Megawati calls on the nation to stop denouncing Soeharto

Megawati calls on the nation to stop denouncing Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): Opposition leader Megawati Soekarnoputri echoed
fellow government critic Amien Rais yesterday in urging the
nation to show compassion and stop battering fallen president
Soeharto.

Megawati, the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI), spoke out against repeating "past mistakes". She was
referring to the days in the 1960s when her father, founding
president Sukarno, lost power to then Lt. Gen. Soeharto.

"Do we have to heap abuse on the outgoing president every time
there is a presidential succession?" she asked in an address to
some 2,000 participants in a discussion to commemorate the 53rd
anniversary of the state ideology Pancasila here yesterday.

Megawati said it was high time Indonesians stopped the habit
of bludgeoning outgoing leaders.

"Do we have to treat former president Soeharto's family (the
way the nation) treated us, Sukarno's family, in 1965?" she said.

"Let it be that only I and the rest of Sukarno's family
experienced such treatment," she said to warm applause from her
audience.

Megawati said denouncing a former state leader was against the
state ideology Pancasila. "Do we have to replace our state
leaders through such treatment?" she asked. "The country's
founding fathers, including first president Sukarno, would have
never wanted us to be like that."

Megawati said she realized the risk and political burden she
would bear because of the compassionate stance that she was now
taking.

"This might make me unpopular among proreform activists," she
said, adding that she, however, had told her siblings not to join
those who have been denouncing Soeharto and his family.

"No matter how he behaved, he was still the country's second
president," she said. "I am saddened by the kind of words some
people have been using to denigrate Soeharto and his family."

"Hang Soeharto,"and "Drag Soeharto and his family to court"
are among the expressions heard during the three months of
demonstrations that preceded his resignation.

On Sunday, Moslem leader Amien Rais called on Indonesians to
"forgive" Soeharto, to give him peace of mind now that he has
stepped down. Amien's one condition was that Soeharto should
donate to the nation any of his wealth which might have been
amassed illegally.

"If he could do that, then Insya Allah (God willing), maybe
the Indonesian people could find it in their hearts to pardon
him," said Amien.

Also yesterday, Megawati discussed her silence during the
critical days when people became so restless and the push for
reform grew so great that it eventually helped force Soeharto
from power.

"It was better then for me to keep silent than to join the
moves denouncing (Soeharto)," she said. (imn/byg)