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)