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)