Akbar furious over Golkar flag burners

Akbar furious over Golkar flag burners

SEMARANG (JP): Chairman of Golkar Party Akbar Tandjung has
urged the police to be tough on people who burned the party's
flags during protests last week.

"We respect the law and we want the law to be enforced,"
Akbar, who is also the House of Representatives' speaker, said at
a meeting with executives of Golkar's Central Java chapter on
Sunday night.

"Golkar doesn't want to retaliate. We will let the people
judge what has happened. The Golkar Party is a legal
organization, which has an objective in line with national
interests," he said.

In a rally on July 20 in Jakarta, students from the City Forum
(Forkot) and City Network expressed their anger at Golkar's past
involvement with former president Soeharto's New Order regime by
burning dozens of Golkar flags and banners.

Some 200 protesters in Yogyakarta did the same during a
commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the July 27 bloody
takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters,
in which at least five people were killed and 149 injured; 23
people are reportedly still missing.

Golkar served as the New Order's political machine for more
than three decades.

Akbar said that the protesters' acts were unlawful. "If Golkar
is said to be wrong, what mistakes did it make? Was Golkar wrong
because of its involvement with the New Order? Was everybody in
the New Order wrong? I believe there are groups of people who
want to ruin Golkar. Let the people judge."

Akbar said the pressure on Golkar would continue. "There are
people who are worried about the awakening of Golkar Party," he
said, adding that some of them are members of the Golkar Party
faction at the House.

The East Java chapter of Golkar Party has filed the flag
burning and vandalism by activists from the People's Democratic
Party (PRD) and Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII) with
local police.

Chapter chairman Ridwan Hisyam told reporters at the police
headquarters in Surabaya on Monday that the action had "damaged
the democratic life of the country."

"We are deeply concerned as the action was committed by groups
who claim to be reformists," he said.

Ridwan said that the anti-Golkar protests were orchestrated by
a certain group. (har/nur/sur)