Looming anarchy<\/p>\n
Anarchy loomed in Jakarta on Friday, reminiscent of the days
\nbefore the massive and brutal riots of May 1998. Clashes between
\nstudents and security officers, previously confined to the elite
\nMenteng area where former president Soeharto lives, spread to
\nbusy streets, Jl. Salemba and Jl. Kramat Raya in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Predictably, the students, who are demanding the trial of the
\nformer despot, were joined by ordinary people whose presence in
\nthe streets were not necessarily motivated by the same concerns.
\nThe crowds were only steps away from the Senen shopping complex,
\nwhich has had a long history of being burned during riots these
\nlast four decades.<\/p>\n
The police were nowhere in sight as students checked passing
\nvehicles to apprehend and beat members of the police or the
\nMilitary who inadvertently strayed into the area. Military
\nvehicles were stopped, overturned and set afire.<\/p>\n
To the students' credit, they exercised restraint by targeting
\ntheir anger specifically at the property of law enforcement
\nagencies. But there is no guarantee that this condition of
\nselective outrage will continue. The May 1998 experience
\ndemonstrated that all that is needed to lose control is the
\narrival of provocateurs to provoke the students and those not so
\nidealistic to an extreme emotional state sufficient to engage in
\nacts of mass destruction.<\/p>\n
The situation today, which bordered on anarchy, was not all
\nthat dissimilar to the days just before Jakarta erupted into an
\norgy of arson and looting over two years ago. This is not a
\nsituation that will bolster already failing investor confidence.
\nOn the contrary, it is likely that many of those who are still
\nhere will be thinking about packing their bags again, possibly
\nfor the last time.<\/p>\n
While it is easy to place sole blame on the students for
\ntrying to force their way to Soeharto's Jl. Cendana residence,
\nthe government must assume the lion's share of the blame. The
\nclashes between students and security forces were manifestations
\nof the student's scorn for the law enforcement apparatus rather
\nthan a disregard for the law.<\/p>\n
Looking at their demands, one can extend this point to include
\ndisrespect for all law enforcement agencies, from the police,
\nprosecutors and investigators, to the courts. Public confidence
\nin the law is at a very low ebb largely because the popularly
\nelected government has failed to a large extent to respond to the
\npeople's aspirations for justice under the law, particularly in
\npursuing past abusers of power, including most of all, Soeharto.<\/p>\n
If student militancy has grown in recent months, that is
\nbecause the government is making such little headway in its legal
\ninvestigations, not only in Soeharto's case, but also in almost
\nall other high profile cases. Other investigations that have
\nattracted a lot of public attention include the 1996 attack on
\nthe PDI headquarters in Jakarta, the 1984 massacre of Muslim
\nprotesters in Tanjung Priok, the Bank Bali scandal, and the
\nkillings in Aceh and East Timor. If those are not enough, one
\ncould add the recent Bulog scandal to the list.<\/p>\n
In the seven months that President Abdurrahman Wahid has been
\nin office, there has not been a single conviction for the high
\nprofile cases of corruption or abuse of power. Most
\ninvestigations have been slow, with little or no prospect of
\nreaching the courts any time soon, if at all. And the decision
\nlast week to drop the investigation into the loan scandal at the
\nTexmaco Group for insufficient evidence could well be the first
\nof many investigations to be stopped.<\/p>\n
While the conviction of 24 soldiers and junior officers for
\nthe killing of unarmed civilians in Aceh allows the government to
\nclaim that progress is being made, it failed to convince many
\npeople because the senior officers, who clearly gave the command
\nto kill, are still roaming free.<\/p>\n
The Soeharto investigation is probably the most important of
\nall the legal cases being pursued by the government in its drive
\nto show that justice exists in this country. The reputation of
\nthis government hinges on its ability to bring Soeharto to court,
\nand to convict him for misdeeds committed while he was president.<\/p>\n
And the government's plan to remove Soeharto from his Menteng
\nresidence because of constant student protests is not likely to
\nsolve the problem. It will merely shift the problem elsewhere
\nbecause the students will most likely find this new secure
\nlocation and take their protests there.<\/p>\n
For an administration that was elected on the back of the
\nstudent-led reform movement, it has put on a very disappointing
\nperformance in upholding the principle of rule by law. The public
\ndo not condone the use of violence, but they share the students'
\ndisillusionment and frustrations with such a poor showing.
\nFriday's clashes between students and security forces in Jakarta
\nstreets are reminders for the government that patience, and
\ntherefore time, is fast running out.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/looming-anarchy-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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