Golkar should stand down

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