Winters, critic who loves RI

Winters, critic who loves RI

Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Shocking statements often shake the political scene in
Indonesia, but coming from Jeffrey A. Winters, they can be
powerful indeed.

The Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University
in Chicago, is a staunch critic of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF). Both, Winters said, were
susceptible to America's interests.

His comments have given Indonesians a look at the other side
of America's foreign policy. The unofficial side, that is.

"If Indonesia becomes a banana republic, or 50 years from now
turns into a country of coolies, America (government) couldn't
care less as long as Indonesia doesn't make trouble," he said
last week.

Lately, trouble has meant the rise of Islamic groups with
links to terrorism here, he said. Before, it was the possible
rise of communism.

In between, there appeared to be no particular ideological
reason for the U.S. government to develop an interest in
Indonesia. As Winters said in a 1999 seminar in Yogyakarta, it
faded with the end of the Cold War.

Yet, Indonesia nearly became a troublemaker of a different
sort when in 1998 President Soeharto's downfall shocked the power
establishment and put general stability at risk throughout the
Southeast Asian region.

He said talks with several U.S. officials six to eight months
before Soeharto quit in May 1998, showed that the U.S. was paying
little attention to the growing political tension in Jakarta.

It just watched the events unfold, he said in the 1999 seminar
as quoted by the local magazine Tokoh. American ideologues, he
said were likely surprised and disappointed that General Prabowo
Subianto failed to take over Soeharto's post. Analysts believed
that Soeharto had been grooming Prabowo to become his successor.

Prabowo is Soeharto's son-in-law who received high level
military training in the U.S. But here, speculation abounds that
his expertise was put to use in the kidnapping of several
activists campaigning for political reforms in 1998. "So much
power and so little responsibility," Winters said of his
government.

His criticism of America's foreign policy, however, pales in
comparison to his admonitions which target the IMF and the World
Bank.

In an analysis of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, he attacked
the IMF for prescribing the same medicine to different countries
suffering from different economic illnesses.

Winters however dropped his biggest bombshell on the World
Bank.

Following some research on the World Bank policies, he found
that the bank may have known that 30 percent of its loans were
being misused by the country. The loss, he estimated, amounted to
some US$10 billion over the 30 years under Soeharto.

His assault against the World Bank made him an instant hero
with the Indonesian media in 1998. But senior World Bank
officials were outraged.

Then World Bank country director Dennis de Tray denied the
charges and only backed down a year later after an internal memo
of the bank said fund leakages did occur and estimated them to
have been more than 20 percent.

Winters asks for the World Bank to be accountable, calling it
unfair to Indonesians to have to pay back all of the loans the
bank knew was being siphoned off by corruptors.

For Indonesians, however, the message is that neither the IMF
nor the World Bank are angels.

The message itself is old. But Winters stands out against the
us-vs-them attitude often displayed by most Indonesian critics
whose credibility is tainted by a hefty dose of anti-foreigner
sentiment rather than sound reasoning.

So how did Winters turn into the critic that he is today?

He is an Indonesianist, teaching political science at
Northwestern University. Winters researched comparative political
economy, business-government relations under capitalism,
international capital flows and the politics of post-colonial
states. He specializes in Southeast Asia.

His 1996 book Power in Motion: Capital Mobility and the
Indonesian State shed light on the relation between power and
capital flow from the 1970s to the early 1990s in Indonesia.

When the 1997 financial crisis broke out, he was already in
the know about the region's cause and effect in capital movement.

He pointed out how a herd mentality had set in amongst
investors driving their capital into Asian countries as they
followed others' lead. Sound economic fundamentals were of minor
concern against the belief that security was to be found where
others had their money.

Once the crisis struck, the same mentality drained capital out
of countries. In Winters' opinion, the situation turned worse
after the IMF came to the rescue with its billions of US$ aid
packages.

IMF attached conditions to its loans that proved detrimental
to Indonesia's economy. Its requirement to raise Bank Indonesia
benchmark rates failed to stop the foreign capital flight while
it squashed businesses here which took up debts from local banks.
The result is no money and a devastated domestic economy.

Winters spent several years in Indonesia. He was a teacher at
the University of Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta. Fluent in Bahasa
Indonesia, he is also a frequent visitor to this country.

That does not stop him from taking a swipe against the
government even though it has invited trouble with the local
authorities.

In 1998 Winters charged then coordinating minister for the
economy, Ginandjar Kartasasmita of corrupt practices he said
involved the U.S.-based copper and gold mining company PT
Freeport Indonesia.

Then president B.J. Habibie instead of trying to refute the
claim, went after Winters, accusing him of insulting his
minister.

Then Justice Minister Muladi said the insult could have been
grounds to put him in jail for up to five years.

Winters' misadventure in Yogyakarta, where three male students
charged him of sexual harassment and beat him up, also brought up
questions about his sexual orientation.

But jail threats and the one or two bruises he sustained, do
not lessen his affection for the country.

One point that Winters often makes is that Indonesians should
not to confuse the American people with the government or its
foreign policy.