One or two generations needed to rid Indonesia of New Order

One or two generations needed to rid Indonesia of New Order

Ahmad Suhelmi, a political lecturer at the University of
Indonesia, said Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's supporters
campaigning for the dissolution of Golkar ran the risk of
undermining the President's legitimacy. He said in an interview
with The Jakarta Post that the New Order regime should not be
blamed for all the country's social and political ills.

Question: Thousands of students on Friday attacked the Golkar
Party's chapter in Jakarta. What do you think of the current
campaign against Golkar?

Answer: I think this lashing out against Golkar is more of a
counter-campaign by President Abdurrahman Wahid's supporters to
balance out the opposition groups' demand that he resign. This
new campaign against members of the New Order regime and the
Golkar Party is a bit strange as Golkar was among the first
factions to support Gus Dur in the presidential election. If they
say the Golkar Party is not legitimate, they must also question
Gus Dur's legitimacy.

Secondly, whether we like it, Golkar had the second most
number of votes in the (1999) general election and it has a
considerable number of supporters and political constituents.
Those who are against Golkar should really consider these two
facts.

Even Gus Dur was once a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
member representing Golkar. So, isn't it absurd for them to
demand Golkar's dissolution as it would mean deflating Gus Dur's
legitimacy.

This campaign against the Golkar Party would not have taken
place had it not committed all those political sins in the past,
don't you think?

The New Order regime indeed committed many mistakes. But who
committed those wrongdoings? Was it only Soeharto? Let's be
honest. Many people, including Gus Dur, were involved in the New
Order regime. Those who are now condemning the New Order were
once part of the regime.

Who among us is really free from the New Order? We may need
one or two generations to pass before the country is free from
the New Order.

What was the New Order exactly?

Historically, it was a correction to the Old Order. But we
know it was not because history has shown that the New Order was
the same as the order that it replaced. They were both
authoritarian regimes. Sukarno's fall from power failed to bring
any positive changes in our politics because Soeharto later
created a very militaristic regime.

By definition, the New Order was a political system with a
developmental ideology which tended to be repressive. Soeharto
was repressive because, historically, excessive political freedom
leads to anarchy. So we cannot say the New Order was entirely to
blame.

Many identify the New Order with amoral political behavior.
What do you think?

That's understandable because corrupt practices and a host of
other irregularities ran rampant during the New Order. It was
under the New Order that Indonesia became known as the world's
most corrupt country.

The other characteristics of the regime were excessive control
by the intelligence, and a centralized power which killed the
other forces such as higher state institutions, the community and
the press.

Now that you have explained what the New Order was, can you
name who were part of it?

That would be confusing because many people who are condemning
the New Order are former "New Order people". We need to see
objectively that this campaign against the New Order by means of
dissolving Golkar will not resolve all the problems.

But many former New Order political players have changed
their "appearance" and become reformists. Can we still see them
as the henchmen of the New Order?

Their number is large. But still we cannot be judging people
in such a black or white manner.

What about the mistakes committed in the past? Should we still
pursue them?

I think we need to first demand accountability from the New
Order elite, especially in the military. For instance, those
involved in the Tanjung Priok incident (the massacre of a number
of Muslims). The New Order's mistake was prosecuting only the
small fry (in cases of rights violations). This is what is
happening with the current administration as well.

Those who committed wrongdoings in the New Order regime must
be prosecuted. People like Soeharto or Tommy must be firmly,
albeit legally, dealt with.

The question is, who is going to do this because the current
administration of Gus Dur is also filled with corrupt people. As
(People's Consultative Assembly speaker) Amien Rais said,
Soeharto needed about 30 years to cultivate a corrupt
administration, but Gus Dur only took a few months to do the same
thing.

We cannot judge people if we are not clean ourselves.

What do you think the nation will face politically in the
immediate future?

I can't say for sure, because I think we are trapped in a
vicious circle that we can't get out of. As Emile Durkheim said
once, we are in a state of anomie, where old values have faded
but new values have yet to develop.

My guess, however, is that this situation will run its course
naturally, just like a pendulum. A fallen regime is usually
condemned by the new regime. When the new regime collapses, it
too will be condemned by the succeeding regime. (Deka Kurniawan)