Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – The Yogyakarta Anti-Communist Front (FAKI) has made good their threat to ‘attack en masse’ the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) Congress saying that if it is not closed by 9pm then FAKI will break it up by force.
The FAKI group of some 100 people arrived at the congress site at the Wisma Sejahtera Building in Kaliurang in the Sleman regency of Yogyakarta, Central Java, on Friday January 19 at 3pm.
They demanded that the congress be canceled because it did not have a permit and was taking up Marxist and communist ideas. The group was unable to approach the congress however because they were held back by officers from the Sleman district police around 100 meters north of the site.
After holding negotiations with Sleman Police Chief Idris Kadir, an agreement was reached that representatives of the group could meet with the congress organising committee. The rest of the FAKI group meanwhile would remain behind police lines.
During the negotiations with police, they group shouted “Destroy the communists, crush Papernas”. Erected in front of the group was a banner with the writing “FAKI, the communists rise up, wipe out and crush”, “Uphold Law No. 27/1999 on Marxism-Communism in Indonesia”1.
Some of the group wore black T-shirts with a red-and-white flag on the chest and FAKI written on the back. They also brought FAKI flags.
Burhanuddin, one of the action coordinators, declared that they wanted to break up the Papernas Congress because it is taking up ideas of Marxism and communism that is against the law so it must be disbanded. “As a generation of youth, they are being used by people who have a communist ideology”, said Burhanuddin.
After negotiations with police, an agreement was finally reached that four FAKI representatives would meet with four Papernas representatives at the Brotoseno Villa located alongside the Wisma Sejahtera.
At the meeting, the FAKI persisted in asking Papernas to close the congress. They were received by Congress committee members such as Dita Indah Sari, Lukman Hakim and Agus Priyono. The FAKI representatives repeatedly pointed out to Dita that she should be aware that she is being used by and had become a communist lackey.
At the end of the meeting, the FAKI group issued an ultimatum that the Congress must close by 9pm. If not, they would break it up by force. (nrl/sss)
Notes:
1. Law No. 27/1999 is a revision to the Criminal Code that codifies Provisional People’s Consultative Assembly (MPRS) Decree Number XXV/1966 on the Dissolution of the Indonesian Communist Party and Prohibitions on Marxist, Leninist and Communist Teachings.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
