A dangerous game
The most talked about topics these days are obviously the June general election and the repeated armed clashes in East Timor and Aceh. The first is discussed with optimism while the others with a feeling of regret and disgust, especially last week's bloodbath in Aceh, in which at least 40 unarmed demonstrators were killed.
However, in the middle of this mixed public mood, President B.J. Habibie has managed to steal the show by making a shocking statement accusing communists, "Marhaenists" and socialists of plotting to sow disunity among the people.
In condemning the perceived plot, Habibie used the term "Komas", an abbreviation of the three ideologies never before heard. It is worth noting here that "Marhaenism" is a term coined by president Sukarno while leading a militant nationalist movement during the late 1920s in Bandung. The term was later popular among his followers, who, after Indonesia's independence, reestablished the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI).
Habibie's contentious statement was quoted by the chairman of the Muhammadiyah Youth Organization after a meeting with the President at the Bina Graha Office on Tuesday.
According to Nadjamuddin Ramly, the youth leader, Habibie said "Komas" was plotting to seize power through terrorist acts such planting bombs and inciting riots. Recently the nation was shocked by a powerful bomb explosion in the offices of the Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Jakarta.
No suspects have been arrested for the crime but many believe it was meant to make Muslims retaliate against followers of other religions. The suspects also expect all religious followers fight each other while the nation is making preparations for the poll.
However, many observers are not interested in connecting Habibie's statement to the bomb blast and other heinous crimes across the country because they were more upset by the apparent negative intention of the President's remarks.
The President's logic was so unpalatable that it angered many political observers. Roeslan Abdulgani, a senior nationalist who was president Sukarno's spokesman and president Soeharto's adviser for state ideology, said that by making the controversial statement Habibie's logic is bankrupt.
Roeslan, 84, also said that the statement, which attempts to turn communists, Marhaenists and socialists into scapegoats for the current trend toward national disintegration is not only mistaken but naive.
According to Roeslan, who took an active role in the Indonesian revolution, the disintegration is rather caused by resentment toward the centralized power of a corrupt regime which victimized the people in the provinces to enrich the rulers and their accomplices. He did not name names.
Roeslan hints that Habibie is an arrogant and frustrated power holder.
He is not alone in rebuking Habibie. Among the many that agree with him is H. Probosutedjo, Soeharto's half brother and chairman of the newly established Marhaenist Front Indonesian National Party, who said he planned to file a lawsuit against the President for the statement.
Habibie stressed on Friday that he did not identify Marhaenists and socialists with communists. The President said he had been misquoted by the youth leader. He gave the impression that he did not make the simple-minded statement widely reported by the media. What he was trying to do was soothe the indignation caused.
The President has made confusing remarks on many an occasion, and sometimes they were not without a message. What is clear through last week's statements is that Habibie is beating a drum of war against the communists, a stance which sounds untimely unless what he really has in mind is a witch hunt.
His regime has failed to solve too many tragic incidents, and by holding the communists and socialists responsible, Habibie seems to be washing his own hands of any blame for the tragedies.
The act is a suicidal game, especially for someone who wants to remain in the saddle of power.