Gus Dur holds firm on lifting communist ban

Gus Dur holds firm on lifting communist ban

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid repeated his demand
on Friday that the ban on communism and Marxism be lifted on the
grounds that it had often been abused to suppress people's
political rights.

Speaking in a dialog after Friday prayers at the Al Munawaroh
Mosque near his residence in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, the
President said he was firm in his opinion that the Provisional
People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS) decree No. 25, issued in
1966, should be revoked, because it mixed up political rights
with legal rights.

"I ask for the cancellation of the decree, not because of its
political stance, but to prevent us from violating other people's
legal rights just because we are upset with them. This is not the
way a Muslim behaves," said the President.

The decree was the legal basis to dissolve the Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI), which was accused of masterminding an
abortive coup in 1965.

Abdurrahman sparked an uproar last month when he gave the
green light to an investigation into the coup attempt, which was
followed by the massacre of hundreds of thousands of alleged
communists and their sympathizers.

The President said many of the victims were innocent and
executed without trial. He said it was very unjust that the
children of former PKI members should suffer for their parents'
actions.

Educating people about the threat of communism, instead of
conducting unlawful and inhumane practices, is the best way to
prevent the spread of communism, he said.

The President said the 1945 Constitution itself says nothing
about a ban on communism.

"The decree was merely endorsed by someone who was afraid of
being branded as a PKI person," said the President.

Meanwhile, Palace officials announced on Friday the President
would undergo routine medical treatment at the Gatot Subroto Army
Hospital on Saturday.

"This medical checkup is a follow up to his previous health
examinations," the Palace statement said. (prb)