Govt told to be careful in lifting ban on communism

JAKARTA (JP): A top government adviser and defense official welcomed on Monday efforts to reduce the fear of communism, but warned that the open propagation of the ideology could incite fissures in society.

Both Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono and Supreme Advisory Council chairman Achmad Tirtosudiro conceded that communist teachings were not adverse to state principles or a political threat to the nation.

They said numerous countries in the world had proven that having an established and legal Communist Party was no danger to the state.

But Juwono and Achmad contended that the government should not forget that lifting the ban against communism must take into account domestic conditions.

"Communist teachings are fine, but with our recent situation it will put the country in a high-risk situation as it was back in 1965," Achmad said on Monday.

He noted that awareness and prosperity in Indonesia had not yet reached the point where such issues would not cause discord.

Achmad contended that noncommunist countries which openly allowed communism were those which already were prosperous.

"If we lift the ban right now in Indonesia it will definitely bring social disruption to the country," Achmad remarked.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has called on the People's Consultative Assembly to revoke the 34-year-old decree banning communist teachings in the country.

Achmad said that "if conditions in the country were stable, such teachings would not be a problem at all".

Juwono also asserted that communist ideology was neutral, and any dangers presented by it could be prevented by improving social conditions in the country.

He said the debate over the ban on communism was irrelevant, the important issue being how the government could create social and economic conditions which rendered the ideology ineffective.

"No teaching can be banned simply by issuing a decree, the most important thing is to develop the conditions to fight communism," he said. (dja)