Sukarno defended communism after botched coup: Book

Sukarno defended communism after botched coup: Book

JAKARTA (JP): President Sukarno may not have been involved in
the communist plot to undermine the state in 1965, but a new
government book maintains that he defended the Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI) in the coup's aftermath to the point of
trying to absolve it from any guilt.

"What President Sukarno did after the failed G30S/PKI was
protect the PKI organization and the communist teaching as sought
by D.N. Aidit," according to the white paper on the events
leading to and following the abortive coup attempt by the PKI on
Sept. 30, 1965.

The coup, known officially as the G30S, the Indonesian acronym
for the September 30 Movement, has been blamed on the powerful
PKI lead by D.N. Aidit.

The book suggests that the coup was engineered by the PKI. It
traces the history of the Indonesian communist movement early
this century and finds a consistent pattern of communist ambition
to wrest power in the country which culminated in the 1965
abortive coup.

The book Gerakan 30 September -- Pemberontakan Partai Komunis
Indonesia, Latar Belakang, Aksi dan Penumpasannya (The September
30 Movement -- the rebellion of the Indonesian Communist Party,
background, action and its crushing) is published by the State
Secretariat.

On the night of Sept. 30, pro-communist troopers abducted and
murdered six senior Army generals on the pretext that they were
conspiring to wrest power from Sukarno. The book labels this as
simply a plot by the PKI to grab power for itself.

The draft of the book was ready in 1990 but the government
reviewed it for four years before making it available to the
public. The 173-page book is supported by 114 more pages of
official documents.

It is intended to set the record straight and put an end to
the controversy, especially among scholars both at home and
abroad, over the events surrounding the event.

Sukarno himself, according to the book, regarded the Sept. 30
Movement as falling within the internal affairs of the Army.

One of the disputes concerns President Sukarno's precise role
at the time. An entire chapter is devoted to this issue,
providing excerpts of various speeches he made in defending the
PKI from criticism after the coup.

The book neither accuses Sukarno of involvement, as charged by
his staunch critics, nor entirely frees him from guilt for his
inaction against the PKI, as his ardent supporters maintain to
this day.

The book's concluding chapter however makes no mention
whatsoever about Sukarno's role.

Sukarno, Indonesia's first president since independence in
1945, was removed from power in 1967 by the People's Consultative
Assembly. He died in an official disgrace three years later.

The launching of the white paper coincides with the
publication of a book by senior columnist Manai Sophiaan who
defends the former president and charges that student leaders who
mobilized anti-Sukarno street demonstrations were funded by the
American Central Intelligence Agency.

Evidence

The government book says Sukarno continued to heed Aidit's
advice on several issues, including the appointment of the new
Army chief of staff on Oct. 1 to replace Achmad Yani, who was
killed by the coup perpetrators.

Sukarno chose Pranoto Reksosamodro and not Soeharto because
the latter was "hardheaded", the book says quoting Sukarno.

Soeharto by then was already in charge of the Army and held
his ground despite Sukarno's attempts to unseat him.

Sukarno also defended Air Force chief of staff Marshal Omar
Dhani although he was clearly involved and Army Maj. Gen.
Soepardjo, who clearly headed the Sept. 30 Movement.

Further evidence of Sukarno's ambivalence towards the PKI were
evident in his various speeches, the excerpts of which are
reprinted in the book. Sukarno's 100-minister cabinet formed in
the early 1966 was also filled with PKI supporters.

Sukarno disbanded without any clear reason the Indonesian
Student Action Front (KAMI) which had been mobilizing street
demonstrations to press the government to outlaw the PKI.

It was on March, 11, 1966, that Sukarno signed the famous
decree, now known as Supersemar, which empowered General
Soeharto, by then already firmly in charge of the military, to
declare the PKI and all its affiliated organizations illegal.

Soeharto replaced Sukarno the following year. (emb)