Activists behind the establishment of New Order
Activists behind the establishment of New Order
By Hartoyo Pratiknyo
JAKARTA (JP): Like heroes in old Western movies they came when they were needed and quietly disappeared after the job was done. They are the young men and women activists of a generation now known as the Generation of '66.
Some of them have risen to positions of prominence in either business or government. Others have remained quietly in the background. Still others were destined for an early demise -- too early to witness the fruits of their pain: A better Indonesia under a New Order. Although many of them have since died or stepped from the public limelight, their names will continue to be remembered, at least in Indonesian history textbooks if not in daily life.
The circumstances which placed them in contemporary Indonesian history were unique. Indonesia was under the rule of an authoritarian regime which left little room for democratic debate. The country's foreign policy was rapidly swinging out of its non-aligned stance and into the orbit of what was then known as the Socialist Bloc, led by the Soviet Union and China.
Economically Indonesia was on the brink of collapse. Inflation was over 600 percent and the country was heavily indebted, due primarily to heavy state spending on prestige projects. Price levels escalated by the day, and businessmen found it impossible to make sane budget projections. Clearly, swift action had to be taken if the downslide was to be halted.
Then the third most powerful communist party in the world after those of China and the Soviet Union attempted a coup d'etat. It miscarried. The Armed Forces, under a determined, quick-thinking lieutenant general named Soeharto, swiftly moved to crush whatever support the conspirators were able to rally.
One obstacle to finishing the job quickly was the charismatic but unyielding President Sukarno. His support for the Indonesian Communist Party undermined the establishment of a new political and economic order. An political order dedicated to establishing a more open political climate to look after the people's needs and restore the ideological groundwork of the Republic.
The political tug-of-war that resulted between President Sukarno's "Old Order" regime and the proponents of change could not be allowed to drag lest the momentum for renewal would have been lost.
The circumstances led to the birth of "actions fronts" in 1966 and 1967. They were spearheaded by the Indonesian Students Action Front (KAMI). As an alliance of militant university student organizations, KAMI was soon joined by actions fronts of academics, high school students, women and many others.
In the absence of an acceptable elected legislature, the action fronts became the "parliament of the streets". Thousands of students, youths, workers, women and scholars marched through Jakarta's streets to protest the instigators of the coup and Sukarno's persistent refusal to ban the Communist Party.
Their Tritura slogan -- the three demands of a ban on the Communist Party, lower prices and disbanding the cabinet -- became a motto heard throughout the city.
Cosmas Batubara, the leader of KAMI, is one former activist who rose to prominence. He eventually became a member of the House of Representatives and was a cabinet minister twice. Others include Mar'ie Mohammad, a KAMI presidium who is now Minister of Finance; Liem Bian Koen (Sofyan Wanandi), now a prominent businessman in the Gemala Group; Ismid Hadad, a journalist at the Harian KAMI daily newspaper and now a top company executive; Nono Anwar Makarim, a KAMI presidium who is now a corporate lawyer; Arief Rachman, a KAMI activist turned educator, and many more.
Thirty years have passed since the troubles of the 1960s sent the ideal youths into the streets. To what degree their ideals have been attained is a question only they can answer.