George J. Aditjondro – Rays of hope of Indonesia's democracy seem to emerge. Two of Habibie's relatives – a brother and a son – have stepped down from powerful public offices, four political prisoners have been released, and promises of a new election law and the repeal of the repressive press censor law have been made.
Is this the beginning of Habibie's glasnost? Or are these manouvres of an Acting President who hopes to be elected in an upcoming free election?
I believe it is more of the latter than the former. Last Wednesday, on May 27, the opposition movement – spearheaded by triumphant student activists – launched a two-pronged attack on Habibie in front of two buildings on the busy Rasuna Said Boulevard in Jakarta's central business district.
Earlier in the morning they launched their campaign to investigate the ill-begotten wealth of former President Soeharto and his family and cronies. This took place in front of the multi-storey Granadi building, which houses all fund-raising foundations chaired by Soeharto that control a business empire conservatively valued at $ 10 billion.
At noon, they moved to the Attorney General's office, a few hundreds meters down the boulevard, to launch their campaign for the release of all political prisoners and disappeared persons.
Both campaigns create a double headache for Habibie, who is balancing his acts between the military, Muslim politicians, and the students.
The armed forces commander, General Wiranto has just demoted Soeharto's ambitious son-in-law, Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto, to a military academy in Bandung, West Java.
Wiranto is, however, closely implicated in Soeharto's business empire. As armed forces commander, he is the patron of several army fund-raising foundations, the richest one being the Kartika Eka Paksi foundation. Companies controlled by this multi-million dollar foundation have joint ventures with Soeharto's second son, Bambang Trihatmodjo, in forestry, property, and satellite telecommunication. Meanwhile, Wiranto's wife is involved in the multi-billion rupiah foster parent' movement of Bambang's wife, Halimah.
In addition, the Navy, Air Force and Police also back other fund-raising foundations which are involved in other Soeharto family businesses. This explains Wiranto's resistance to the investigation of Soeharto's wealth.
The Army and Habibie's right wing ministers are also reluctant to release all political prisoners, a campaign which now involves the released unionist Dr Mochtar Pakpahan, the former Muslim politician Dr Sri Bintang Pamungkas who leads a new political party, PUDI, former student activist Nuku Sulaeman, and journalist-publisher Andi Syahputra.
Expressing the viewpoint of the Army, which seems to fear retribution for the 1966 massacre of one million peasants, workers and Chinese business people, Justice Minister Muladi stated that former Communist prisoners – now in their late 70s – will not be released. And Communists, by the Army's standards, also include the students' banned People's Democratic Party (PRD) and its trade union, the Centre for Working Class Struggles (PPBI).
Habibie's Labour Minister, Fahmi Idris, has driven another wedge in the emerging Indonesian opposition. After the release of Mochtar Pakpahan, Fahmi Idris revoked an earlier decree that banned Dr. Pakpahan's trade union, SBSI.
Nothing was mentioned, however, of PPBI. Far from Jakarta's media spotlight, Dita Indah Sari, the 24-year leader of this radical trade union is serving a six years sentence for leading a peaceful workers demonstration in the East Java capital of Surabaya on July 8, 1996.
Unfortunately, the opposition is deeply divided between its radical and moderate wings. The radicals, including most student activists, PRD and PUDI, want total reform that includes a return of the army to the barracks and a UN-supervised referendum in East Timor.
Meanwhile, the moderates, conggregating around leading Muslim politician Dr Amien Rais, prefer a gradual reform involving a greater political role of Muslims, in proportion to their numbers, without rocking the military boat by questioning the role of the military and the status of East Timor.
Some of Rais' associates have served in Soeharto's former cabinets, and still sit as commissioners in top Indonesian companies which enjoyed perks from Soeharto's rule. Others are his former colleagues in Habibie's Islamic scholars association, ICMI.
During the last fortnight, Rais and his associates have increasingly acted as power brokers between Habibie, the military, and the students.
As long as the students allow themselves to be represented by these power brokers, their hopes for total reform may dissipate into the clouds. And so will the dreams of pro-democracy activists, such as the recently kidnapped and tortured young activist, Pius Lustrilanang, who has since 1991 campaigned for the withdrawal of all Indonesian troops from East Timor.