The Golkar tragedy

Golkar's admission on Saturday that "it was all a mistake" must qualify as the biggest understatement of the century. Golkar leaders seem to have only just grasped what many thinking people in this country have known for decades, that the way the political organization ruled the country under former president Soeharto, chiefly through the use of force and oppression, was all a tragic mistake.

It is one thing for Golkar to admit its mistake, but quite another to act on it. All indications from the Golkar congress which ended in Jakarta on Monday suggest that Golkar has no intention of apologizing for that mistake, saying that the present Golkar leadership has made a clean break from the past. Somewhat arrogantly, one Golkar leader even said the mistake of the New Order government was the responsibility of the whole nation for failing to prevent the misrule. He argued that everyone, and not only Golkar, should seek forgiveness from God for that mistake. To add insult to injury, Golkar announced its intention of winning next year's general election.

Golkar was part and parcel of that bygone era we know as the New Order regime under president Soeharto. It was a period of unimpeded oppression, deception, corruption and nepotism that went on for more than three decades. Golkar was not only a political machine that propped up Soeharto, it also became a vehicle for many corrupt leaders to achieve their own ambitions of attaining power and wealth. Soeharto has now gone and the nation is paying a heavy price for his uninterrupted misrule.

When Soeharto stepped down, he did not take Golkar with him. To prevent the nation from plunging into anarchy there was an unwritten agreement among the reformists that B.J. Habibie would take up the presidency, and that Golkar would continue to dominate both the House of Representatives and the People's Consultative Assembly to see the nation through the initial reform process and set it on the road to becoming a democratic country. Habibie and Golkar therefore are ruling by default, and not by popular choice. They should not abuse the trust invested in them, or else they will face the same popular revolt that befell their old master Soeharto.

The last thing this nation needs is for Golkar to end up running the country again. This is the political organization that conspired with various other elements in the New Order regime to deny the people their basic rights. This is the same institution that has twisted and corrupted the 1945 Constitution and the Pancasila ideology for its own ends, and conveniently called those opposing or even criticizing it unconstitutional and anti-Pancasila. Many people were killed or jailed as a result. This is the same group that has justified any means to sustain its power. This is the organization that rejected demands for reforms until the last minute before Soeharto stepped down.

Now Golkar has not only refused to apologize for these mistakes, it is even proclaiming its intention to stay in power. It is difficult to accept how an institution with such a tarnished record in administering the nation should be entrusted with the same task again. If its recent behavior is anything to go by, then Golkar is far from reformed. Its leaders' decision to replace many of its "proreform" representatives in both the upper and lower houses shows that the organization is still indulging in old repressive practices. It is also apparent that Golkar is using its dominant position in the House to slow down or derail the reform process.

Given that it has not reformed itself, it is a frightening thought that Golkar intends to stay in power beyond the general election. It is a clear and present danger which the nation must deal with, more so than the so-called latent danger of a communist comeback, a common carry-over practice from the New Order to intimidate people or to search for a scapegoat for things that go wrong in this country.

Given the mistakes it had made, the most honorable thing for Golkar to do would be to dissolve itself as an institution, and let its representatives still serving in both the upper and lower houses complete their tasks until the election next year. Failure to rectify its mistake will only store up even more hatred among the people, and Golkar will have to face the consequence, a major backlash. If that happens, the entire nation will end up suffering all over again.