Let it rest, general says

Let it rest, general says

JAKARTA (JP): Amirmachmud, one of three Army generals who
obtained the 1966 Supersemar decree from President Sukarno
empowering Lt. Gen. Soeharto to wipe out communism from
Indonesia, has called for an end to the controversy of the
whereabouts of the historic document.

"Let's put this controversy to rest," Amirmachmud told
reporters on Wednesday night during a reception to mark the 29th
anniversary of the Supersemar, Antara reported.

The most important thing is that the Supersemar was accepted
by the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS), he
said. "From the MPRS decrees, it can be inferred that Supersemar
was a milestone in the history of the struggle of the New Order."

Supersemar, which is an abbreviation from the Indonesian words
March 11 (Presidential) Executive Order, was signed on March 11,
1966 by President Sukarno when the political turmoil in the
country reached its height following the abortive communist coup
attempt the previous September.

The document gave Soeharto, the current Indonesian president
who was then Minister/Army chief of staff, virtually unlimited
power to take necessary steps to restore peace and order.

The letter was signed by Sukarno at the Bogor Palace when
Amirmachmud and two other generals, M. Jusuf and Rachmat Basuki,
visited the president. With the decree, Soeharto disbanded the
Indonesian Communist Party the following day.

The original copy of the decree has been missing since then,
and every year on March 11, the government is questioned on
whether it has managed to find the original copy. Each time, the
answer is negative.

Members of Commission III of the House of Representatives on
Tuesday asked National Police Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro if his
office had managed to find, or was even trying to locate, the
missing document.

Banurusman responded: "No one has officially filed a report
with the police that it is missing. So we could not go out
looking for it."

Amirmachmud on Wednesday said he was not responsible for the
document. "My responsibility is limited to handing it over from
President Sukarno to Soeharto." (emb/bsr)