Political worries

Political worries

On Monday, November 12, 1995, The Jakarta Post reported that a
Golkar official had made his worries known about the emergence of
new organizations under the names of defunct political parties.

Mr. Gafur suspects that such organizations could undermine
nationalism and unity. Why should he be suspicious? It cannot be
denied that Golkar's negative fears might carry some truth,
although they are lacking proof. It is very hard to think that
the new Indonesian National Unity, will undermine nationalism
while the organization is based on a joint leadership of reputed
politicians dating back to colonial times.

If I am not mistaken, Golkar was born during the Old Order,
although the name might not be exactly the same. And talking
about names, the new Masyumi is also not the same as the one
which existed during the Old Order. The present organization's
name is Majelis Syarikat, not Majelis Syuro.

I admire the position the Armed Forces (ABRI) has taken. This
is not because I have been an ABRI member but because ABRI is
showing political maturity when it expresses that it had no
objections to the chosen names of the new organizations, as long
as they keep within the prevailing rules.

Being a member of Golkar, I would like to suggest that a well
established organization as this one should take on the role of
"big brother"; it should welcome a challenging situation and try
its utmost to shine as the unbeatable winner.

Golkar should welcome these newcomers, it should offer them
help and guidance, it should create an atmosphere of friendship,
trust and understanding. It would be wrong to accuse and suspect
them as being left or right. If there is ground for suspicion,
keep it quiet, don't air it, until proof can be obtained.

None of these new organizations pose a threat to contestants
of the coming election. By law, there are only three recognized
contestants. The newly established organizations are not entitled
to participate in the elections because they are running on
independent tickets. They will have to surrender their choice to
the three recognized parties.

Golkar should regard the emergence of the new organizations as
a blessing in disguise. They would do wise if they would try to
find an answer to the question: "Why have these organizations
sprouted in the first place?" It should try to look for
imperfections within the organization, it should be asking itself
if it has been able to accommodate aspirations of the population.
And, if in retrospect, it finds that it has erred in the past,
there would be time for correction.

SOEGIH ARTO

Jakarta