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