The following are excerpts from a statement issued by the People's Democratic Party (PRD) after General Syawn Hamid accused it of masterminding rioting during the election campaign.
The call for the Mega-Star-People Coalition represents the spontaneous demand of the masses for unity, a demand flowing from their discontent.
This "coalition" is not based on a formal agreement between the national elite of the United Development Party (PPP) or of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party. However, such a coalition has the potential to absorb the critical energy of the masses and unite it in an effort to get rid of the Suharto dictatorial regime. But there is a real issue related to the question of whether the leadership wants to do this or not — political will is a general question for the opposition as a whole in Indonesia.
Each day, the Mega-Star-People Coalition expands and shows its potential for radicalisation. It is the specific radicalism of the urban poor. The regime finally banned the coalition. There were three reasons for the ban: first, the potential for the coalition further radicalising and expanding the mass mobilisation of the urban poor; secondly, the unification of the people's discontent (from all sectors and streams) in the one vehicle; thirdly, an explosion of votes for PPP in the cities which threatened and endangered the Golkar majority.
PPP chairperson Buya Ismail Hasan Metareum and the PPP leadership seem to relish primarily the prospect of an increase in their votes. When the Mega-Star-People leaflets started to circulate with their seven demands, Buya appeared frightened, pale and reactionary. Buya was also too extreme — perhaps because he was frightened — in interpreting the demand "Unite to replace Suharto" as a call for a coup. In all countries, and especially at election time, a call to change a president and nominate another candidate is a normal thing.
In reality, the Indonesian opposition has often disappointed the people. Don't be surprised if the majority of the people and the Indonesian youth view Buya and the majority of other opposition figures — including Megawati and Gus Dur — as hesitant and failing to see the desire of the majority of the masses who want change.
The PRD has been accused of masterminding the rioting during the campaign. We reject this accusation.
The unrest since July 27 — in Tasikmalaya, Situbondo, Sanggau Ledo, Rengasdengklok, and even Tanah Abang in Jakarta — is evidence of how the people have manifested their energy of resistance. In the midst of heightening repression, the radicalism of the masses has also increased. The Suharto dictatorship appears increasingly unsure as how to anticipate the widening social unrest. It has no effective political strategy to halt the trend towards confrontation by the angry and fed up masses.
The populist sentiment is clearly very dangerous for the crony business cliques and their families. As election day approaches, the dictatorship faces the choice of more violence or letting the Mega-Star-People alliance flower through the vehicle of the PPP. Both approaches impose costs for the regime. A violent response will provoke more and even more extreme social unrest, as well as attract international condemnation.
The intensifying anger of the people must be channelled though organised political forces. The dictatorship must also consider this. If not, then the people will answer in their own way. The unrest that has ripped through Jakarta and other cities during the campaign must be understood in this context. The naive seeking of a scapegoat in order to hide the impotence of Suharto's dictatorial regime is no answer.
Indeed, the PRD predicts that if the people's political discontent continues to rise and become more exacerbated, while the Suharto regime stubbornly resists change, even greater social unrest will take place. If the five political laws and the policy of the dual role of the armed forces that suppress all organised democratic political forces are maintained, then it will be the Suharto dictatorship that will be the "mastermind" of the explosions of unrest that are bound to happen in the coming period.