Weekend of violence

Weekend of violence

No sane person could ever endorse the violence and anarchy
that we saw in Jakarta this weekend. The lawlessness and arson
that officially left two dead and massive material damages are
deplorable.

Violence will not resolve or achieve anything. Instead, it
causes rage, frustration and misery. Nothing good came from this
weekend of rioting.

But we need to look at the incident more objectively and less
emotionally. The rioting was not an isolated incident. It was the
culmination of a series of events with origins in the prolonged
leadership conflict within the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

The seeds were sown last month when a group of PDI leaders
opposed to the leadership of Megawati Soekarnoputri staged a
government-supported congress in Medan and elected Soerjadi to
the helm. The congress and election proceeded against the wishes
of many PDI members who continued to regard Megawati as the
party's legitimate leader.

Since the Medan congress, many Megawati supporters have been
maintaining a round-the-clock vigil at the PDI's headquarters on
Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, to prevent Soerjadi from moving
in. For the past month, the PDI office compound was turned into a
public forum not only for Megawati supporters, but for pro-
democracy activists wanting to vent their anger with the
government.

Then, on Saturday morning, the forced take-over of the PDI
headquarters by Soerjadi's supporters, again helped by security
forces, ignited the disturbance. The violence quickly spread to
nearby neighborhoods and degenerated into a state of lawlessness.

The massive protests against the government's handling of the
PDI affair show that society has changed and that our citizens
are more politically aware. The free-speech forums held in the
PDI office compound reflect a growing crisis of confidence in the
authorities and in the ability of the current political system to
solve today's problems. Given that our society has become used to
violence, it was plain to see that the PDI affair had the
potential to erupt. And this is exactly what happened.

We should take note of the fact that the riots were joined by
a group of young people who feel entirely left out of the
economic development process. These youths took part because it
was a rare opportunity for them to vent their pent-up anger at
the government, whom they blame for their current economic
situation.

When both the politically and the economically frustrated opt
for violence, there must be a breakdown in communication in the
political system.

We fully support the authorities, especially the military, in
their effort to confine the riots and restore order. The faster
law and order are restored, the sooner our city can return to its
normal activities. Prolonged unrest will undoubtedly disrupt the
lives of the city's inhabitants, but it could also weaken
investors' confidence and have a lasting impact on the economy.

Restoring law and order is not enough and will not resolve our
political and economic problems. The incident should prompt us to
find long-term solutions to these problems, while compelling the
authorities to be more careful and wise when handling such flare-
ups in the future.