1966 activists not impressed by own record

1966 activists not impressed by own record

JAKARTA (JP): Former activists who launched the massive street
demonstrations 30 years ago to fight "for the people", admitted
yesterday they have not fully lived up to their own commitments.

A seminar to commemorate the launching of the movement turned
into a self criticism session as discussants reviewed how far the
nation has come since those days.

They found they have every reason to criticize themselves.

Many of these "anti-establishment" student leaders are now in
the presidential cabinet and other senior government positions.
Others are serving in the House of Representatives, and some have
become successful business leaders and noted scholars.

Their street demonstrations in 1966 led to the downfall of
then president Sukarno and paved the way for the rise to power of
Soeharto, then a young Army general.

Today, the former activists will get together to mark the day
when they launched what they called the Tritura, or the People's
Three Demands. A nostalgic meeting with President Soeharto is
also in the cards, according to the organizers.

The specific demands made were for the reduction of prices of
basic commodities, the disbandment of president Sukarno's cabinet
and the outlawing of the Indonesian Communist Party. But the
spirit of their demands was essentially the betterment of the
people's welfare.

"I doubt that all of us are on the right track implied in
Tritura," Sofyan Wanandi, now a successful businessman, told the
seminar yesterday.

Eky Syahrudin, now a business consultant, admitted that the
New Order administration has not fully met the Tritura demands.
He laid the blame more on the legislators in the House of
Representatives than on the government.

"The role of the House in determining and guiding the nation's
development program is questionable," he said.

However, the 1966 activists, or "exponents" as they call
themselves, could not be blamed entirely for this situation, he
said. "We don't have total control in the way the country is
being run. Why should we be blamed for things over which we do
not complete control," he said.

"Give us a chance to run the country. Then, people can
evaluate our performance, to say if we have succeeded or not,"
Eky said.

Djusril Djusan, chairman of another group of 1966 student
activists called the Laskar Ampera Arief Rachman Hakim, said he
planned to summon around 160 House members who belonged to the
same generation to question their commitment to the 1966 cause.
"We feel these members have not made enough efforts to fight for
the people," he said.

The seminar's participants also found a lot of things wrong
with the New Order, which they helped put into place 30 years
ago.

Sofyan Wanandi said the New Order has introduced many good
concepts to promote the people's welfare, but many of these were
rendered useless because they were not properly implemented.

"There appears to be a communication gap between those
responsible for drawing up the concepts and those who are
supposed to implement the concepts," Sofyan said.

It is the task of every citizen, including the "1966
exponents", to close this gap, he said.

Zulkarnain Jamin, now a senior staff member at the National
Development Planning Board, said he frequently came across
deviations from state policies in the provinces.

"I often see a number of provincial regulations which are not
consistent with the laws," he said.

Sugeng Suryadi, a businessman, pointed out the concentration
of economic power in the hands of a few people as one of the main
faults that the New Order economic policies have created.

He clarified that he does not see the conglomerates as to
blame for this situation.

Among the 1966 student activists currently holding important
positions, in the state and private sectors, are Minister of
Finance Mar'ie Muhammad, State Minister of Public Housing Akbar
Tanjung, State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja,
Director General of Laws and Legislation Bagir Manan, Secretary-
General of the Association of the Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals
Adi Sasono, Deputy House Speaker Soerjadi, businessmen Sofyan
Wanandi, Sugeng Suryadi, and Fahmi Idris, and lawyer Minang
Warman. (imn)