I. Background

Bloody Saturday, July 27, 1996, gave us a valuable lesson. This incident leads us to a number of conclusions based on our country's political situation and the direction of its development. If viewed from the "energy" of the resistance shown by the people, it appears that we must again adjust the view which says the Indonesian people are apathetic or apolitical in the face of what is done to them. Actually, under conditions of depoliticisation and repression, the people keep alive a resistance which is large and has a strong spirit in maintaining itself.

We must be just in drawing conclusions when assessing the forms of struggle which have been used by the people, such as riots and other violent actions. Mass spontaneous resistance such as these are the way the people have been forced to defend themselves, after all peaceful methods (formal-legal and political) have failed - and even consumed their own victims. We must try too to understand why this mass resistance is often focussed on the wrong targets, is often easy to break and is so often scattered and divided.

These weaknesses are primarily caused by the lack of a strong political leadership from the opposition - who can show the correct political path to the people.

The riots which have occurred reflect the loss of the people's trust in the government (political development). This was proven after the July 27 incident (which resulted in the jailing of pro-democracy political activists from SBSI, PUDI and the PRD (1) and intensive repression of the pro-democracy movement), when there was repeated explosions of rioting in other places, despite the government repeatedly threatening and acting decisively against the rioters.

We can imagine that at such a time, when the people are resisting on a mass scale if there was a leader who was courageous and prepared to stand together with the people with demands which address the real needs of the people, certainly what occurred and its results would be different, and it would not result in so many [material] losses and victims. Just look at how easily the people riot although it is without the involvement of the democratic opposition groups. But historically, the people's spontaneous resistance has not resulted in meaningful change (although that is what the people really want) aside from anarchy or the people falling away from political consciousness, which in its turn will endanger the aspirations of the people's struggle itself.

For more than 30 years the consciousness of the Indonesian people has been in a process of depoliticisation; harsh economic exploitation, intimidation and political violence. A situation like this will create the conditions for the emergence quasi-consciousness which is very easily manipulated by the wrong demands. So that it is as if issues which have the characteristic of SARA (2) represent the real consciousness of the people. While in reality this is the breaking through of the limits of the people's patience and tolerance in bearing suffering, so that they use any kind of "motion" which is available. Once again this creates the conditions for the need of a political leadership which is prepared to stand up, represent and consistently struggle for the interests of the people.

The level of trust of the people in the ability of the government to improve the quality of the life of the people and protect them has declined dramatically. There is data that shows a 30% leakage of funds along with revelations of cases of large scale corruption and collusion, added to again with discriminative crony business practices, further reveals this crisis of mistrust. Furthermore, Indonesia is now facing a monetary crisis who's impact is being felt strongly with an increase in the level of unemployment which is a result of having to pay to safeguard [the country's] economic life (read the safety of company capital). The total level of unemployment, after counting the hidden unemployment of those who work less than 35 hours per week, reaches 40% of a work force of 90 million. IMF projections on the growth of the Indonesian economy for 1998 are around 2%, while the rate of inflation is estimated to reach between 7.5% to 8% which will result in a real economic growth of minus 6%.

This is a heavy burden which must be shouldered by the people who have yet to enjoy the benefits of development and in fact has become a factor in the comparative superiority to attract investors, by keeping the wage component of the cost of production at only 2%.

All of this is a time bomb because of the errors made from the beginning by the government in regulating Indonesia's economic and political life. Small explosions such occurred in Situbondo, Tasikmalaya, Pontianak, Sanggau Ledo and other places (3) on a smaller scale, are a logical consequence of the workings of the economic and political system. These explosions will become more frequent if [government policy] is not directed toward the political demands and actions of the people.

Intuitively the people can imagine the changes they desire, but because of the factor of political repression and the channels for their aspirations blocked, this causes the people to be blind to the political actions they must take. So that in the end the people have to speak through riots which can explode unexpectedly, because they can be started by any incident, even from a Dangdut [music] arena such as in Sampang, Madura. So that the energy of the people who desire this change is not thrown away uselessly and can result in political reform and an improvement in the social conditions [we] must work on ways to unite them under the umbrella of one national, political leadership, which for the moment we can refer to as the Council for the for Salvation of the People's Sovereignty (Dewan Penyelamat Kedaulatan Rakyat). This umbrella for struggle will be an association of leaders who have the trust of society, who come from a number of political spectrums and who are prepared to stand up and voice the demands of the people and be consistent in struggling for them. All social leaders who are concerned about what has befallen this country must jointly promise to resolve all of the problems which are now faced by the people. Because of this, these leaders must be given public authority to give instructions, gather people together along with making protests when the government acts arbitrarily and forbid the people from taking action if it will later damage the people themselves. This political leadership must have a program which truly addresses the problems faced by the people, so that the people can easily follow their requests. Politically this will mean raising the bargaining position of the people in confronting damaging government policy. This is a test for the moral responsibility of the leaders, the consistency of the people to struggle for their demands and at the same time as a step to save the future of this country.

II. Council for the for Salvation of the People's Sovereignty

Represents leaders from a number of political forces within society, which can be represented by political figures with influence or are leaders of organisations. All of the members of this council have [a responsibility] to uphold the agenda of struggle of all of the network of organisations which join it.

A. Task and functions

• Work out an economic and political program which is orientated to improving the quality of the life the country and nation which is forward looking;
• Call for actions to be taken by the people to struggle for change through all channels of communication and means of information distribution possessed by the people's political leaders on a national level;
• Take the program of struggle and the practical steps to all networks of institutions and organisations which have the same commitment;
• Organise platforms in the framework of opening the space for political education which is effective and injects political consciousness and raises the political participation of the people. This can be done through the mass media, through a curriculum of training which is in accordance with the need to respond to the development of the objective conditions of social life;
• Direct the political actions of the people toward an effort to carrying out change, beginning with the smallest steps, by the formation of places for the people's aspirations as a creation of the people's sovereignty to control the implementation of government life.

B. Program of struggle

• A succession and democratic mechanisms to elect a new president and vice president;
• An investigation in to the wealth of government officials and their families;
• The withdrawal of the five repressive political laws (4);
• A change in the system of government to make it possible for the political parties to enter the cabinet;
• Wipe out corruption, collusion and the conglomerates, toward an economic system which is clean and for the people;
• Reduce the social and political role of the armed forces and the abolition of the Dual Function (5) of the armed forces. The military's social and political role be carried out through a military representative in the MPR (6) in a composition that is just and proportional;
• A reduction in prices of essential items;
• Upholding the basic principles of human rights in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

C. Basic program

• Broaden the participation (support) of [social] figures and demand moral responsibility of leaders/figures to actively join in thinking about and playing an active role in carrying out improvements is all aspects of social life;
• Campaign openly and broadly for the formation of a national political leadership which can lead the political and economic reform;
• Launch a petition or support action for the national political leadership and give a full mandate to take actions which are considered to be needed;
• Put pressure on the government to make policies as worked out by the Council which are supported by the broad united strength of the people and direct it to political levels which are effective to raise the bargaining position of the people; 5. Encourage the people to form coalitions or bodies to independently monitor policies with the task of controlling and organising a social life which is democratic and clean as the creation of a people's sovereignty at the practical level.

Nur Hikmah - General Secretary KNPD

Translators notes:

• SBSI: Serikat Buruh Sejahtra Indonesia, Indonesian Trade Union for Prosperity. PUDI: Partai Uni Demokrasi Indonesia, Indonesian United Democratic Party. PRD: Partai Rakyat Demokratik, Peoples Democratic Party.
• SARA: Suku, agama, ras dan antar golongan, An acronym meaning ethnic, religious, racial and inter-group conflicts. A loosely defined term with negative connotations, it is frequently used by the regime to describe conflicts which are deemed to threaten "national unity" or "stability" and are at odds with the state ideology of Pancasila and the concept of "unity in diversity".
• Situbondo, Tasikmalaya, Pontianak and Sanggau Ledo are locations where there was mass rioting in 1996 and 1997.
• The five repressive political laws were passed in 1985. They allow only three recognised political parties; ban party activity from villages and small towns; allow for the government appointment of 575 non-elected members (75 representing the military) to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR); impose a single state-defined ideology on all social, political and cultural organisations; and gives the state the right to intervene in the internal affairs of organisations.
• Dwi Fungsi refers to an official state doctrine that the Armed Forces (ABRI) has a dual function, namely military defence of the nation and a political role in all civilian affairs.
• MPR: Mejalis Permusyawaratan Rakyat, People's Consultative Assembly. The highest legislative body in the country with 1,000 members, 425 of whom are elected with the remainder being appointed by the president. It meets once every five years (usually around a year after the general elections) to hear an outgoing report from the president, enact the Broad Outlines of State Policy (Garis Besar Haluan Negara, GBHN) and to vote on nominations for the president and vice-president. The next session of the MPR will be held in March 1998.

[Translated by James Balowski]