Planned seminar on Sukarno draws debate
Planned seminar on Sukarno draws debate
JAKARTA (JP): The government's plan to hold a seminar on the
1966 rejection of first president Sukarno's accountability speech
before the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly has drawn
mixed reactions.
A Sukarno admirer, Manai Sophiaan, suggested yesterday that
the government cancel the seminar because "it would only reveal a
lot of old secrets" about Sukarno.
He said the seminar should only go ahead if it painted a truly
objective picture of Sukarno. He said it would help younger
people understand the historic event if the organizers let people
speak freely.
The minister of youth affairs and sports announced last
Thursday that the government-supported seminar had been approved
by President Soeharto, who has repeatedly denied that he clinched
the presidency from Sukarno after the 1965 coup attempt.
Soeharto reiterated that Sukarno's dismissal was
constitutional because the assembly had rejected his
accountability speech.
Sukarno delivered his speech, titled Nawaksara, before a
special session of the assembly after it had questioned his
actions and policies in the wake of the 1965 abortive coup which
was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party. The assembly
rejected Sukarno's account and stripped him of his power.
On Saturday, MAA Saleh, the secretary-general of an
association of students who staged rallies against the Sukarno-
led government in 1966, said he supported the seminar.
"It is us, exponents of the 1966 generation, who deserve to
organize the seminar because we were part of the historic event,"
he was quoted by Antara as saying.
Saleh said he was among the students who recommended that the
assembly reject Sukarno's speech.
He said that some of his organization's leaders would speak at
the seminar. "But if we are not involved in the seminar, we would
like to hold a second one," he added.
Manai said yesterday he worried that unrest would follow the
seminar. "What kind of reaction do we hope to get from people who
will have their minds opened to the country's best kept secrets?"
he said.
He insisted that he would speak at the seminar.
An army general and an academic attacked the planned seminar.
Bambang Triantoro, the chairman of the National Brotherhood
Foundation and former Armed Forces sociopolitical affairs chief,
said next month's seminar would do nothing except open old
wounds.
Gadjah Mada University's Riswandha Imawan said he feared the
forum would be used to re-expose Sukarno's transgressions as
perceived by his critics.
"Let bygones be bygones. It's more important for us to discuss
what we should do if we want a better future. The timing of the
seminar, which is close to the May 29 general election, is also
inappropriate," Bambang said.
Hayono said the seminar would negate Western analysts who
speculate that Sukarno was removed by Soeharto. Sources with
intimate knowledge of Sukarno's speech are expected to speak at
the seminar.
But Bambang said Indonesia had nothing to prove to Western
analysts about its own affairs.
"I'm afraid that the seminar will leave us blushing if there
is a speaker who reveals an unexpected story. We'd rather ask our
historians to tell us the truth about what happened at that
time," he said. (amd)