More trouble ahead

More trouble ahead

Law and order is irretrievably breaking down in Indonesia.
Even the most casual observer of the Indonesian scene will agree
that there has not been a time like this when the slightest
provocation is enough for wanton destruction and bloodshed.

After a long weekend of sectarian slaughter in Ambon on
Maluku, villagers have torched a large, export-oriented pig farm
on Java. By comparison with some other bouts of violence in the
country recently, these two incidents were mild. However,
university students are poised to resume their massive
demonstrations against the government in a continuation of their
struggle against the New Order of which President B.J. Habibie is
undeniably a part. The demonstrations were stopped for the month-
long Ramadhan fasting which ended with last week's Eid al-Fitr
festival.

It was the students' demonstrations which sparked off massive
riots and toppled former president Soeharto late last year.
Student protests have far greater potential than rural discontent
in stirring up massive unrest and are probably eagerly awaited by
a section of the military looking to reimpose tough, Suharto-
style control over the archipelago. This, more than anything
else, has been feeding suspicions that many incidents of violence
in the countryside have been instigated by this same section of
the military.

However, the spontaneity of some events suggest that villagers
in remote areas are merely taking advantage of the breakdown in
law and order to exact their own revenge for perceived wrongs.
There will be many more such incidents before sanity returns to
the country. The longer the uncertainties in Indonesia, the more
protracted will be the regional financial crisis.

-- The Hong Kong Standard