Social unrest pervades ahead of 2004 elections

Social unrest pervades ahead of 2004 elections

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five years after the reform movement, social unrest still
prevails in Indonesia, where political rivalry has begun to heat
up ahead of the 2004 elections.

The thriving corruption, stagnant poverty rate, poor law
enforcement, a lack of jobs and other social grievances, as well
as conflicts of interests among the political elite are to blame.

The central government fails to show its seriousness in
tackling all these problems, and instead seems to sow new
troubles in the regions.

Papua is such a case. Though it was clear that many -- if not
most -- local people opposed the partition of their territory
into the three provinces of Papua, Central Irian Jaya and West
Irian Jaya, the central government insisted on the unpopular
policy.

The decision led to five days of tribal clashes in Mimika
regency between supporters and opponents of the creation of
Central Irian Jaya province, in which at least five people were
killed.

Analysts say splitting Papua was aimed at dividing the
Papuan's support for certain political parties in the 2004
elections, and at curtailing separatist movements there.

Unrest also flared up in Semarang, Central Java, the resort
island of Bali and Lampung province after President Megawati
Soekarnoputri exercised her authoritarian leadership by forcing
regional leaders of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan), which she chairs, to stand behind the
gubernatorial candidates she had nominated for those provinces.
Those who challenged her instructions were dismissed from the
party.

Despite mounting protests from PDI Perjuangan supporters and
other critics, Megawati's stance has always received backing from
her close aide, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno.

Sidney Jones, former director of Human Rights Watch Asia
Division and currently Indonesia Project Director at the
International Crisis Group, has said social unrest in Indonesia
stemmed from several major factors, including provocations,
migration, development policies and separation of the police and
military.

Other causes of the conflicts that should be highlighted are
psychological and subjective in nature, namely political affinity
and religious preference.

While the sectarian conflict in Maluku has largely subsided
and local people are enjoying the return to a relatively
harmonious and peaceful life, bloodshed continued to strike other
parts of the crises-ridden country.

Renewed attacks in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso, communal
clashes in Bali and Papua and the burning of a courthouse and
prosecutor's offices in Larantuka, East Flores, are examples of
the social unrest that colored the life of the Indonesian society
this year.

In Poso, mysterious gunmen were blamed for the recent attacks
that killed at least 17 people in three months since October.
Three other Christians were also shot dead by similar attackers
in neighboring Morowali regency.

The violence was apparently aimed at provoking local people in
the religiously divided town of Poso to return to the battle
field for fresh fighting between Muslims and Christians.

The Indonesian Military and the National Police deployed
reinforcement troops to Poso and Morowali and captured some of
the attackers, but sporadic violence continued.

Poso saw only several months of relative calm after Muslim and
Christian leaders signed a government-brokered peace deal, the
Malino II, in December 2001 to end two years of bloodshed that
killed some 2,000 people. Now the town is again tense as local
people live in fear over the renewed attacks.

Though Poso is a tiny regency, security authorities have
failed to control the situation there, leaving attackers to roam
freely.

Migration has been a cause of the three-year conflict in
Maluku. Before 1970, the number of Muslims and Christians living
in Ambon, the capital of Maluku, was relatively equal. But in the
1970s, Muslims from Sulawesi and other parts of Indonesia began
to migrate in hoards to the Spice Islands, and the demographics
changed drastically.

Worse, migrants gradually began claiming government jobs that
had traditionally been reserved for Ambonese Christians, throwing
the Christian community into disarray, feeling threatened by the
changing situation.

"(This) is the factor in determining how the Christians
reacted the way they did to a number of episodes that occurred in
1998 and 1999," Jones said.

Development is necessary for improving the people's welfare,
but it always seems to claim victims instead. In the absence of a
credible legal system and judicious law enforcers, those deprived
of the benefits of development often take the law into their own
hands.

There are a countless number of cases in which people have
been victimized by development, and which resulted in violence.
The bloody clash between police and villagers in Bulukumba
regency, South Sulawesi, was an example.

Two persons were shot dead by the police in the incident that
was sparked by decades of a dispute over communal land that was
controlled by rubber plantation company PT London Sumatra. The
villagers claimed the land was theirs.

Political affinity has divided people and fueled in-group
feeling among them. It can clearly be found in such a homogeneous
society as Bali. They live in one culture, tribe and religion,
but different membership of political parties has divided them
and locked them in conflict.

Two people were killed in Buleleng regency, Bali, in November,
during attacks by PDI Perjuangan supporters after their opponents
from the Golkar Party rallied for a political campaign there.

A similar clash between Golkar and PDI Perjuangan supporters
also broke out in Buleleng in 1999, claiming nine lives of
people.

Last but not least, religious sentiment sometimes helps spark
social unrest. As religious society, Indonesians pay huge respect
to religious symbols, such as religious leaders and houses of
worship. Insults to those symbols can immediately draw a backlash
from followers.

This applies correctly in the East Flores regental capital of
Larantuka. Thousands of Christians stormed and burned down a
courthouse and a building belonging to the local prosecutor's
office.

The violence erupted after judges sentenced a local priest to
two months in jail and five months' probation for defaming the
East Flores regent.

Jones said peacekeeping efforts were critical in assuring
post-conflict peace. However, it appears the government has
instead imposed misguided policies in restoring and promoting
peace in the conflict-torn territories.

The peace deals to end the Maluku and Poso fighting, for
example, only involved leading figures from the warring gangs,
she added, while peace accords and conflict resolutions needed to
emphasize grassroots involvement.

The most crucial factor in ensuring long-standing peace is the
establishment of the principles of justice and meritocracy.
People will continue to attack others if they are still
discriminated in their pursuit of jobs or other basic human
rights.