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