fires in Sumatra and to help in relief efforts during natural disasters.
Noted achievements
1. Initiating a peace treaty that ended the three-decade separatist conflict in Nangroe Aceh Darussalam in mid 2005 by negotiating with rebel leaders in Sweden.
2. Insisting on the development of infrastructure, including highways, seaports, airports and power plants.
Personal Wealth (as of May 31, 2007)
Rp 253.9 billion and US$ 14,928
Wiranto
Past controversies
1. Wiranto is seen by the international community as being largely responsible for the human rights abuses and organized violence committed in East Timor after an Aug. 30, 1999 referendum demanded independence from Indonesia. Indonesian troops are allegedly responsible for razing large parts of the
country after the referendum past. A group of United Nations' experts recommended in ea ly 2003 that East Timor Court summon Wiranto for trial for the human rights abuses committed during this time. Both Wiranto and the Indonesian government have strongly denied the allegations. Wiranto was the Commander of the Indonesian Military cum Defense Minister at that time.
2. Wiranto is also accused of involvement in the riots that took place in Jakarta between May 13 and 15, 1998 and led to the downfall of President Soeharto's 32 year dictatorial rule. He was at the height of a clandestine battle against rival Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, who was at that time commander of the
Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad). Contradicting versions of this power struggle from numerous retired TNI commanders have left the case entirely unresolved. In mid 2004, Wiranto's former junior officer Maj. Gen. (ret) Kivlan Zein blamed Wiranto for letting the riots erupt by preventing Kostrad
from restoring order. Wiranto, who was at that time attending a TNI ceremony in East Java, denied the allegation. Wiranto has also been accused of responsibility for the shooting of Trisakti University students during a protest on May 13, 1998. Four students were killed by security forces.
Noted Achievements
1. Preventing a military coup during critical hours after Soeharto's resignation on May 21, 1998.
personal Wealth (As of May 18, 2004)
Rp 46.21 billion
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The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Joint Statement on Accountability in the Run-up to the Indonesian Presidential Elections
2 July 2009
As Indonesia prepares for its second direct presidential election on July 8th, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) together urge the Indonesian government, its citizens, and the international community to highlight past human rights violations and to push the next Indonesian administration to end impunity for human rights violators.
We are especially concerned about the well-documented human rights records of some of the candidates, including vice presidential candidates Prabowo Subianto and Wiranto. Prabowo, vice-presidential candidate for Megawati Sukarnoputri, was commander of Indonesia's special forces unit Kopassus from 1995 to 1998. Under his command, Kopassus kidnapped and disappeared a group of student activists during the last part of the dictator Suharto's rule. For this, he was later forced to retire by a military court. He also presided over brutal actions by Kopassus in occupied East Timor, including the torture, kidnapping and killings of independence supporters.
Wiranto, vice-presidential candidate for Jusuf Kalla, was commander of Indonesia's military during the tumultuous period of 1998 and 1999, when Suharto was pushed from power by widespread demonstrations and elite disillusionment with his rule. The military and its militias wreaked havoc in East Timor during its vote for independence. For his role, Wiranto was indicted for crimes against humanity by the UN-backed serious crimes process.
Kontras and ETAN are concerned that should either of these candidates assume office, their past crimes will impede the next president's ability to satisfactorily resolve outstanding cases of human rights violations by Indonesia's security forces and hinder the critical movement toward military reform and accountability. Almost certainly Wiranto and Prabowo's own impunity would continue for human rights and war crimes.
Under the current Yudhoyono administration, progress in the major human rights cases has been halting at best and military reform efforts have stalled. Also a former general, he has shown only a limited commitment to expanding human rights. Human rights violations have escalated in Papua. The involvement of the highest levels of the government's intelligence agency in the assassination of human rights activist Munir, who was murdered just prior to Yudhoyono taking office, has yet to be satisfactorily resolved. President Yudhoyono once declared the Munir case a "test case for whether Indonesia has changed."
As the legal process has stalled in a number of important cases, the installation of a presidential team which respects human rights and can inject new momentum into these cases is critical. The international community can greatly assist efforts for genuine accountability and military reform by restricting military assistance to Indonesia. Together Indonesia's government, its citizens, and the international community must push for human rights accountability no matter who assumes office.
Contact:
Usman Hamid (Indonesia) +62 811 812 149
John M. Miller (United States) +1-718-596-7668; +1-917-690-4391
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FORUM-ASIA: Indonesia must not allow human rights violators in its next government!
(Bangkok, 3 July 2009) The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is gravely alarmed that gross human rights violators with well-documented cases are the candidates for the second direct presidential election in Indonesia on 8 July 2009. If this is the case, it would be quite unlikely that the agenda to fight impunity become a priority in the next administration’s plan as the government would then be led by human rights violators, said FORUM-ASIA today.
FORUM-ASIA is referring to the three candidates who are reputedly poor promoters and protectors of human rights who are currently three pair candidates for Indonesian presidents for the period 2009 to 2014.
Prabowo Subianto, the candidate of vice president for Megawati Sukarnoputri, was commander of Indonesia's special force unit Kopassus from 1995 to 1998. He has admitted the responsibility for the kidnap and torture of pro-democracy activists by Kopassus, under his command in the late 1990s. He was also responsible for the brutal actions in Timor Leste under Indonesia occupation, which include torture, kidnapping and killings of independence supporters.
Wiranto, vice-presidential candidate for Jusuf Kalla, was commander of Indonesia's military during the turbulent period of 1998 and 1999, when Suharto was pushed from power by widespread demonstrations and elite disenchantment with his rule. Wiranto was indicted by a United Nation Special Crime Unit District Court of Dili, Timor Leste for committing crimes against humanity over the bloodshed that occurred during a 1999 independence vote in Timor Leste.
Both candidates have told the Indonesian and international community that they should be allowed to move on as they had gone through the necessary legal process. However, FORUM-ASIA believes that those responsible for past abuses must be held accountable. No Indonesian general has been successfully prosecuted for human rights abuse since the fall of Suharto in 1998.
The organization expressed its concerns that should either of these candidates assume office, their past crimes will obstruct the administration’s ability to resolve human rights violation cases committed by Indonesia’s security forces and hinder the important reforms of military and police forces in Indonesia.
Under the current administration of Yudhoyono, a retired general, the government had turned a blind eye to various abuses, including that of political prisoners in Papua. It also fell short in providing full compensation for victims of the man-made disaster ‘Lapindo’ toxic mud in East Java and failed to resolve the assassination case of human rights activist, Munir Said bin Thalib.
FORUM-ASIA calls for international community and Indonesian citizens to continue to remember the past human rights violations committed by these candidates of presidential elections and hold them accountable for their human rights violations. With the current role of Indonesia as the vice president of the United Nation Human Rights Council, FORUM-ASIA urges the next administration of Indonesian government to make serious efforts to comply with the recommendation from the Universal Periodic Review in June 2008 which calls for an end to impunity to be made as a priority issue.
FORUM-ASIA is a regional human rights organization with 42 members across Asia.
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Yuyun Wahyuningrum, East Asia Program Manager of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) at +66 879914451, or at yuyun@forum-asia.org
Ms. Gayoon Baek, East Asia Program Officer, FORUM-ASIA, at +66 85056 6548, or at gayoon@forum-asia.org
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Inside Indonesia
No. 97: Jul-Sep 2009
Despite an unprecedented media campaign, Prabowo Subianto’s political comeback has fallen flat for now
Dirk Tomsa
photo: ‘Beware! Killers surround us! We remember those who were abducted and killed. We do not forget, we do not forgive.’ An image popular among Indonesian users of Facebook
Ten years ago it seemed as if Prabowo Subianto’s political career was over before it had really begun. During the twilight days of the New Order, the former commander of the notorious special forces unit Kopassus had lost a power struggle against his arch-rival Wiranto and was subsequently dismissed from the military. Accused of involvement in the abduction of student activists and the instigation of the anti-Chinese riots in Jakarta in May 1998, the former son-in-law of ousted president Suharto considered it safer to leave the country and go into temporary hiding. In self-imposed exile in Jordan he turned his attention to business, making a fortune on the international oil and gas market and through a number of high-stake deals aided by his billionaire brother, business tycoon Hashim Djojohadikusumo.
In the meantime, Prabowo’s arch-rival from his days in the army, Wiranto, enjoyed a brief moment in the sun. Having outmaneuvered Prabowo during the turbulent days of the transition, the former adjutant of Suharto was instrumental in helping Abdurrahman Wahid to an unexpected stint at the presidency in 1999. But to Wiranto’s disappointment, his support for Wahid did not bring the desired recompense. Instead of being rewarded with the vice-presidency, he had to make do with a ministerial post. Shortly afterwards, Wahid added insult to injury when he sacked Wiranto from the cabinet. Thus, merely two years after the fall of Suharto it seemed, for a short time at least, as if there was no place for either Wiranto or Prabowo in Indonesia’s new democracy.
It did not take long for the two to attempt political comebacks. In 2004, Wiranto and Prabowo were both candidates in Golkar’s national convention to select a presidential candidate. Wiranto in particular invested huge amounts of money at the convention in order to secure a place in Indonesia’s first-ever direct presidential election. In the end the former commander-in-chief of the armed forces did manage to win the convention, but he failed to make it all the way to the palace, finishing third in the presidential poll. Undeterred by the defeat, Wiranto then moved on to found his own party (Hanura) and soon began preparing for the next elections in 2009.
His old foe Prabowo, meanwhile, was not just sitting idly by. In fact, it seemed as if defeat at the Golkar convention had only whetted his appetite for politics. Watching Wiranto’s activities carefully, Prabowo too began to get ready for the next elections. In contrast to his half-hearted campaign in 2004, however, this time he meant business. Assisted by a high-profile media consultancy firm from the United States, Prabowo crafted an elaborate strategy which he hoped would eventually elevate him to the highest office. The strategy consisted of three main pillars: first, mobilisation of support for his bid; second, enhancing name recognition for his organisational vehicle; and third, finding a niche in the political spectrum that he could use to distinguish himself from other candidates.
Finding the right vehicle
Prabowo’s first step was to assume control over one of Indonesia’s biggest mass organisations, the national farmers association HKTI (Himpunan Kerukunan Tani Indonesia). Created during the New Order as a corporatist tool for Suharto to monitor Indonesia’s millions of peasants, this organisation had descended into political oblivion after 1998, but its vague affiliation with the rural masses made it an ideal vehicle for Prabowo because it provided him with an opportunity to begin his image-building campaign by presenting himself as a champion of the poor. In December 2004 he was elected HKTI chairman with 309 out of 325 votes never mind that he was not even a member of the association at that time.
The HKTI position provided Prabowo with valuable access to an organisational base, but with a view to the 2009 elections he needed more than the chairmanship of a mass organisation. Indonesia’s electoral rules dictate that only candidates who are nominated by political parties are allowed to contest a presidential election, so in order to avoid dependence on the goodwill of an already existing party, he decided to emulate what various other retired generals had done before him: he created a new party of his own. And so Gerindra (Movement for a Great Indonesia) was born, a party with a fierce-looking Garuda eagle on its logo (the Garuda is the centrepiece of Indonesia’s national coat of arms). From the day of its formation in February 2008, Gerindra dedicated itself almost exclusively to promoting the presidential ambitions of Prabowo Subianto.
At first sight, Gerindra appeared to be not much different from the various other parties that had been established by retired generals in recent years. Just like Edi Sudradjat’s PKPI, Hartono’s PKPB and more recently Wiranto’s Hanura, Gerindra too seemed to stand for little more than conservative nationalism imbued with a touch of New Order nostalgia. And yet, many observers were much more concerned about Gerindra than the other parties formed by retired officers. A closer look at the composition of its leadership board and its advisory council reveals why. Formally led by a largely unknown forestry professor called Suhardi, Gerindra provides a political home for a number of controversial former generals who continue to be dogged by persistent allegations of gross human rights violations. Amongst the most prominent are Gleny Kairupan, a former intelligence officer with a dubious track record in East Timor, Muchdi Purwopranyoto, who despite his exoneration by a Jakarta court is widely believed to have masterminded the murder of human rights activist Munir in September 2004, and of course Prabowo himself, whose list of alleged crimes includes abduction, torture, and instigation of large-scale anti-Chinese riots. For this reason, Gerindra and Prabowo caused particular alarm among human rights advocates, many of whom protested openly against his presidential campaign this year.
In order to dispel this image, Prabowo pursued an ingenious plan. To the disbelief of those human rights activists who now opposed his candidature, Prabowo approached some of his former victims and persuaded them to join his party. Why exactly former student activists like Desmond Mahesa or Pius Lustrilanang, and Haryanto Taslam, a former leader of Megawati Soekarnoputri’s PDI-P, all three of whom were kidnapped by Prabowo’s troops in 1998, agreed to support the presidential ambitions of their former tormentor has been the subject of much speculation. Some observers have argued that they were simply bought off while others claim they may suffer from Stockholm syndrome (a psychological condition in which victims of abductions become emotionally attached to their hostage-taker). The three men themselves have rejected all such speculation and simply maintained that after Prabowo had apologised to them, it was time to move on.
An unprecedented media campaign
For Prabowo, people like Haryanto, Desmond and Pius represented important human capital that could be used in his bid for the presidency. But the real weapon in Prabowo Subianto’s struggle to polish his image was an unprecedented media offensive which in mid-2008 ushered in the second phase of his presidential campaign. While other parties were still in the planning stage, Prabowo began to inundate the Indonesian public with an unparalleled bombardment of political advertisements.
Buoyed by a self-confidence bordering on hubris, Prabowo used these advertisements to liken himself to an array of past and present statesmen, ranging from Napoleon and Sukarno to Barack Obama. All television advertisements featured the majestic Garuda eagle and consistently highlighted the alleged failure of post-Suharto administrations to realise Indonesia’s huge economic potential. To fund this media onslaught, the soldier-cum-businessman-cum-politician had to dig deep into his pockets (and those of his brother Hashim). According to a Gerindra official, the media campaign alone cost about US$100 million, leaving plenty of room for speculation about just how much more was spent on other campaign activities.
Throughout his media offensive, Prabowo portrayed himself as the only presidential contender capable of liberating Indonesia from the yoke of rural poverty, unemployment and foreign debt. So far, so predictable. What very few observers had predicted, however, was the solution Prabowo proposed for the country’s alleged malaise. Driven by the need to distinguish himself from his rivals, the man who owed his fortune largely to strategic maneuvers on global financial markets and to his connections to some of Indonesia’s most powerful elite families campaigned on a quasi-socialist platform, criticising the government’s privatisation agenda and proposing revisions of existing contracts with foreign companies such as Freeport and Exxon. Given Prabowo’s background, this may sound cynical, but the anti-neoliberal’ label helped him to stand out from his rivals. And in view of the electoral success of other big-spending leftist populists like Hugo Chavez or perhaps Thaksin Shinawatra the strategy made sense, especially in times of a global financial crisis.
Was it all in vain?
So why did it not work? Even though Prabowo had implemented his campaign strategy meticulously from the start, Gerindra got less than five per cent of the vote (Wiranto’s Hanura party fared even worse, achieving only about three per cent). A number of reasons probably account for this poor result, including persistent discomfort amongst many Indonesians about Prabowo’s hardline image and his human rights record, as well as widespread apprehension about his links to the Suharto family. Taken together, these factors apparently provided a substantial deterrent for many voters. Arguably the most important reason, however, is that despite the global financial crisis the overall socio-economic conditions in Indonesia were simply not ripe for the emergence of a populist saviour.
Thanks largely to the government’s three-phase ‘direct cash assistance’ (BLT) program, many poorer Indonesians appear to be quite satisfied with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s performance. Significantly, the third phase of the BLT program was implemented in late March 2009, which meant that merely two weeks before the election more than 18 million poor families received yet another government-sponsored cash injection of Rp 100,000 per month, to be distributed over a period of two months. In view of these measures taken by the incumbent president, it is hardly surprising that few of the millions of farmers and fisherfolk targeted by Prabowo saw a need for a radical overhaul of the economic system. Moreover, even those who may actually have seen this need were apparently reluctant to believe that the person to implement it would be, of all people, Prabowo Subianto, who, to put it lightly, is hardly famous for his philanthropy.
Another important reason for Prabowo’s failure to push Gerindra to a better result was that his campaign was essentially regressive. Despite the professional outlook of the advertisements, Gerindra appeared to be preoccupied primarily with romanticising the past rather than outlining the future. This nostalgia was epitomised in a statement by Gerindra’s deputy chairman Fadli Zon who maintained that Gerindra ‘would like to rebuild Indonesia just like how it was in the past when people gained prosperity from agriculture and fishing’. Clearly, the election result showed that very few Indonesians share this desire to go back in time. Thus, it could be argued that Prabowo may have revolutionised the style of political advertising in Indonesia, but he failed to match his impressive style with a convincing message.
So Prabowo will not become Indonesia’s next president, and neither will Wiranto. Does that mean that at long last there really is no place for these two in Indonesia’s democracy? Not quite. Despite the clear verdict at the ballot box and poor approval ratings in most opinion polls, both Prabowo and Wiranto are running as vice-presidential candidates for Megawati and Jusuf Kalla respectively. This may look like a consolation prize only, but it will ensure that the two will continue to have a place in the system for years to come. And don’t be surprised if they run for president again in 2014.
Dirk Tomsa (Dirk.Tomsa@utas.edu.au) is a lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania.
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The Candidates for Indonesia’s Future Bear a Strong Resemblance to the Past
The Jakarta Globe
June 19, 2009
James Van Zorge
Op-Ed
When I think about how to describe the current crop of Indonesian presidential hopefuls, I have a vision of the past. All three contenders are, in their own way, creatures of Indonesia’s past. Just a decade into the reform period, the major political figures in this country all came into prominence during the Suharto era. Among them, I see one as a classic Suharto-esque businessman, another as a woman longing for a return to the glory days of her father and the third as a transitional liberal willing to break with the past but uncertain how to do so decisively.
Golkar standard-bearer and Vice President Jusuf Kalla belongs to a class of businessmen who seem to view politics as a branch of the family business. Under Suharto, there was nothing wrong with growing one’s business while supposedly serving the public. In this rarefied Manichaean world, monopolies can be a good thing and competition from outside the club is treated with contempt. This is a conservative world where the tenets of democracy might be tolerated but it is hardly a place of liberal values and
policies.
For businessmen who thrived under the Suharto regime, growing an empire was predicated upon the grace of the president and his family. Rent-seeking, not competition and open markets, was the magical key for building wealth.
It is small wonder that Kalla and his cohorts wax eloquently about the Suharto years. More than once Kalla has voiced his opinion that democracy has gone too far in Indonesia. I worry that if he were to have his way, he would more than likely dismantle anticorruption agencies, place a muzzle on the media
and clamp down on civil and human rights activists.
Given his personal history and values, it is no coincidence that Kalla has chosen retired Gen. (ret.) Wiranto as his running mate. At a young age, Wiranto was taken under Suharto’s wing and served faithfully as the president’s adjutant. In the eyes of Suharto and his children, Wiranto would have made a perfect successor, mostly because he could be trusted to protect the family’s interests and keep the clan firmly in power.
If you think I am exaggerating, consider this: By virtue of where they sit, crony businessmen think of democracy as an intrusion, an unnecessary import from the Western world and, given the potential stakes, which is the dissolution of an old order they came to thrive upon, something to be inherently
feared. In the words of a famous liberal US Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis: “We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, but we cannot have both.”
Megawati Sukarnoputri, in contrast to Kalla, is far from being an avaricious industrialist. Neither does she dream of returning Indonesia to its Suharto-run past. But for sure, she is thinking deeply about another past — her father’s.
When I first met Megawati in 1997, I asked her about any plans she might have for a political future and what she might consider as a strategy to reach higher office. Our ensuing conversation, with her eyes swelling in pride whenever I raised the name of Sukarno, was most telling: “Of course I will one day
be the president. I often have conversations with my father about that. But as far as a strategy, you Westerners don’t seem to understand. I have no need for a strategy. Instead, I rely upon something else: Factor X.”
True to her word, Megawati did eventually become president. And as far as I could tell, she certainly did not have a strategy. What she did have in mind, however, was following in her father’s footsteps, and if you listened to what she said and even the countries she visited when she was president, it was eerily in lockstep with Sukarno’s own philosophies and travels.
Today, there should be little doubt that what Megawati wants more than anything else is to build a sort of Sukarno dynasty.
In that sense, she is similar to another famous woman politician, the late Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, whose father, former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was, just like Sukarno, an avowed nationalist with socialist leanings who was eventually ousted by a military coup.
Unfortunately, there are also some striking dissimilarities between Megawati and Benazir. While Benazir experienced, in her own words, some of the happiest days of her life in the West during her university years and hence was decidedly pro-Western in her views, Megawati leans toward the opposite side of the aisle. One can only surmise that perhaps her dislike for the West is linked somehow to her knowledge that the United States was no friend of her father.
What, then, given her background, can the electorate expect of Megawati? There is much we know already from her previous stay in office, and many people would conclude from that experience alone that she would not prove much of a leader. Megawati claims, however, that she has learned from her past mistakes. She has also chosen a dynamic running mate, Prabowo Subianto, also a Suharto-era general, who presumably would compensate for her well-known weaknesses.
Still, one must wonder. Megawati’s life experience can’t be erased. Aloof, an avowed nationalist with a strong aversion toward the West, seemingly uninterested in and incapable of grasping the policy issues that are required of a president, and primarily driven by a dynastic impulse for power, there is
little reason to believe that Megawati would be a better president if given another chance.
Finally, there is the incumbent, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. How to describe him? I might choose a well-known political figure from the past with similarities to Yudhoyono: former US President Jimmy Carter. Much like Carter, who was also a military man, Yudhoyono’s politics are liberal. Both men are
innately reserved and studious. Both are highly educated and considered to be intellectuals.
But the similarities go much deeper. Like Yudhoyono, Carter was criticized while in office for paying too much attention to details. He was also viewed as being indecisive, something which both the Jakarta elite and the electorate recognize as one of Yudhoyono’s most glaring deficiencies. Finally, Yudhoyono shares with Carter an inability to roll up his sleeves and develop the types of political relationships outside the palace grounds that would serve him well in building support for his policies.
If re-elected, many Indonesians are hopeful that, somehow, Yudhoyono will become more assertive and leave more of an imprint and legacy behind him.
Personally, I find it difficult to believe he will change very much in his ways. Adjusting policies is one thing, and there are many examples of presidents who have had second thoughts about their previous stances and took on new courses. But the weaknesses that are so apparent in Yudhoyono are not related to policy. Rather, like Carter, it is a question of character and temperament. Should we expect a mature man entering his sixth decade in life to suddenly and radically change his behavior? Of course not. As the old saying goes, what you see is what you get.
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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NGO Finds 2.2 Million Fictitious Voters
The Jakarta Post [web site]
June 23, 2009
Youth organization Pemuda Pancasila filed a report with the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Tuesday containing allegations of incorrect electoral rolls involving some 2.2 million fictitious voters in East Java.
Lanyala, head of the organization’s East Java chapter, said the electoral roll for the presidential election contained multiple similar names and citizens’ identification numbers.
“There are around 2.2 million fictitious voters among the total population of around 29 million voters,” Lanyala said.
The anomalies were the result of a systemic violation that could be traced back to the gubernatorial elections that began last July, he said.
“The defective list was used in the gubernatorial election and recent legislative elections, and will now be used again in the presidential election,” Lanyala said.
The organization’s electoral roll data was official because it was obtained by the provincial KPU office itself, he said.
“The commission’s local office held a plenary session to verify the data. This means the commission turned a blind eye and approved the flawed electoral roll,” he said.
According to government regulations, the Home Ministry is responsible for providing the KPU with electoral roll data, but it is up to the KPU to verify it.
Lanyala urged the KPU to revise its data before the presidential election run off on July 8. However, the official deadline for revisions to the electoral roll passed on June 8. (fmb)
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Kalla Runs With Peacemaker Message In Kalimantan, Papua Campaigning
Jakarta Globe
June 19, 2009
Pontianak. Supporters of presidential aspirant Jusuf Kalla have talked up his talents as a peace broker, saying it makes him fit for the office of president.
Vice chairman of the Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto ticket’s national campaign team, Alwi Hamu, told supporters in West Kalimantan on Friday that Kalla’s ability to reconcile conflicts contributed to his leadership qualities.
“Since his childhood, Kalla did not like fighting but used to reconcile those who engaged in fighting,” Alwi said in a campaign meeting speech for the upcoming July 8 presidential election.
He spoke about Kalla’s involvement as vice president during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s current administration, where he helped to resolve various communal conflicts around the country, such as in Ambon, Aceh and Poso.
Kalla is scheduled to campaign in Jayapura, Papua, today, where he will hold a dialogue with local people to hear their grievances as input for possible action in the nation’s troubled easternmost province if he is elected president.
The chief of Kalla’s campaign team in Papua, Paskalis Kossy, said in Jayapura on Friday that the presidential hopeful would try to get firsthand information about the situation there.
“As a presidential candidate from eastern Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla wants to hear the complaints of his brothers and sisters in the easternmost area of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia,” he said.
“Indeed, Papuans are in desperate need of a good listener, a leader who is prepared to listen to their complaints and help them get out of their misery.”
Kalla’s vice presidential running mate, Gen. (ret.) Wiranto, who was campaigning in East Java on Friday, was a military chief under Suharto’s New Order regime and has been accused of involvement in a number of past human rights violations.
Antara
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Candidates fail to address autonomy `seriously'
The Jakarta Post
Erwida Maulia
Sat, 07/04/2009 12:59 PM
They may support pluralism and national unity, but the three presidential candidates missed the chance to address more crucial issues on the immature and still troublesome regional autonomy.
During the final presidential debate on Thursday, the candidates barely touched on key issues such as fiscal decentralization, deconcentration and assisting functions of regions, and power-sharing between the three levels of government.
These issues are deemed the heart of problems in regional autonomy implementation, observers say.
Counterproductive bylaws and the looming threat of a full-fledged independence movement in Papua only glossed over.
As were other issues, such as budgetary planning, the unequal development of western and eastern Indonesia, and regional health and education services.
Shortly after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri appeared in the final debate, members of the Working Group on Regional Autonomy - comprising autonomy watchdogs - discussed the issue.
Novi Anggraini, from the Regional Administrations Innovations Institution (YIPD), said it was understandable the candidates could not address the issues comprehensively due to the limited time.
"But they could have incorporated important issues like financial decentralization during their *seven-minute* vision-mission presentation, or when answering the questions," she pointed out.
Of six questions asked by the moderator, only two were closely related to regional autonomy issues: the continuation of regional autonomy, and the necessity for direct elections of regional heads.
Agung Pamudi, from the Monitoring Committee on the Implementation of Regional Autonomy (KPPOD), said it was "interesting" that the candidates, particularly Megawati and Yudhoyono, had reiterated the need to uphold the country's philosophy of Pancasila as the uniting factor in the vastly diverse archipelago.
Cecep Effendi, from the Germany-funded Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), concurred, saying it was good that all candidates had agreed they had to safeguard the country's diversity.
"The issue *on the threat of disintegration* in Papua, although touched on by the moderator, wasn't addressed seriously by the candidates," he said.
"This should have been a major concern; Papua could be the second Timor Leste."
Agung regretted that fiscal decentralization and regional budgetary planning was not discussed at all.
"This is despite problems of human resources incapability in regions to manage their money, resulting in unused funds of up to Rp 45 trillion *US$4.5 billion* every year since 2004; before that it touched Rp 90 trillion," he said.
YIPD executive director Alit Merthayasa said problems surrounding distribution of authority between the central, provincial and regency or municipal administrations should have been addressed.
"We know this is an unresolved problem; and regional administrations continually seek the central government's assistance *to handle their duties*," Alit said.
The coalition of 43 NGOs said the three hopefuls had failed to address problems over the mass exploitation of natural resources as it impacted regional autonomy.
"Such exploitation has triggered environmental snags, causing an increase in natural disasters," Oslan Purba, from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said Friday.
The coalition said the implementation of regional autonomy had contributed to the increase in illegal logging, environmental damage and human rights violations.
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Inside Indonesia
Issue 97: July to September 2009
Available at insideindonesia.org
Ten years ago, Indonesia held its first democratic elections in the post-Suharto period. The lead article in Inside Indonesia’s pre-election special in 1999 noted that many in the Indonesian press were warning that ‘the coming elections have the potential for national disaster’. But on the day of the polls, the nation heaved a sigh of relief, and outsiders applauded. The elections were generally peaceful, their results were respected, and they ushered in a period of democratic government that has survived, albeit with ups and downs and plenty of shortcomings, until this day.
Ten years on, the atmosphere could hardly be more different. Open elections have become part of Indonesia’s democratic furniture. In April, voters around the country went to the polls to elect thousands of members of legislative assemblies at the national, provincial and district levels. Later this week, citizens will take part in the first of two possible rounds of voting for a president and vice-president. Few people expected either dramatic change or chaos during this year’s elections. In fact, many citizens have lost their initial enthusiasm for voting, but they also take it for granted that this is the way that governments rise and fall.
True to the dampened expectations, the legislative elections last April did not usher in dramatic changes. Some parties – notably President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Partai Demokrat – did better than in the past, and some did worse. But there were no spectacular breakthroughs or overturnings of established patterns. In the presidential election, the incumbent Yudhoyono is such a strong favourite that some people speculate that he may win in next week’s first round of voting (a second round will only be held if he fails to win an absolute majority and at least twenty per cent in half of the provinces).
But underneath the routine, this year’s elections are still a fascinating moment in Indonesia’s national life. In Indonesia, as in other countries, elections not only determine who controls the government. They can also reveal the social and cultural currents that animate society. Perhaps even more importantly, elections also show much about deeper patterns of power and inequality, about who dominates society and how they do so, and about whose voices are not heard. Elections cement and reflect power even more than they determine it.
Most of the articles in this edition of Inside Indonesia both describe what happened during this year’s legislative elections and delve into the deeper patterns and processes they reveal. In our lead article, ‘Chaos and consolidation’ , Marcus Mietzner argues that the strong showing for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Democrat Party is a sign of the strengthening of democracy, but he points to declining quality of the elections as a cause for concern. Dirk Tomsa, in ‘The eagle has crash-landed ’, looks at the attempt by the notorious former commander of the army’s special forces, Prabowo Subianto, to become a dominant electoral force. While Prabowo failed to achieve the result his big spending might have produced, it is likely he will remain a political contender in the future.
The next group of articles explores the fate of the Islamic parties, which this year did not do particularly well. Bernhard Platzdasch, in ‘Down but not out ’, analyzes the reason for this poor showing, but argues that political Islam is far from being a spent force. Many nationalist parties are willing to accommodate Islamic demands, suggesting a convergence on the political centre. Thomas B. Pepinsky, in ‘Dominant but weak ’, argues that the election outcome disguises long-term weaknesses in the secular-nationalist parties and points to future opportunities for forces promoting a conservative Islamist agenda, especially the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). Jeremy Menchik, by contrast, in his photo essay ‘Symbols and signs ’ about a PKS rally, suggests that the party’s supporters show signs of greater ideological diversity than they are customarily supposed to exhibit.
This year, more than in any previous election, former student activists and leaders of NGOs stood as candidates in the elections. Dave McRae in ‘Seeking representation ’ looks at what motivated activists in Central Sulawesi to go down this path, and points to the rather disappointing results. Benita Chudleigh, in ‘Feeling cheated, acting apathetic’, views the election from the campus of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, once a hotbed of the student radicalism that helped bring down Suharto. This year, Chudleigh still finds political alienation on campus, but now this alienation means that many students are simply not interested in voting.
Our final group of articles looks at the role of local elites, and of money, in elections. In ‘Suicide and progress in modern Nusantara ’, Michael Buehler asks why Indonesian elections are relatively peaceful. Candidates for political office in Indonesia rarely kill each other, unlike in some neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. He finds part of the answer in structural features of Indonesia’s political system that mean that local elites tend to share out the cake of political power – and the economic resources that come with it – rather than falling out murderously over it. Graeme MacRae and I Nyoman Darma Putra in ‘Not just an elite game ’ survey the last few years of local elections in Bali, explaining why the conventional view that electoral politics are dominated by entrenched elites does not fully hold true in the island. In ‘Winning the villages ’, Achmad Uzair Fauzan provides a contrasting view on how elections are won by taking a close look at village-level dynamics in Jepara, Central Java. The key, he finds, is that candidates need to be able to mobilise a strong network of local political operators. Finally, in ‘Purchasing power ’, Blair Palmer presents a piece by Indonesia Corruption Watch on how Indonesia’s system of formal reporting of campaign financing works. It turns out the system is an empty formality and that parties and candidates seriously under-report the financial support they receive to bankroll their campaigns. As a result, the public doesn’t know what debts are owed – and to whom – when politicians come to power.
Readers will note the striking images that accompany this edition. Special thanks go to Danu Primanto who took many of them. It’s not the first time that Inside Indonesia has used his beautiful photographs. Check out his flickr page . Finally, Inside Indonesia will be running more articles on electoral politics in coming weeks. Next in line is an article on the elections in Aceh, which saw a stunning victory for Partai Aceh, the party of the former separatists of the Free Aceh Movement. ii
Edward Aspinall (edward.aspinall@anu.edu.au) teaches and researches Indonesian politics at the Australian National University. He is also the coordinating editor of Inside Indonesia.
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As Indonesia's Election Day Nears, Complaints of Fraud Grow Louder
Time Magazine
July 5, 2009
Jason Tedjasukmana
Indonesia's election season came to a close on July 4, ending three weeks of campaigning by the three candidates hoping to lead the country for the next five years. With just a few days left before an expected 170 million people go to the polls on July 8, most surveys indicate that incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono — commonly known here as "SBY" — will take more than 60% of the votes, with his two challengers, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri and current Vice President Jusuf Kalla, trailing far behind.
With Yudhoyono, a former three-star general and Indonesia's first directly elected president, in front with a commanding lead, the opposition is now warning that the election — the country's second free polls since the fall of strongman General Suharto in 1998 — will be fraught with irregularities. "I have raised the issue of the voter rolls since day one," candidate Megawati Sukarnoputri, who currently stands at a distant second with a projected 20% of the vote, recently told foreign journalists. "There is a big chance that there could be a lot of cheating during the elections." (See pictures of a deadly dam burst near Jakarta.)
Advisors to the Megawati camp have complained that the number of polling stations has been reduced by 69,000 without explanation. "We are afraid that they have been closed in our strongholds," says Hasyim Djojohadikusomo, an advisor to Megawati and brother of her running mate, former general Prabowo Subianto. The opposition is also worried that five million names have been added to voter lists, many of whom, they say, are doubles, underage and even dead. "It is just days before the election and
we have not received the election roll [voter list] as mandated by law."
At such a distant second, it is perhaps not surprising that Megawati, both a former President and daughter of the country's founding father, Sukarno, would begin to point fingers in the eleventh hour. Current Vice President Jusuf Kalla has also voiced concern over voter fraud. It remains to be seen, however, how much effect these complaints will have given that the elections are run by the General Elections Commission, an independent body known as the KPU. "This is an act of desperation," says Bara Hasibuan, a member of the Yudhoyono campaign team. "They should be asking the KPU and not pointing fingers at us. If the claims are true, we could lose votes just as easily as them."
Nevertheless, calls for a delay are already being discussed by the opposition. "The incompetency of the KPU has reached an intolerable level," says Ida Sudoyo, a media advisor to the Megawati campaign. "It is possible that we, along with Jusuf Kalla, will soon ask for the elections to be delayed until the
proper preparations are made."
As of Sunday, members of the KPU maintained that the elections will be held as scheduled on July 8, with a second round in September if no candidate reaches the requirements needed to declare an immediate winner — a 50% national threshold and at least 20% in 17 of the country's 35 provinces. A delay in the elections is unlikely given the tens of millions of dollars that have been spent preparing for the event. Logistics in the sprawling archipelago are daunting, with some voters having to walk miles to reach the nearest polling station. (Watch a video about a destructive mud volcano in Indonesia.)
Those challenges didn't deter voters from turning out in April's legislative elections, when Yudhoyono's Democrat Party came out on top with just over 20% of the national vote. That victory was predicted accurately, which might help explain why the challengers are now using these last days to launch attacks on the credibility of the upcoming polls. Few, however, expect it to work. "SBY's popularity has gone up and down the past year along with the rise and fall of prices for fuel and basic goods," says Purboyo Yudha Sadewa, chief economist at Danareksa Research Institute. "Now prices are stable, and so are his numbers." Indeed, there have been missteps along the way during his last five years as president — such as being misled by certain advisors and his government's failure to use 20% of budget for education, as mandated by the national constitution. But they have not appeared to fatally dent SBY's largely positive image. "People's memories here are short," adds Purboyo. "And for the most part they are quick to forgive."
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Presidential elections to go ahead despite problematic voters list
The Jakarta Post [web site]
July 5, 2009
General Elections Commission chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshari said Sunday that the commission would not postpone the presidential elections, slated on July 8, and would update voters list from time to time.
"If there are double names, we will cross them out," Abdul Hafidz was quoted by tempointeraktif.com as saying.
He also played down concerns that some people would vote more than once, saying that the current system would minimize such practices by requiring voters who have cast their ballot to dip their fingers into the provided ink.
When asked about the problematic list of voters as reported by the success team of presidential and vice presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto, Abdul Hafidz said that KPU had crossed check the data with local election bodies (KPUD) and found out that the data provided by JK-Wiranto team was the old data.
"Based on our random sampling, we concluded that there were differences between the list of voters submitted by the JK team and the data from KPUDs," he said.
Many of the data submitted by the JK-Wiranto team were from the November 2008 data, while KPU had updated the data, and the last updated data was that of May 2009, he said.
The JK-Wiranto campaign team had suggested that KPU postponed the elections to update its list of voters.
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Police Officer Identified as Suspect in Aceh Poll Attacks
The Jakarta Globe
July 6, 2009
Farouk Arnaz & Nurdin Hassan
A suspect in a string of violent attacks against political parties in Aceh ahead of the April 9 legislative elections is an active-duty police officer, according to a document obtained by the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.
The document identifies the suspect as Ahyar bin M. Hasan, 37, a member of the Bireuen Police with the rank of chief brigadier. He has been arrested and transferred to National Police headquarters in Jakarta.
In the run-up to the legislative elections, the offices of several political parties in the province, in particular the Aceh Party, which was established by former members of the secessionist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), were targeted by grenade and arson attacks.
Police in the province have arrested nine suspects in connection with the attacks, including Ahyar.
The other eight suspects have been identified as alleged gang leader Abdul Rajak bin Abdul Muthalib and seven gang members — Muhammad Ali bin Nurdin, 27; Zulfikar bin Nurdin, aka Ram, 24; Zulhafmi, aka Zulkifli and Zul bin Fadli, 25; M. Syah, aka Ayah bin Ibrahim, 35; Irwan bin Ilyas, aka Aneuk Geutu, 58; Muhammad Faisal bin Nurdin, 19; and Nurdin bin Ismail, 44.
Police seized five AK-56 rifles, an AK-47 assault rifle, a colt rifle, a grenade launcher, 101 magazines and 860 rounds of ammunition from the suspects.
All nine of the suspects were transferred to National Police headquarters in May and charged under the 1951 Emergency Law, which regulates the possession of firearms and explosives. They have also been charged under individual articles in the Criminal Code related to arson, kidnapping, blackmailing and
hostage-taking.
The former deputy chief of the Aceh Police, Gen. Herman Efendi, was quoted by the document as saying in a closed-door meeting that Ahyar “was involved in two kidnappings, in Lhokseumawe and
Nagan Raya, both in Bireuen.”
Earlier, Aceh Police Chief Insp. Gen. Adityawarman said the suspects were being detained at National Police headquarters on suspicion of involvement in 16 major crimes in Aceh, including grenade and arson attacks on political party offices.
The National Police’s chief of detectives, Comr. Susno Duadji, confirmed Ahyar’s status as an active police officer on Sunday.
“The Aceh Police oversaw the investigation and the suspects were transferred to Jakarta for trial because of safety considerations,” he said.
Separately, Suryati, the wife of suspect Muhammad Ali bin Nurdin, expressed hope that her husband would be tried in Aceh.
“We hope the suspects will be transferred back to Aceh so that we don’t have to go to Jakarta to see them,” Suryati told the Jakarta Globe. She acknowledged that her husband took part in an arson attack on Partai SIRA’s office in Bireuen on Sept. 21, 2008.
SIRA is one of six local parties established in Aceh after the signing of a peace agreement between GAM and the Indonesian government in Helsinki, Finland, in August 2005.