Jakarta – The New Order regime [of former President Suharto] which was brought down by the wave of demands for reformasi in 1998, is returning to power though the 2004 general elections. If this is not guarded against though an awareness in society, the New Order regime which was the cause of a the multi-dimensional [economic and political] crisis which has yet to be overcome, will reverse the agenda of reformasi and cause Indonesia to be buried under a corrupt regime.

“We do not have any pretentious to give support to a particular prospective presidential candidate. Let society itself choose. We only want to clarify their track record in order to revive people’s memory. We want society to use its right to vote rationally”, explained the chairperson of the New Order Alert Committee (Komite Waspada Orde Baru, KWOB) presidium, Judilherry Justam, on Friday October 3.

In order to revive this memory and make society aware of the threat of the return to power of the New Order regime, KWOB’s presidium committee will clarify the track record of 25 prospective candidates which have already declared that they will put themselves forward to compete as presidential candidates. Of the 25 prospective candidates, only four of them are relatively untainted by the New Order regime, while the other 21 were part of the New Order regime.

The four prospective candidates who the committee considers to be untainted by the New Order regime are [former President] KH Abdurrahman Wahid, [People’s Consultative Assembly speaker] Amien Rais, [Bung Karno Nationalist party leader] Eros Djarot and [current Indonesian President] Megawati Sukarnoputri. “These four figures were critical of the New Order regime and were disliked by the New Order regime because they would not submit. They were courageous in opposing the New Order regime when Suharto was still securely in power”, said Judilherry.

Devotees of the New Order

As well as designating their positions within the New Order regime, the track record of the 25 prospective candidates will also be given a designation of loyal opponent, devotee and supporter. Those who are included in the category of loyal opponents are Abdurrahman Wahid, [businesswoman and educator] Kemala Motik, Megawati Sukarnoputri, [respected Islamic leader and scholar] Nurcholis Madjid, [economist and chairperson of the New Indonesia Party] Sjahrir and [justice and human rights minister] Yusril Ihza Mahendra.

Meanwhile, the other 18 prospective candidates are considered to be supporters and devotees of the New Order regime. They are [business tycoon] Aburizal Bakrie, [Golkar chairperson and speaker of the People’s Representative Assembly] Akbar Tandjung, [retired general and transport minister] Agum Gumelar, [vice-president] Hamzah Haz, [former welfare minister] Haryono Suyono, [minister for social welfare] Jusuf Kalla, [Golkar legislator] Marwah Daud, [former justice minister] Muladi, [former Kopassus commander and Suharto’s ex-son-in-law] Prabowo Subianto, [artist and entrepreneur] Setiawan Djodi, [Golkar legislator] Siswono Yudo Husodo, [economist] Sjahrir, [Yogyakarta] Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, [media baron and Suharto crony] Surya Paloh, [coordinating minister of politics and security] Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, [Golkar co-chairperson] Theo L Sambuaga, [former minister of women’s empowerment] Tuty Alawiyah and [former armed forces chief] Wiranto.

“We are concerned about the implementation the reformasi agenda with the reemergence of prospective candidates from the New Order regime. Up until this time, society has only paid attention to the program of those who have come forward and nominated themselves and have been made to forget about their track record. However good their program is, if their track record is bad, that program will not be able to run”, said Syafinuddin, a member of KWOB’s presidium. (INU)

[Translated by James Balowski.]