Protests challenge the government

Following the controversial government-backed congress of the tiny Indonesian Democratic Party in Medan last month, street demonstrations have been held in Jakarta and other cities. Sociologist Kastorius Sinaga comments on possible developments.

JAKARTA (JP): The rift befalling the Indonesian Democratic Party, which was first limited to its leadership and mainly an internal issue, has now assumed grotesque proportions.

In the past week, supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri, now an unrecognized leader of the party, have taken to the streets in Jakarta and in other normally dormant provinces.

Physical clashes broke out on June 20 in Jakarta, injuring dozens of demonstrators and security personnel and paralyzing traffic on the city's main streets.

Disappointed supporters of Megawati continue to gather at the party's headquarters to listen to the daily message given by the deposed party leader.

The situation resembles that in Myanmar, where hundreds of pro-democracy Myanmarese listen to the speeches of their leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the former president and founding father of the land of pagodas.

The mass demonstrations have become a new headache for security personnel and the government, in its capacity as political "guardian", seems to be cornered.

Before the Medan congress the government backed Soerjadi and his supporters in their effort to dethrone Megawati. After the congress the government has had to face Megawati and thousands of her increasingly militant supporters. Furthermore, as recent events in Ujungpandang have shown, using violence to tackle street demonstrators has its risks.

Now it looks as if the masses have become an important player in the clash between the Megawati and Soerjadi camps.

In a recent interview about the potential of the masses with private TV station SCTV my response was simply to say: "No transfer of power has ever taken place without the masses."

The unification of Germany, the fall of eastern Europe's socialist regimes, the downfall of Marcos and the May 1990 democracy movement in Thailand which sent the Thai military back to the barracks are but some examples of the involvement of the masses in the last ten years.

Even the New Order government owes its existence to the support and sacrifices of the masses.

But not all mass movements have achieved their objectives. A number of factors come into play, including the political context in which they take place, the base of the masses and the quality of their leaders.

If the masses are engineered to support something artificial, they will be reduced to a mere instrument with quasi-power.

But if the political context as well as economic and social aspects are in the interest of the people, mass violence need not occur.

Now the clash has widened to involve democratic activists from other groups which have long been waiting for two things: political change and leadership.

The decaying political state of the nation has become a breeding ground for radicalism. The "floating masses", a product of government policy, may soon be transformed into a formidable force.

The writer is a social sciences lecturer in the University of Indonesia's post-graduate program.