A hidden agenda laid bare

A hidden agenda laid bare

The likelihood of a hidden scheme concocted by the Indonesian
Military (TNI) to hit us in the next two months, maybe even in
the next two weeks, appears an increasingly worrisome
possibility.

Consider three ostensibly separate political developments
which, when taken together, could very soon spell disaster. They
are TNI's involvement in East Timor, the state security bill and
now the "expectations" of first Gen. Widodo and then Gen. Wiranto
& Co. of violence during the upcoming General Session of People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR).

None of these elements is alarming in itself but combined they
offer a very alarming conclusion indeed.

That TNI followed a dark and dirty hidden agenda in East
Timor, in spite of all its solemn denials and forceful
reassurances, is no longer beyond reasonable doubt. Only the
policy cruelly backfired. At the same time, TNI is ramming down
the throats of the members of the House of Representatives (DPR)
a state security bill which, as former minister/secretary of
state Moerdiono admitted, even the Soeharto regime kept in the
closet because it was too draconian. Assurances of Wiranto and
Sudradjat that such a law is a normal thing in a democracy is
totally misleading: Indonesia has yet to implement the democratic
culture of, say, the U.S. In the end it depends entirely on the
quality of the people to whom such a law gives such broad leeway
for fair implementation or abuse, and on the availability of a
functioning system of checks and counterchecks, in whether such a
law is an instrument for the protection of the state's legitimate
interests, or for oppression. In the meantime, we have been able
to find out how TNI applied the old security law of 1959 to
impose a state of emergency in East Timor: to keep unwanted
eyewitnesses out, and to field-test a scorched-earth policy to
set an example for all would-be separatists and referendum
proponents in Irian Jaya, Aceh and elsewhere.

TNI wants to have their coveted bill in their lap by Sept. 24,
to brandish something else than the now discredited 1959 law.

It's not unlikely that approving this bill on Sept. 23, one
day before the present "people's representation" is dissolved,
will be the last shameful act of a bunch of discredited
accomplices elected by the "democratic" single vote of the
"father of all votes" and the "mother of all elections", Haji
Mohammad Soeharto.

And, finally, there is this most curious mill of warnings that
started turning last week about the current situation as "not
conducive" for the general session of the MPR. The timing and
course of action laid out by TNI in this case is extremely
conspicuous. Widodo gave his speech to an exclusive meeting of
the country's district commanders. Coming from the military's
second in command and in such an exclusive setting, it cannot
have sounded to the chiefs of the military resorts as anything
else than a formal briefing, but in an informal format to mislead
the public about its real intentions (with Wiranto waiting in the
wings to offer a denial or affirmation depending on the public
reaction). It was indeed an outline of a future course of action,
a test of instructions to be followed by all attendants, but
without the possibly embarrassing evidence later of incriminating
orders on paper.

Golkar Party's reform elements, such as Marzuki Darusman, and
Amien Rais, both of them sharp as ever, and Hamzah Haz in a
moment of lucidity -- but oddly enough not Megawati Soekarnoputri
or Akbar Tanjung -- voiced strong concern about the statement the
next day. For the rest of the nation, apart from a couple of
alert students and people like Goenawan Muhamad, the remarks went
largely unnoticed. TNI, as planned, got the cryptic message
across and reported in the media without an outcry.

IDRIS KYRWAY

Jakarta