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)