New wave of protests target plan on communism

New wave of protests target plan on communism

JAKARTA (JP): The capital witnessed the second consecutive
massive street rallies by thousands of Muslim youths on Friday to
protest President Abdurrahman Wahid's plans to revoke the ban on
communism in the country and to resume trade ties with Israel.

Some 5,000 protesters, belonging to the Indonesian Islamic
Front (FUII) and claiming to represent teachers, preachers,
students and other elements of the Islamic community from the
greater Jakarta area, took to the city's streets demanding that
President Abdurrahman cancel his controversial plans to abolish
the decree of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) that bans
the spread of communist ideology in the country.

A similar wave of at least 2,000 protesters from different
groups also hit Jakarta streets a day earlier with the same
demands.

MPR decree No XXV/1966 was issued following the abortive
communist coup in 1965, known locally as the G-30-S movement.

The protesters, dressed in Islamic garments, staged a rally at
Merdeka Palace after attending Friday prayer at nearby Istiqlal
Grand Mosque.

Along the way, the protesters chanted their demands, rejecting
the return of communism which advocates atheism. They also
denounced Zionism which Mohammad Haike, one of the coordinators
of the protest, said was the root of communism.

The demonstrators burned an Israeli flag in front of the
palace as a reflection of their opposition to Zionism.

Haike said seven protesters were received by palace security
chief Brig. Gen. Aritonang who promised to deliver their message
to the President after he returned from his trip to Central Java.

Another FUII spokesman, Bernardus Dony Abdul Jabar, said they
would stage another street protest in a week's time if the
President did not back down on his plan.

"We will go to the MPR/DPR (House of Representatives) compound
to make sure that our voice is heard and the plan to revoke the
decree is canceled," Jabar said.

Jabar explained that there had been indications of a communist
revival in Indonesia. "There is no way that communism could make
a comeback in Indonesia," he said, alleging that "some advisers
to Gus Dur have leftist tendencies" and mentioning the fact that
the President refused to spend much time with members of a group
calling for a jihad in Maluku on Thursday.

After an oration in front of the palace, the protesters
marched to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle -- a landmark for
street gatherings for protesters and political campaigners --
where two of them climbed the Welcome statue and burned a red
flag bearing the famous communist "sickle and hammer" symbol.

Jabar said he was optimistic that the demand would be
supported by Amien Rais, the MPR speaker, and other major
political parties such as the National Awakening Party (PKB) and
the Islamic-based parties.

In North Sumatra's provincial capital of Medan, about 500
people went to the local City Council to voice similar
aspirations. The was a combination of 300 FUII members and 200
university students.

They deplored Gus Dur's policy and plan to lift the ban on
communism and to set up trade ties with Israel. The students, in
particular, demanded that Gus Dur resign from office if he dug
his heels in.

Meanwhile, Mochtar Pabottingi and Dewi Fortuna Anwar, both
political observers from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI), said the government should wait for about five years to
revoke the decree in order to calm the tense political situation.

Mochtar said many sides had attacked the government's proposal
and had made known their disappointment about the absence of the
government's serious actions in handling the numerous problems
the nation was facing.

"If the political and economic conditions are conducive, the
people will listen to the government's reasons behind its
proposal," he said.

Dewi Fortuna said the decree's revocation should be postponed
because the majority of the people were still disturbed by the
1965 abortive coup by the banned Indonesian communist party (PKI)
and that many communist figures who were involved in the coup
were still alive.

Mochtar and Dewi Fortuna said the government should leave it
to the people to decide whether they followed communism or not
because it was their right to do so. (06/39/rms)