Gus Dur renews call for lifting ban on communism

MALANG, East Java (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid insisted on Saturday that the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) revoke its 34-year-old decree banning communist teachings.

The President, better known as Gus Dur, said that in his personal opinion too many people who were not communists were branded as such, and were hence affected by the decree.

"I think the decree violates basic human rights. I don't care about those protesting parties. Let's talk about this matter from all sides," Abdurrahman said after addressing graduates from Malang Islamic University here.

He also said people who believe in communism or Marxism should not be treated as if they had no rights at all.

However, Abdurrahman said the revocation of the decree should first be discussed with the government due to controversy surrounding the issue.

The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) was the most recent body to oppose Abdurrahman's call, saying communist teachings should remain banned because they promoted atheism.

The decree was passed in a special session in 1966 when the MPR was a provisional body. The session was held following an abortive coup blamed on the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) on Sept. 30.

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in a military-backed communist cleansing campaign shortly after the ban.

Earlier this month, the government scrapped a 1990 presidential decree requiring that civil servants, politicians and state officials undergo screening procedures before assuming new posts. The procedure was essentially aimed at checking whether someone was a member of the PKI or other illegal organizations, or was linked to them through their kin or by association.

MPR Ad Hoc Committee II member GBPH Joyokusumo told The Jakarta Post in Yogyakarta that the MPR decree on communism would be one of the main points of discussion at the Assembly's annual meeting in August.

But he said it was still unclear whether the MPR would revoke the decree or not.

"I myself think that as long as communism does not violate the state ideology of Pancasila, there is no reason to oppose the revocation the decree," Joyokusumo of the Golkar Party said.

Political analyst Ichlasul Amal joined the chorus of support for Abdurrahman, saying that communism as a political movement was now irrelevant.

"There is nothing to worry about communism. MUI has gone too far. The council did not need to issue such a call," he told the Post on Friday.

"People have practically forgotten about the decree. They have not cared much about communism up until now. So what does MUI want by making such a call?"

Amal said that the MPR decree banning communism should be no longer effective because according to the constitution MPR decrees were valid for only five years after they were endorsed.

Amal also disagreed with MUI's persistent stance that communist and Marxist teachings should be banned, saying that communism and Marxism as scientific discourses had already been discussed on campuses for a few years.

"Marxism as a science is one of the most essential tools in social sciences. A social scientist can hardly work without a knowledge of Marxism," he said. (nur/prb/edt)