Machiavellian plot

Machiavellian plot

Methinks there is some Machiavellian plot afoot! We all know
that Mr. Habibie has a brilliant brain, and also know that he and
his pro-Soeharto government, backed by their very own Golkar,
will do everything in their power to win the elections, leading
to the President's reelection in due course. So how does he set
about this? Answer, by a skillful, long-term strategy, thus:

(1) Fix an election date long before proper arrangements can be
made for well-organized and truly democratic elections. This will
mean that it is a chaotic affair where vote rigging can be
practiced by any party with sufficient funds -- Golkar.
Postponement is even in the cards.

(2) Suddenly announce out of the blue that East Timor can be
granted autonomous status, or even full independence, in 2000,
which clearly is impracticable since there is no way the
suggested referendum can be organized.

(3) Create instability in East Timor by use of militia (itself an
ill-conceived idea to help in maintaining law and order), which
is a raffle, "trained" by the Armed Forces in a couple of weeks
and then given arms and turned loose to support the
prointegrationists in East Timor, with the backing of the Army.
It can then be claimed that the near civil war in East Timor is
evidence the province is not ready for independence. All of which
will likely lead to the present government's being returned to
power, as foreshadowed in your leading article of April 22.

RB SAWREY-COOKSON

Jakarta