A new Golkar?

A new Golkar?

The sudden deluge which washed out the pre-election rally for Indonesia's ruling Golkar party may well be a portent for the June 7 poll. After decades as the poodle of former President Soeharto, the party may find it takes more than a recent apology for past misdeeds before it can re-invent itself. Pressure for reform is too deep-rooted for the electorate to be satisfied with half-measures.

No matter how earnestly President Bacharuddin Habibie may seek to distance himself from the old regime, his history as Mr. Soeharto's protege overshadows all his efforts.

Too many of the old guard remain for the majority of the electorate to believe that the party genuinely has a new political agenda, or that it has any new answers to Indonesia's troubles. Ethnic and sectarian violence in Aceh and Ambon, the problem of East Timor, and the wave of "ninja" killings in East Java, make it clear that stability is a distant prospect, even without the soaring inflation and mass unemployment which have brought thousands to the brink of starvation, fueled general unrest and anti-Chinese riots.

Gradual transition to full democracy should mean swifter economic recovery, but no party can dodge the issues which divide the nation. The president's commitment to democratic reform may be genuine, but it lacks pace, and with so many rival parties competing for seats, it is unlikely any single group will win the balance of power.

Given the inexperience of opposition leaders, and the fractionalized parliament which could result from 48 contending parties, political stability in Indonesia may still be years away.

-- The South China Sunday Morning Post, Hong Kong