Soeharto blames unrest on New Order opponents

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has blamed recent unrest on people opposed to his New Order administration, and vowed that these "small pebbles" shall be overcome.

"Those upheavals were small pebbles (on the road) that we have to overcome," Soeharto said Monday after inaugurating the Spirit of '66 Monument.

Soeharto said in an off-the-cuff speech that the New Order administration had tried to implement the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, but some people did not believe in the administration.

"All members of all layers of society should launch a total correction by implementing Pancasila and the constitution loyally," he told a gathering which included House Speaker Wahono and Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tandjung, who is a former student activist.

Soeharto said there were people whose "patterns of thought" were not in line with the Pancasila and constitution.

"Their minds are still filled with foreign ideas," he said.

The monument was erected in front of the Regent Hotel to commemorate Indonesian student activists' role in helping to topple the Old Order administration under the late president Sukarno, and usher in the New Order administration under Soeharto.

Correction

Djusril Djusan, one of the then student activists, said the monument had been built to commemorate the students' participation in launching "a total correction to the way the constitution and the Pancasila were wrongly implemented during the Old Order."

"We have only one aim, namely to remain consistent with the ideals and struggles of the New Order that we established 31 years ago," Djusril was quoted by Antara as saying.

Soeharto was commenting on the latest spate of unrest that has rocked the country since last July. The latest riots were in the Central Java town of Pekalongan last week when thousands of people attacked the property and premises of ethnic Chinese.

The July 27 riots in Jakarta last year erupted after the takeover of the disputed headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) by supporters of the government-backed party leader, Soerjadi, from loyalists of ousted party leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The July incident left at least five dead, 23 people missing and dozens of buildings burned down.

Riots then broke out in the East Java town of Situbondo on Oct. 10. Six people died and hundreds of houses and places of worship were torched. On Dec. 26, a riot in the West Java town of Tasikmalaya left four people dead.

More upheavals occurred soon after in the hinterland of West Kalimantan, where native Dayak tribesmen attacked Madurese migrants from East Java. Hundreds of people are said to have died in the violence. (aan)