Golkar should stand down

Former president Soeharto may have committed grave mistakes and major sins in his 32 years of rule, a period in which disasters and mishaps hit this nation one after another. Particularly due to rampant practices of avaricious amassing of wealth by corrupt, collusive and nepotistic behavior.

However, we must honestly and objectively admit that at a highly critical point at the end of his presidency, he did not insist on resorting to his extraordinary power (as stipulated by a decree of the People's Consultative Assembly) to maintain his position by suppressing students demanding his resignation.

If he had chosen to exercise this special power, there would have been a lot of victims. Instead, he opted to resign and forgo his personal ambition to prevent more people from falling victim. This would have led to greater turmoil in the country and disrupted the existence of the nation of Indonesia.

It is hard to understand, however, how Golkar has acted as if it were not guilty of all the atrocities that rocked the country all these years. It has even attempted to maintain its power by taking part in the upcoming general election, despite the fact that it is crystal clear to the entire population that Golkar's grip on the state's power for 32 years behind the leadership of Soeharto resulted in nothing but a corrupt bureaucracy, swelling debts, the threat of national disintegration and many other sins.

The decadence of Golkar and its affiliates was never exposed by the people, whose criticisms were always ignored by the bureaucrats.

Golkar should follow in the footstep of its boss and admit its failure in leading the country in the past 32 years. It should leave to other parties efforts to save this beloved nation. Golkar should be wise enough to openly declare that it will not take part in the elections. If Golkar can do this, it will always be remembered by the majority of the nation.

Golkar's withdrawal will rid the nation of all the controversies plaguing the organization of the elections, such as the threat of money politics and intimidation. In its long- running rule, Golkar always came out victorious in elections because of its manipulation of democracy.

However, things have changed now, and I believe most people have a good grasp of the real social, political, and economic situation of the country. They are fed up with Golkar and will not wish to see Golkar in the government arena any more.

If Golkar was to withdraw from the elections, this would cool down the political climate. In this way the general election could really be that which the people of Indonesia have dreamed of.

However, if Golkar wins the upcoming elections, whether fairly or otherwise, this is certain to be unacceptable to most people, and is likely to trigger protracted social turmoil which will further worsen our economic condition.

If Golkar loses, it is possible that the new government will eliminate the party altogether for its arrogance, corruption and lack of repentance. In short, it is the culprit that has brought about untold suffering on the people.

WISDARMANTO G.S.

Yogyakarta