Under the glaring light of the Jakarta Convention Center in South Jakarta, General (ret) Wiranto stood with a sullen face, quite bereft of his usual strength. Maybe the famous chin was held uplifted, but the smile seemed just a little too forced. For those looking carefully that Tuesday night two weeks ago, it was clear the Golkar Party presidential candidate was disturbed.

Before hundreds of cadres from the Central Organization of Indonesian Socialist Workers (SOKSI), which was holding its national management meeting, the former TNI "numero uno" made public his problems – literally pouring out the dejection buried deep in his heart. Wiranto revealed that a certain official was busy working to support a student demonstration on May 12 that would force him to confront human rights and anti-military issues. "A meeting to plan for the demonstration was also held at his house," Wiranto said.

Wiranto's revelation stunned the cadres of the mass organization, which is closely affiliated with the Golkar Party. The room became suddenly quiet.

Several senior Golkar officials present stared at each other. They wondered, who was the official that Wiranto spoke about? The pensioned general was apparently reluctant to name the person in public. Later that night, however, the name kept secret by Wiranto came into the open when a document about the surprise meeting was circulated among journalists.

The contents of the document, which resembled a leaflet, analyzed the result of a meeting held on Thursday, May 6, at the official residence of Minister of Manpower Jacob Nuwa Wea at the Widya Chandra Complex, South Jakarta.

Many were said to be present, including 43 representatives from 26 student groups. Nua Wea, the host, allegedly commenced proceedings for the meeting at 10pm, but when the discussions became intense, he handed over the leadership to students. "You formulate and organize the plans yourself," he apparently said. "My role would only be in providing the required funds."

The group later discussed the details for a student demonstration on May 12. They determined the time and location for the demonstration – 1pm at the Hotel Indonesia circle and then heading towards the People's Legislative Assembly (MPR) – House of Representatives (DPR) Building. The number of participants would reach 5,000 and transportation would require 156 Metromini buses. A command post would be readied at Jalan Otto Iskandar Dinata V, Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta and each group estimated the need of approximately Rp16 million in funds.

The main issue of the demonstration, they decided, was the refusal to accept Wiranto, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Agum Gumelar as the presidential and vice-presidential candidates from among former military officers. Wiranto would also be challenged because he was suspected to be responsible for several cases of human rights violations such as the Trisakti, Semanggi, and East Timor incidents.

With the leak to the press, public knowledge of the meeting inspired quick reaction. Chairman of the Golkar Party Central Executive Committee, Agung Laksono, believed that the story of the meeting was indeed true. In his opinion, the meeting was designed specifically to attack his party's presidential candidate. "The act could be categorized as 'black' propaganda or negative campaigning," he said. "It doesn't educate the people."

Nuwa Wea admitted that he did meet with students at his official residence on May 6 but Nuwa Wea, one of the senior leaders of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) denied that the meeting was held to discuss an anti-military demonstration. "If [the students] discussed it," he said, "I don't know."

That day, Nuwa Wea said, he did not come to his office but instead intended to take care of his work's loose ends. But starting that morning, however, his official residence was filled with guests. Nuwa Wea claimed that he could not remember who had come. "The atmosphere was similar to an open house during Lebaran or New Year's Day," he said.

Nuwa Wea claimed that he met with the students late that afternoon. But, as he recalled, the meeting lasted for fewer than five minutes. "Please, what plans do you have, what help do you need? There were those that asked [money] from me, I gave. But, what was it for, I don't know," he said.

Hasyim Rahayaan, Coordinator of the East Indonesia Students Forum (Format), who attended the meeting, also rejected accusations the demonstration was a plot against Golkar. He said the meeting did not, at any time, discuss plans for a demonstration against presidential candidates from the military. He said that those who were present that evening were student representatives from the Nahdlatul Ulama Youth Movement, the Nahdlatul Ulama Student Association, Famred (Student Action Front for Reform and Democracy), Format and from a number of tertiary institutions in Jakarta. "They came without any invitation, but on their own," the undergraduate from the Az-Zahra Jakarta Islamic University said. "Pak Jacob was only there for a short time."

In another account of the meeting, those assembled apparently agreed to form nine teams to formulate a plan for the demonstration. The nine teams requested that Nuwa Wea help arrange for an anti-New Order and anti-military campaign with a budget of Rp410 million, but that he refused to provide the funds because he did not want to be part of the plan. "Pak Jacob only gave Rp5 million as the transportation cost of all the students who were present that evening," a member of one of the nine teams said.

Confident that Nuwa Wea would eventually provide the money, the nine teams finally met Saturday, May 8 at Hotel Mega on Jalan Proklamasi in Central Jakarta. The meeting in Room 210 apparently resulted only in major accusations about the funding and the leak of the meeting held in Nuwa Wea's house. The harsh words resulted in a scuffle among members of the nine teams.

Hasyim suspected that rumors suggesting that Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea supported the anti-military movement was spread by students who were disappointed after the minister declined to offer the full funds requested. Hasyim was reluctant to name the students but it was clear that not all the students present agreed to keep their lips sealed about the meeting. According to Supriyanto, who attended the meeting, student activists that came to the meeting at Nuwa Wea's house were from various backgrounds and had different views, a fact indicated by the formulation of the action plan, which was rife with conflicting priorities. "We also don't really know who they were," he said. "Thus, if a story was leaked, it's possible."

Supriyanto's suspicions seem to be confirmed. A week after the meeting, Wiranto received a report written by a group of students that included the leaflet and the attendance sheet of the meeting. "We also have the data and a complete recording," said Slamet Effendy Yusuf, Chairman of the Wiranto-Solahuddin Wahid success team. "It's not ethical for us to reveal who forwarded them."

As a former activist, Slamet claims to have a wide network among activists. "How bad it is, I'm a former activist," he said. "Many of my friends supported our struggle. I feel slighted if youths are being used and paid to serve certain political interests. Allow them to continue to take on moral movements."

The offended parties are not sitting still. Currently, Golkar's and Wiranto's legal teams are sifting through a pile of evidence and documents that could drag Nuwa Wea to court. "We're gathering the evidence," Slamet said. "We're only waiting. Once we've concrete evidence, we'll take the necessary legal action. We don't want to be seen as only talking."

The PDI-P has requested that Wiranto and Golkar take the legal route. According to the Deputy Secretary-General of the PDI-P, Pramono Anung, if it is true that the move was supported by Nuwa Wea, such action would not be consistent with his party's line. "It's not part of the PDI-P agenda," he said. "The reason: We've requested that our members refrain from organizing negative campaigning for the presidential election.

Munir, director of the human rights group Imparsial, argued that the "black" propaganda practice is one carried out by success teams for every single presidential candidate. "It's a lie if [someone says it] happened only to Mega or Wiranto," he said. "All the candidates did the same thing."

But what is new about "black" campaigning and negative propaganda? Are the two not the same potent weapons used by the New Order to weaken its political opponents? The question remains whether Golkar, this time a victim, has sufficient evidence and an interest serious enough to take the matter to court.

[Widiarsi Agustina, Sunariah (Tempo News Room).]