Soeharto's 'forces' won't come back: Nurcholish

Soeharto's 'forces' won't come back: Nurcholish

SEMARANG, Central Java (JP): Political observers remain
unconvinced that forces loyal to former president Soeharto could
make a comeback and stifle the wave of reform sweeping the
country, despite still wielding strong influence in important
circles.

Moslem scholar Nurcholish Madjid maintained that Soeharto's
"force" was not based on state ideology but merely on the
distribution of material benefits and power.

"He's different from his predecessor, Sukarno, whose political
force was so powerful because it was based on ideology," he said
during a discussion at Diponegoro University on the political
outlook in the post-Soeharto era.

He said Soeharto during his 32 years in power had established
an undemocratic system which was paternalistic and feudal,
combining elements of Javanese philosophy and militarism.

Talk has been rife this past week about the possibility that
Soeharto, who resigned from his presidency on May 21 under strong
public pressure, was maneuvering to stage a comeback.

The Armed Forces (ABRI) maintains that it would not tolerate a
comeback of "old political forces" into the political arena.

But despite not having made a single public appearance since
he stepped down last month, some remain worried.

Diponegoro university political scientist Soehardjo pointed
out that it would not be the figure of Soeharto himself who could
be setting the stage for a comeback, but his cadres who have long
been trained to maintain the status quo.

"Up to now Soeharto is still Golkar's patron, and Tutut and
Bambang are also still members," he said referring to Siti
Hardijanti Rukmana and Bambang Trihatmodjo, two of Soeharto's
children.

"They still have lots of money so it would be quite easy for
them to do something," he added.

Fellow Diponegoro University colleague, Yusmilarso, shared the
same view, saying that Soeharto still had the means to arrange a
strategy for his return.

"He certainly does not want to easily fall from grace. We can
see that his supporters and his cadres are still in strategic
institutions.

"They have not even resigned from their active roles in the
People's Consultative Assembly and Golkar," he said.

In Jakarta, political observer Daniel Dhakidae also warned of
Golkar's role, describing it as the root of all political
troubles during the Soeharto era.

He said that the party was behind much of the political
engineering which was only aimed at perpetuating the rule of
Soeharto.

But political scientist Mochtar Pabottingi said he was
convinced that the era of the old political forces had really
ended.

"It will be foolish if they try to stage a comeback as they
have been proven to have such a rotten system," Mochtar, who
heads the National Institute of Sciences' Center for Political
Studies, told a discussion at University of Indonesia in Depok.
(har/ivy/byg)