A newly established populist political party is being attacked in a number of towns.
EKO, Rizki, and Ikhsan were chatting on the terrace of the party's office when suddenly some two dozen uninvited guests started pummeling them, ganging up on the young activists that Sunday evening a fortnight ago. After taking Ikhsan hostage for an hour and dumping him 50 meters from the site of the attack, the assailants got away.
Police came and took the badly bruised Eko and friends to the Palu Police Station, Central Sulawesi, where the three were interrogated by two Military Police investigators. A suspect, First Private Makmur of the Raksatama Infantry Battalion Unit was arrested that very night and was charged with assault. However, the Military Police's Investigating Officer, First Lt. Syafruddin, affirmed that this was a personal case. "Please don't politicize this," he said.
Who were they? A number of eyewitnesses described the assailants as a bunch of "husky men with crew cuts." "They were wearing boots normally worn by Indonesian Military (TNI) members," said Martin Sibarani, Chairman of the United National Liberation Party (Papernas) of Central Sulawesi. The three brutalized youths were activists of the newly formed party.
This was not the first attack. Since the time preparations were being made to establish the party last September, Papernas had been subjected to constant opposition. When launched at Kaliurang, Yogyakarta, early last January, hundreds of party supporters came close to a fight with the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front.
The same thing happened in Jakarta. Last March during a peaceful rally at Dukuh Atas and at the Proclamation Monument, the supporters of the new party were attacked by the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the Islam Defenders Squad. Some 27 people were injured and 20 cars were smashed. The FPI and the Islamic Propagation Board filed a protest against the existence of Papernas with the Bekasi Regional House of Representatives, West Java, last April.
Thereafter, it was the turn of the Surakarta Muslim Squad to disperse the party's local conference at Sukoharjo. Similar things also occurred in Surabaya, Bandung, Madiun, and Malang. In East Nusa Tenggara, anti-communist pamphlets were distributed amidst the party's branch conference. "Over the past six months, attacks on us have been intense," said Dita Indah Sari, Chairwoman of the Papernas Leadership Board.
Papernas was being branded as neo-communist. The party happens to be supported by the People's Democratic Party (PRD), an organization of workers, farmers and the urban poor. They also adopted Tripanji, a slogan once used by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). The acronym stands for the party's three chief programs: wipe out foreign debts, nationalize oil and gas industry, and build a national economy based on people's interests.
Defense of the rights of the victims of the 1965 tragedy was touted as one of their programs. The party was based on populism. "This is a communist party," said Ekajaya, spokesperson of FPI. "Show us the communist elements! Our goal is to expel the imperialists. This is the party of the poor," declared Agus Jabo Priyono, General Chairman of Papernas. Speaking with Tempo, his hand pounded on the copy of the amended copy of the 1945Constitution (UUD).
Indeed Papernas cannot be separated from the PRD. According to Agus Jabo, the Papernas secretariat office in Palu was once used as PRD secretariat. Sibarani, 31, was also head of the local PRD. Unfortunately, the PRD got very few votes in the 1999 General Elections, the first time the leftist activists contested the elections under a democratic system.
Then an internal conflict plagued the PRD. Its founders resigned one after the other. Budiman Sudjatmiko, former Chairman of PRD, is now a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Andi Arief is now content to become commissioner of PT Pos Indonesia. Haris Rusli Moti crossed over to the National Mandate Party (PAN). "There's limit to militancy. The endurance of those who quit is only so much," said Dita.
In the run-up to the 2004 General Elections, the PRD created a new political party, namely United People's Opposition Party (Popor). Its ideology and network are exactly the same as the PRD, but Popor did not pass the verification of the Department of Justice & Human Rights. Learning from that experience, they once again closed ranks. When Papernas was launched last January, Agus Jabo was appointed General Chairman. Dita Indah Sari, the PRD General Chairwoman, became Chairperson of the Papernas Leadership Board.
"Papernas's mistake is to use the slogan of Tripanji which conjured up past sentiments. This is likened to a snake seeking to be bludgeoned," said Fadly Zon, a young intellectual, who was close to former Commander of the Army Special Forces (Kopassus) Maj. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto. Fadly agreed that the party was anti-imperialist, yet he viewed the assaults against Papernas as a mere local traumatic reaction to the revival of the PKI.
Repeated assaults on Papernas have not made it bow down. Information on their activities is regularly disseminated in international websites such as Green-Left Weekly. In a bid to reach the target in the 2009 General Elections, the networks for laborers, farmers, the urban poor and post-reforms university students are now being revived. "Just wait. Those who attacked us will gradually run out of logistics," said Agus Jabo, laughing uproariously.
- Kurie Suditomo, Darlis Muhammad (Palu), Zaki Almubarok (Jakarta)