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)