Wiranto's candidacy revives specter of Soeharto

Wiranto's candidacy revives specter of Soeharto

Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post, Cambridge, Massachusetts

First Golkar won the April 5 general election. Now, the
political machinery that kept dictator Soeharto in power for over
32 years has named Gen. (ret) Wiranto, one of Soeharto's protege,
its candidate for the presidential election in July.

Barely six years since he bowed to popular demand for his
resignation, Soeharto, or certainly his specter, is returning to
the political scene. At the age of 83, Soeharto may not be making
a physical comeback, but there is no doubt that his ideas of
power management, his ruthless style of government, his loyal
followers -- not to mention his family's money -- are having a
big impact on this year's elections.

A victory for Wiranto in July (or in the runoff in September)
-- now a possible prospect given Golkar's victory in April --
would make the picture of a "comeback" complete.

A return to the Soeharto era of government, with the emphasis
on security, stability and orderliness, and the promise of
economic growth and development that ensued, has been a theme
that Golkar widely touted in its campaign.

Not coincidentally, it is also the theme which Wiranto, more
than any other presidential hopeful in Golkar, used effectively
in his campaign to clinch last week's nomination.

On the day Soeharto abruptly quit the presidency in May 1998,
Wiranto in his capacity as chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI)
made the famous statement that he was taking on the extra duty to
protect the former president and his dignity. Later on, he
disclosed to friends that Soeharto offered him the chance to take
over the presidency under an emergency presidential decree, but
that he turned it down, and persuaded the president instead to
allow vice president BJ Habibie to succeed, as mandated by the
Constitution.

Wiranto continued to serve under president Habibie and briefly
served in president Abdurrahman Wahid's cabinet, as chief
security minister, before he was fired in February 2000 and fully
retired from public life.

His return to public life, this time as a Golkar politician,
is seen as part of a bigger campaign to help restore the image
and reputation of Soeharto. Soehartoism has become a hot
political commodity.

But it is a one-sided, somewhat distorted picture of the
former dictator that has come to the surface. We only get
glimpses of the stability, security and orderliness -- and the
ensuing economic growth and development -- that Soeharto brought
during his rule.

There is another side, an ugly side, to Soeharto's rule that
is rarely discussed, except within small circles. The Soeharto
regime was also known as corrupt, intolerant, ruthless, and
abusive. The regime delivered the economic goods, but at a huge
cost: For most of us, the cost was our freedom -- the even less
fortunate paid with their lives.

The bad legacy of the Soeharto era is still here for all to
see. Our present state of economic affairs must be attributed to
the huge national debt that he left in his wake, thanks to 32
years of mismanagement and corruption, particularly by his
children and cronies.

Yet, corruption is probably the one area that the succeeding
regimes failed to deal with effectively. In the six years since
his resignation, only a handful of corruptors were convicted.
Most of the children and cronies of Soeharto continue to enjoy
their ill-gotten wealth, and even remain in control of their
businesses today.
It's as if Soeharto gave up his crown in 1998 but he -- or
rather his children and cronies -- have kept the jewel.

The new regimes not only failed to chase past corruptors, they
themselves used their newfound power to engage in some corrupt
practices. Not surprisingly, Golkar and Wiranto in their
campaigns are now targeting today's corruptors, giving the
impression that they have taken the initiative to fight graft.

But it is on the economy that those using the name and
reputation of Soeharto have campaigned most effectively. The low
economic growth rates the country has seen in these last six
years pale to Soeharto's golden years of the 1980s and 1990s. The
economy was growing so rapidly then that it "overheated" every
few years.

Golkar in its campaign succeeded in turning people's attention
to basic economic and social issues such as food on the table,
job opportunities, education for the children, and access to
health care. It required little imagination for ordinary people
to conclude that, economically, things were indeed so much better
10 years ago than today.

Should we therefore be concerned at the prospect of
Soehartoism making a comeback in Indonesia?

Yes and no.

We do not need to be overly concerned because, even if it did
make a comeback, the process would be democratic. As imperfect as
the political process may be, it has been widely accepted by the
people that there is no way we can denounce the outcome of this
democratic election.

Even if the Soehartoists were returned to power, they would
find themselves returning to a different Indonesia.

For one, the political system has undergone a massive
transformation in the last six years, chiefly through a series of
constitutional amendments that restored the balance of power of
the executive branch vis-a-vis the legislative and judiciary
branches.

Secondly, the Soehartoists won the election in a multi-party
system. Golkar, for example, only won about a fifth of the votes
in the April election, and will probably come away with between a
quarter to a third of the seats in the House of Representatives.
In flexing its muscles, Golkar will be subject to much greater
checks and balances compared to when it controlled up to 80
percent or more of the seats in the House during the Soeharto
years.

Finally, there is civil society, which quietly developed over
the past six years and filled in some of the vacuums left by the
struggling government. The relatively strong civil society will
provide further checks and balances on the power of the ruling
party or the president.

Some precautions, however, are in order.

No matter how much they claim to have changed, the only clues
we have if Golkar is returned to power, or if Wiranto is elected
president, is their past performances. And when it comes to such
questions as human rights, fighting corruption, respecting
liberties and freedoms, respecting differences and upholding the
rule of law, their track records leave a lot to be desired.

They have in them tyrannical traits, and given the chance,
would probably not hesitate to resort to power to get what they
want. And they would cite their election victory as the mandate
given by the people to do what they thought was necessary.

One thing that the specter of Soeharto should teach us is
caution. Let's respect the democratic process and the outcome --
even if it is not the desired outcome. Let us also be wary.
Democracy, in itself, is insufficient to prevent Indonesia from
falling once again under the rule of a dictator.

There is no cause for alarm just yet, but there is a strong
reason for caution.

The writer, the The Jakarta Post's Deputy Chief Editor, is
currently studying at Harvard University under fellowships
provided by the Nieman Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the
Asia Foundation.