'It's high time for us to forget the past'

'It's high time for us to forget the past'

Former members and the relatives of former members of the now
banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) hailed the Constitutional
Court's decision reinstating some of their political rights. Some
city residents The Jakarta Post spoke to expressed hope that the
government would further reduce the discriminatory treatment they
have suffered for over three decades.

Roby Sumolang, 65, an activist with a non-governmental
organization for the empowerment of former PKI members. He lives
in Ciracas, East Jakarta, with his wife and two children:

It is high time for the government to revoke the various
regulations that have prevented former members of the PKI and
their relatives from leading normal lives.

They have been discriminated against over the last forty years
in the wake of the aborted coup which was blamed on the party. I
knew a lot of them whose assets were seized by the military
authorities.

Now that one unjust regulation is revoked, we can move forward
and come to terms with the past.

Gita Mahyarani, 23, is a journalist for a website company in
Kuningan, South Jakarta. She lives in Pasar Minggu, also in South
Jakarta:

I strongly support the decision to allow former PKI members to
vote. Besides, why should we make a problem out of something that
happened a long time ago.

I think most of them were wrongly accused by the previous
rulers. Even if they were members of the outlawed party, most of
them were not directly involved.

Besides, almost all of them are already old and they're the
last people persecuted for political reasons.

--The Jakarta Post