Habibie challenged over communist remark

JAKARTA (JP): Politicians have challenged that President B.J. Habibie prove his allegation that communism, "Marhaenism" and socialism -- dubbed by many as Komas -- have really threatened the nation, warning him against manipulating the issue to intimidate his political rivals.

They also said on Saturday that poverty, corruption and even the remnants of elements of former president Soeharto's New Order regime may actually be more dangerous than communism, which was losing its popularity even in communist countries.

Chairwoman of the Indonesian Nationalist Party, Supeni, who describes herself as a fanatic Marhaenist, challenged Habibie to turn words into deeds and arrest leaders of those three ideologies.

"If they (the leaders of the three so-called dangerous ideologies) really existed, why didn't he just arrest them, because he has the police force, the military intelligence, before their movement becomes too powerful?" she asked when contacted by The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Supeni warned Habibie that the groundless communism label would not only draw ire of political parties, but also government officials, and even Indonesian military members as it did in 1960s.

She dismissed Habibie's recent effort to explain away his remarks. "He can't retract his statement just like that after hurting people's feelings, especially the supporters of president Sukarno, who created Marhaenism," she said.

"I think it is strange that he links communism to Marhaenism. He just wanted to find a scapegoat for his failure to save the country from chaos," said the veteran politician.

"Maybe he is afraid that Marhaenists will win the general election," she charged.

In two separate meetings with two youth organizations, Habibie alleged Komas leaders were attempting to topple the government by inciting riots and violence. Following a public outcry, Habibie retracted his statement on Friday.

"Marhaenism is not identical to communism," he then said.

Marhaenism was coined by the country's late founding president, Sukarno. Derived from the name of a poor farmer, Marhaen, Sukarno used the name to describe his thoughts on a range of ideologies.

The expression bears emotional connotations for supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, whose leader is Sukarno's daughter Megawati Soekarnoputri, and several other parties which call themselves Marhaenists.

Separately, Ida Nasim, the secretary of People's Democratic Party (PRD) central leadership committee, said it was funny Habibie talked about communism when the ideology has even lost its popularity in communist countries.

"The danger of the New Order is much greater than communism," said Ida, who claimed his party as a leftist organization.

He acknowledged that the military and government officials had branded his party a communist party following the violent takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters on July 27 1996. The riot that ensued was, among others things, blamed on the PRD.

"I don't understand why they accuse us of being communists, as nearly all PRD leaders were born after the communist (party) was outlawed in 1967," said Ida.

At the time, Soeharto and senior government officials, including then Armed Forces (ABRI) chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung and then ABRI's chief of sociopolitical affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, accused PRD of masterminding the riot.

"Habibie's statement indicates he was using the New Order's (tradition of stamping) a political stigma to silence people's aspiration who opposed its dictatorship," Ida said.

National Awakening Party secretary-general Muhaimin Iskandar described Habibie's decision to retract his statement on Komas as a combination of poor political knowledge and a desperate attempt to retain his power.

"He just wants to find a common enemy in order to maintain his power, but he forgets that it is even difficult for him to find a friend," Muhaimin noted.

Muhaimin, claiming to be a Muslim leftist, said that populist and leftist ideologies are often branded as communists in Indonesia. He cautioned that Habibie himself is always proud of his populist economic policies.

"Habibie just wants to shift people's attention from the New Order's corrupt and authoritarian practices," he warned.

Nahdlatul Ulama deputy secretary-general Arifin Junaidi described Habibie's statement as funny but also foolish.

"We are facing more dangerous threats, namely poverty, disintegration and even abuses of the social safety net fund," said the leader of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization. (prb)