Alumni of the Ali Murtopo dynasty

Alumni of the Ali Murtopo dynasty

From Sinar Pagi

A lot of cronies of the late Army Gen. Ali Murtopo are still wandering throughout Indonesia. They seem to be working by themselves, or without being commanded, which they can do because most of them are already well-established, economically speaking. It does not seem beyond their means to create unrest, as they have been living in extreme luxury from the early days of the economic crisis until now.

This particular strategy commenced with Golkar's victory in 1971. Since then, whoever dared disagree with the New Order, or Golkar, was the enemy. A lot of "no excuse" incidents have occurred over the past 32 years. That was their slogan. In addition, in reaction to the people's increased actions against Soeharto, they have at critical times become furious and taken action against whoever is seen as the enemy, something they learned from their master.

The New Order gave birth to bad, clever political characters. In Sukarno's time, we did not have mysterious gunmen. This group of people generally consists of rich people who often forego their faith and deny the afterlife. Surprisingly, many from this group are also religious scholars, because they became rich when the New Order was in power for 32 years.

In the past, political crimes taking place 32 years ago would probably have been considered ordinary occurrences, because the scapegoat was quite easy to pinpoint, i.e. the Sept. 30 communist movement. Now they point to the reform movement. As proof, look at the growing number of groups of Soeharto supporters which are facing off against the students and the reform movement. This is more proof they do not want any reform groups to exist. Yes, they are taking revenge now. They are not groups of struggling people. They are the 1966 generation.

DARIUS THALIB

Kotokaciak, Padang