Hartono repeats blind support for Soeharto

Hartono repeats blind support for Soeharto

SURABAYA: Defying mounting protests, former Army chief Gen. (ret)
R. Hartono, leader of the Concern for the Nation Functioning
Party (PKPB), has reiterated his calls asking PKPB supporters to
be protectors of Soeharto.

"Not only loyalists, we are the protectors of Soeharto,"
Hartono addressed some 5,000 supporters while campaigning on
Wednesday at the November 10 Stadium in Surabaya.

He urged PKPB supporters to defend Soeharto's development
policy, which once provided stability and prosperity for
Indonesia.

He asserted that the Soeharto regime, which ruled the country
for 32 years, was much better than the succeeding regimes that
had ruled Indonesia.

"Under the Soeharto regime, there were no bombings, all goods
were cheap and the feeling of safety ran high," he said.

He promised to bring back the good old days under Soeharto if
the PKPB won the 2004 election.

Hartono was criticized by various quarters after he declared
himself a Soeharto loyalist during a campaign in Yogyakarta.
During the event, he also told Yogyakarta residents that they had
an obligation to follow suit, as they were of the same ilk as
Soeharto, a former ruler who was still being dogged by corruption
charges.

A Yogyakarta resident has filed lawsuit against Hartono on
charges that he had insulted Yogyakartans. -- JP