Soesilo: Be alert but don't panic about communism
Soesilo: Be alert but don't panic about communism
JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
Security Soesilo Soedarman yesterday urged the public to stay
vigilant, but not to panic, over recent official warnings about a
possible communist resurgence.
The recent announcement by the Armed Forces (ABRI) of three
men accused of being behind some of the recent unrest was
intended to serve as a warning, Soesilo said.
There was no cause for panic, he added.
"The announcement on the presence of formless organizations,
including their leaders, was a warning for the people to increase
vigilance over new forms of communism," he said after attending a
ceremony to honor senior statesmen at the headquarters of Golkar,
the ruling political group.
"People should remain calm, open their eyes wide, and
immediately report to security officials if they find weird
things occurring in their surroundings," he added.
ABRI Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Soeyono on Monday
identified author Pramoedya Ananta Toer, scholar George Junus
Aditjondro and labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan as being among the
people behind recent acts of provocation that the military had
blamed on "formless organizations".
Muchtar, leader of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union, and
George, who is now a fugitive in Australia, have both denied
being communists.
Pramoedya was once leader of Lekra, a cultural organization
associated with the Indonesian Communist Party, in the 1960s.
Last month he received the Philippines-originated Magsaysay award
for journalism and literature.
The military and the government said these invisible
organizations were the metamorphosis of the Indonesian Communist
Party which has been banned since 1966.
Soeyono's decision to go public with the three names has
stirred controversy, with friends and supporters of those accused
saying that he may have violated the principles of the
presumption of innocence. A number of senior justices have also
regretted the announcement.
When asked to comment on the debate, Soesilo said yesterday
that Soeyono must bear the responsible for his statement and the
impact it might have. "Every official has to be responsible for
what he or she has said," he said.
He declined to answer reporters' questions about the exact
number of people suspected of masterminding the formless
organizations' activities.
"You should ask Soeyono that question," he said.
Soesilo stressed that those involved in any riot or social
unrest, or played some role in those incidents should be
punished.
President Soeharto and other senior government and military
officials earlier blamed some of the recent social unrests on
"formless organizations" whose acts of provocation were of
similar patterns of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party.
Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman on Thursday said that the
term "formless organizations" was not a military invention. The
phrase was used by communist party leaders to appeal to its
members and supporters to continue with their struggle after the
party was outlawed. (imn)