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10 Years after the Fall of Suharto – Views from the People’s Organisations

Journal of Unity - May 2008

[The following is a translation of a series of 12 interviews with leaders of labour, peasant, fisherpeople, urban and rural poor, environmental, student and social-political organisations in Indonesia around the theme “Ten Years after the Fall of Suharto - Views from the People’s Organisations”, which appeared in the first edition of Jurnal Bersatu (Journal of Unity).]

Labour organisations

1. Sastro, Chairperson Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM)
2. Lqbal, President of the Indonesian Metal Trade Workers Federation (FSPMI)
Peasant Organisations
1. Donny, National Peasants Union (STN)
2. Iwan, Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA)
3. Rully, Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI)
Fisherpeople’s organisations
Arbani Nikahi, Chairperson Saijaan Fishers Union (INSAN)
Urban and rural poor organisations
Marlo, General Chairperson Indonesian Poor People’s Union (SRMI)
Student organisations
Ken, Indonesian Student Union (SMI)
Environmental organisations
Andreat, General Secretary Green Indonesia Union (SHI)
Social-political organisations
1. Irwansyah, Secretary General Working People’s Association (PRP)
2. Zely Ariane, Spokesperson People’s Democratic Party-Political Committee of the Poor (KPRM-PRD)
3. Harris Sitorus, Secretary General National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas)

Introduction

The following discussion was written based on interviews conducted by Jurnal Bersatu (Journal of Unity) editorial staff with a number of people’s organisations. The spectrum and “political groupings” along with the sectors and class of organisation were several of the considerations in the choice of the groups that were interviewed. Nevertheless there were two organisations – the People’s Movement Alliance for Agrarian Reform (AGRA) and the United People’s Party (PPR) who on the eve of the publication of this journal were unable to be interviewed.


Labour organisations

1. Sastro, Chairperson Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM)

The situation for workers 10 after the fall of Suharto

Indonesia’s economic situation is deteriorating because of the existence of imperialism through economic liberalisation. In the labour field, this economic liberalism is manifesting itself in systems of labour market flexibility, which are practiced through revising regulations, in particular the packet of three labour laws. One of the impacts of this is the legalising of contract labour and outsourcing, which continues to decimate workers, for example, through mass dismissals.

Urgent issues facing the labour movement

There are three labour issues that are urgent: 1) opposing systems of contract labour and outsourcing; 2) increasing wages and; 3) the freedom of association. The problems of outsourcing and contract labour are central, because these systems result in low wages and the loss of workers’ other rights such as food allowances and so forth.

The current state of the labour movement

The concerns of the working class in response to the poor labour conditions has stimulated the consolidation of the labour movement. ABM itself is one example of this. The ABM has produced an anti-neoliberalism program that contains four basic ideas: 1) the repudiation of the foreign debt; 2) the nationalisation of vital state assets; 3) the development of a strong national industry and; 4) the eradication of corruption and the seizure of corruptors’ assets for the people. So there is a green light for unity among the labour movements in Indonesia.

Aims of the struggle

The aim of the struggle for Sastro is the working class gaining power, because as long as this power is in the hands of a regime that is anti-worker and anti-people, no matter how good the concepts or laws that are proposed it will undoubtedly be defeated politically. In order to confront this, the labour movement needs its own party, that is a working class party, rather than joining the existing parties, because the politics of these partes are not the politics of the working class and by joining them it will result in us being dragged into their politics.

Building a party requires patience and a process. Currently, where the struggle is still being carried out by mass organisations or trade unions, this stage requires producing advanced cadre though trade unions. It is this cadre that will go on to build a future labour party. If a labour party already exists, will it want to take the road to revolution or electoralism, that is one of the choices that will be considered.

Labour movement unity

In its tactics or program, there are actually similarities between the various trade unions that already exist, so its not an obstacle to unity. The obstacles are: 1) cooption of sections of the trade union leadership for the interests of the elite that results in the compartmentalisation of the labour movement. But this is something that is currently improving, because there is pressure from below, the interests of which are indeed different from the interests of the elite; 2) the problem of existence that is still high, and; 3) the problem of trust. This last issue is in fact not easy to overcome. For example, the tendency is that the ABM is often seen as radical and the culture of ABM’s actions are different from those that are usually undertaken by other trade unions, which has indeed generated a kind of gap. But actually this may very well be very easy to straighten out.

Building unity just through meetings at the elite level is difficult, because the elite find it difficult to issue instructions to the lower levels, whether they be to the provincial level or industrial zones. So, these national meetings should be strengthened by meetings at lower levels, so that unity truly becomes a mutual necessity and is maintained jointly. Aside from this, meetings should be programmatic in character and not just about tactics or actions. Meaning there are specific targets as well as time frames for their fulfilment, so that they can be jointly evaluated and the weaknesses jointly corrected.

Now, in order to achieve the aim of working class power, the working class cannot do this alone and must cooperate with farmers, fisherpeople, students and progressive intellectuals who are in accord with the working class. The things that can be done to make this a reality are: 1) preparing or registering advanced cadres from various regions to be united within a party, and 2) each sector formulate its individual concepts as a joint platform. The other issue that needs to be considered is discussing and debating the concept of national industrialisation, that up until now has not been elaborated upon properly.

The need for a political party

There is actually an urgent need for a political party, because the absence of a working class political party disorientates the working class. Within trade unions or the mass bass itself they are actually already fed up with the parties and forces that exist. Several times now those in power have been replaced, but there is still no change, whereas the current economic situation is getting no easier. It’s just that the legacy of Suharto’s New Order regime still creates illusions among the lower and working classes that they can only work, they cannot hold political power. In addition to this, there are also illusions in the “entrapments” of the existing parties, such as the populist appearance of certain parties.

Then there is the discourse about the need for a political party that that is taking place within the movement itself, which is actually flowering, even in the regions, and which has been very much helped by the direct election of regional heads (pilkada). But what is becoming a problem is precisely the doubts within the movement itself. Similarly, there is often talk within the movement that a party is just jargon, but has failed in its implementation. What is needed is to talk about a party in a way that is simple and non-jingoistic, so it can be understood and generate a positive response from the people.

The 2009 elections

Sastro is pessimistic about the 2009 legislative and presidential elections, because while it already very close the movements have yet to prepare themselves for the moment. Now with regard to elements of the movement who are interested in taking part in the elections, such as the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) or plans by activists to join the large parties, they have a very small chance of passing verification or winning if they are not supported by the movement. Even if they succeed in becoming members of the House of Representatives (DPR) or the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), how does the movement control them, in order that they are not controlled by the existing bourgeois parties. No matter how leftist an activist is, if there is no control by a collective with a strong mass basis, then it is very possible that they will completely dragged into bourgeois politics. Departing from the two conditions above, there are two choice that can be taken with regard to the 2009 elections, that is to boycott the elections or secondly, to question the existing political conditions, such as the law on political parties.


2. Lqbal, President of the Indonesian Metal Trade Workers Federation (FSPMI)

The situation for workers 10 after the fall of Suharto

In terms of issues, the labour situation post-Suharto has not changed much. In terms of implementation, it is worse now than during the Suharto era. In terms of concept, currently there are both positive and negative aspects. For example, the articles on outsourcing in Law Number 13/2003 on Labour can be used to eliminate outsourcing in companies where SPMI members are working, by changing SPMI workers who are affected by outsourcing through labour contractors who do not have a work relationship with the job provider becoming contract employees, but it can also be interpreted as being in accordance with the employer’s interests in justifying outsourcing.

The principle issues facing labour

The FSPMI leadership meeting held on February 5-7, 2008 decided that there were four main issue facing the labour movement: 1) amending Law Number 3/1992 on Jamsostek (state-run workers insurance scheme); 2) changing the regulations on contract employees and opposing outsourcing 3) a decent national wage; and 4) supervision, which tends not to function because of the regional autonomy process.

The current state of the labour movement

Objectively, there is an opportunity to increase consciousness within the labour movement because, first, the law has already provided the space for this, and secondly, the strong desire to join a trade union. Nevertheless there is a weakness, the large number of trade unions at the moment – there are 98 federations, three confederations and 146 national trade unions – making it easy for the labour movement to be disunited. In addition to this, political consciousness, with regard to the danger of the law on foreign investment for example, is also not very high.

Labour movement unity

Labour movement unity is a permanent necessity because the working class faces the same issues. The working class itself already understands the need for this unity. But this unity cannot be only based on momentum, but rather must be sustainable, so that the working class has a strong bargaining power both against the government as well as the movements.

There are four main obstacles to labour movement unity in Indonesia. First, the majority of attempts at labour unity have been driven by outside parties, such as non-government organisations (NGOs) or the government, for their own interests, so that when their needs are fulfilled, these outside parties then seek a new format. This obstacle will disappear if and when unity is driven by the permanent needs of the working class and organised by workers themselves. Secondly, there are differences. Structural unity of all federations or trade unions is an impossibility. What can be undertaken is cultural unity, like a non-aligned movement, where unity is based on a similarity of interests and issues. Attempts at this kind of unity have actually already been undertaken, but have met failure, because they were structured in a premature fashion, so when there was a section that was not part of the structure, they felt uncomfortable. Third, financing must not depend on an outside party, that way it will not be constrained by the interests of the party providing the funds. Fourth, although the labour movement cannot be active at the same level as national political figures, initially, there is a need to involve figures that have significant influence in the individual federations.

Although the labour movement needs to involve broader layers of society, it must still have its nucleus in the movement. In Sweden for example, out of its millions of people, only two hundred thousand people are organised, who continue to develop the values of social justice.

Aims of the struggle

The final goal of the Indonesian people, including the labour movement within it, is a welfare state. In order to move in such a direction it is necessary to do so in stages. First, a collective consciousness must be built that workers are a part of the mainstream of the nation and the country’s life, so that laws and government polices must include the interests of labour. In order to build this collective consciousness, workers must strengthen the movement and organise the masses in even larger numbers. Here, unity and contributions are also important. Second, social security is important in moving towards a welfare state, because it is impossible to have good investment without social justice and social security. Certainly Indonesia already has Jamsostek, but the working class has not been part of this.

Jamsostek itself has quite a significant potential. Jamsostek currently has only covers around 25 percent of the work force, that is 8.1 million workers, and already amounts to some 54.4 trillion rupiah, whereas according to the National Statistics Agency (BPS) the potential participants in Jamsostek are 33 million or 26.8 million in 2007 according to the Department of Labour. If all workers were obliged to join Jamsostek, the amount could reach 200 trillion rupiah. Similarly, if severance pay reserves were taken out of the companies’ coffers, the total would be almost 268 trillion rupiah and if pension fund insurance was operated properly, the total would be almost 500 trillion rupiah. If all of this was consolidated, the total would be almost 1,000 trillion. If this operated properly, the government whose annual budget deficit in 2008 was 89 trillion rupiah would no longer need the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the World Bank. The government could spend funds from these social security institutions on development and covering the deficit. But this of course would require tight control and the money would have to be returned to workers and the public in the form of free education, healthcare and so forth.

The free market polices that are currently in place are a consequence of a state administration that has no character or ideology. The leadership style in Indonesia at the moment is transactional in character, meaning it is only able to negotiate. One of the consequences of this, is that the concepts of social justice that already exist in the 1945 Constitution have been lost through amendments, that are then degraded in various laws such as the law on capital investment and so on. But also we cannot avoid the tide of capitalism and globalisation. What is important is how to create social justice in the flow of investment that enters the country. Here is needed a leadership with a character and ideology.

Political parties

The formation of a labour party is one of the choices for labour to struggle for its political goals. But this must be proceeded by a process of consensus building. First of all, the majority of trade unions and elements concerned with the workers movement must hold a convention to discuss whether it is important to have a labour party. Such a convention would not be to make a decision, so it should produce a kind of small team to hold a referendum among workers – and if it is not possible to include all workers, then it could just be those workers that are organised. If through such a referendum, the majority agree to a party, the team would then report this to the convention, which would then discuss the issue and decide on the establishment of a party. After there is a party, even if in its political work it receives support from trade unions, the trade unions must remain independent, for example, a person who holds a position in the party cannot hold a position on a trade union. With regard to previous party building attempts such as Papernas, and so forth, the weakness was that it was not done through a large meeting conceived by collective consciousness, whereas this collective consciousness needs to be built first and this is why a sustainable cultural movement becomes important.

The 2009 elections

There are three ways for the working class to struggle for its political interests. First, by entrusting the concept with the existing political parties. This is difficult because there are currently no parties that can be expected to struggle for this concept. Second, by placing trade union people in a political party. This requires training, because there is no guarantee that the people that are place in the party will take up the interests of their trade union. Third, by establishing their own political party to take up the interests of workers.

With regard to the 2009 general elections, the working class could: 1) elect, if they exits, workers who want to enter the parliament, regardless of their party; and 2) side with parties that declare that they wish to take up workers’ interests. On this second option, it is indeed difficult to differentiate between parties that are serious and those that are just talk, but this represents a form of training. If workers are unable to channel their political interests through the 2009 elections, there is still an opportunity in 2014, but this must be accompanied with hard work organising collective consciousness, through a large meeting and a referendum, to reach an agreement on whether there is a need for a labour party or not.


Peasant Organisations

1. Donny, National Peasants Union (STN)

The situation for farmers 10 after the fall of Suharto

There has been no significant reform in farmers’ standard of living since the fall of Suharto. The exchange value has progressively declined because the ‘output’ paid out by farmers is becoming steadily higher, while the ‘input’ obtained from agricultural enterprises is becoming progressively smaller. This is in part caused by factors external to agricultural enterprises, such as the policy to increase the price of fuel that has had a huge impact on the cost of the agricultural production and the lack of government guarantees on the price of rice and farm food products.

The principle issues facing farmers

There have been at least three principle themes in the peasants’ struggle in the post Suharto period. First, agrarian conflicts, particularly between farmers and traditional communities and the plantation, forestry and mining companies, whether they are private or government owned. Secondly, the market liberalisation of agricultural products, which has been a massive blow to output by Indonesia’s peasant class because Indonesian agricultural productivity, which is still lagging behind [other countries] is forced to compete with highly advanced agricultural production. Third, the problem of the agricultural production costs that are increasingly expensive a result of inflation and the fuel price increases, meanwhile there is no guarantee on the price of agricultural produce. Land reform in the sense of the return of land to the people, particularly farmers, in order that it can be used to improve their standard of living is still relevant, because in the post-Suharto period, land is still being monopolised by plantation, forestry and mining companies.

The state of the peasant movement

The STN believes that the state of the peasant movement post the fall of Suharto is relatively encouraging. First, farmers’ willingness to organise is growing, which is apparent form the emergence of many peasant organisations, whether they be local or those that already have a national network. Secondly, the people, particularly farmers, are increasingly prepared to retake land that was seized during the Suharto era. Third, many peasant organisations at the local and provincial level have formed alliances at the national level. This represents an advance, because a view already exists that struggle at the national level is something that is necessary. In addition to this, in relative terms the peasant movement organisations are dominated by groups with a progressive thinking who accept radical methods of struggle, such as mass actions and so forth.

Peasant movement unity

In general the peasant movement outside of STN has a similar theme of struggle, which is the resolution of land conflicts and agrarian reform, opposition to trade liberalisation, particularly in the agricultural field and endeavouring that the government improve the quality of and guarantee the price of basic commodities. Similarly, the struggle at the local level can be taken to the national level, the struggle over land issues being centred on demanding that the government implement the Basic Agrarian Law Number 5/1960. Meaning there is no grounds not to unite and indeed efforts at cooperation on farmers’ issues often take place and the results have been quite good, at least the essence of the campaigns reached the relevant party.

But so far, cooperation has indeed only been based on momentum, and is not yet at the strategic or long-term level. Perhaps it would be best if such an alliance were built from below or at the grassroots, because from the STN’s own experience, if it is built from below, it is ensured to directly manifest itself in practice and generally endures for quite a long time. Building unity from above, through establishing an agreement among national leaders, usually encounters at dead lock at the grassroots, because there are different realties between those at the top and those at the bottom. For example when there is agreement at the national level, at the local level there is the problem of each organisation making clams over which base of support it controls. So, in the peasant movement, unity must be built from below and at the top limited by communication that is initially non-binding. Those at the top can also call on organisations at the grassroots not to oppose each other in principle, because no principle disagreement exists between peasant organisations at the national level.

Aims of the struggle

The aim of the STN’s struggle is to create a social order that is just and prosperous as desired by the founders of the Indonesian nation. Although some of the basic rights of the people are guaranteed under the 1945 Constitution, they are not implemented by the country’s leaders, particularly in the post-New Order regime period. This awakening must start from efforts at developing rural communities in general and the peasant class in particular, because: 1) development requires the existence of food sovereignty; 2) the majority of Indonesian people still live in rural areas; and 3) there are examples in many other countries that development and national industry can be achieved if the country is able to take off from a process of improving the peasant class and rural communities.

Political parties

Struggle at the socio-economic level is obviously not enough and requires struggle at the socio-political level. The STN itself has had the experience of being an initiator in the establishment of POPOR (the Party of United Popular Opposition) and most recently Papernas. But learning from this experience, building a party can be so consuming that the needs and the internal organisation’s strength to struggle for the demands of the STN’s peasant members can be forgotten. This is a model that is not quite right, because building a political party for the parliamentary movement cannot abandon the building of an extra-parliamentary socio-economic movement. Both have to be undertaken and be mutually supportive.

The 2009 elections

The STN, as one of the initiators of Papernas, had hoped that Papernas could become an alternative party to contest the 2009 elections. But now, because Papernas has been unable to or not successful enough in supporting the mission that was put forward by STN, the STN cannot see anything positive in the existing contestants in the 2009 elections.


2. Iwan, Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA)

The situation for farmers 10 years after the fall of Suharto

The current situation in the agrarian sector is contradictive. On the one hand, large plantations and the agricultural industry such as seed providers are experiencing extraordinary advances. On the other hand, farmers continue to face problems because they do not own land on an adequate economic scale, so agricultural production is no longer enough to support farmers’ livelihoods and they must seek additional sources of incomes, such as becoming motorcycle taxi drivers (ojek) and so forth. In addition to this, since the consolidation of the post-Suharto regime, the rate of land take overs [by big companies] has also increased until it has become similar to the Suharto era.

With regard to non-land related problems, the trend is now worse than during the Suharto era, because the price of fuel is tending to increase, so agricultural production input costs have also tend to rise, while increasing commodity prices has not tended to have had a significant influence on farmers because export tax increases by companies and agricultural traders is being born by the farmers. With regard to the widespread import of agricultural products, the essence of the problem is that business administration since the Suharto era has hurt Indonesian agricultural products. So the most important issue for farmers is genuine agrarian reform.

The currents state of the peasant movement

There are three problems in the peasant movement at present. First, the bonds of solidarity within the peasant movement at the moment are still based on agrarian conflicts. So farmers join a union or line up with farmers from other sub-districts because they are both involved in a particular agrarian conflict with a company. Such bonds have limitations, because the goal of the peasant movement is not just to resolve agrarian conflicts. These bonds of solidarity must be transformed towards something that is more productive in character based on joint land management in the form of joint enterprises such as cooperatives. Second, the peasant movement has yet to succeed in attracting farmers that are facing non-land related management problems, whereas there are also many conflicts that arise not because of non land-related conflicts, such as the availability of fertilizer and so forth. Third, the peasant movement is still unable to unit the rural (agricultural) and urban (industrial) problems, where the conditions in rural areas are closely related to urban conditions, even with global conditions, for example the over-supply of labour from the villages influences the bargaining power of trade unions in the cities.

Peasant movement unity

In terms of issues, within the peasant movement everyone is in agreement, that is the need for genuine agrarian reform. Here, peasant unions at the national level could be pushed to form a national confederation so that the demands of the peasant movement are better understood. What has become a problem is that peasant unions also face concrete situations on the ground such as land takeovers by companies and so forth, and there is a gap between these concrete conditions and the discourse on agrarian reform and the unity of the peasant movement. Likewise, there has been no cooperation to resolve these concrete conditions or to work out a roadmap to transform peasant unions that could come out of joint education and practical work on the ground.

Unity or cooperation of the peasant movement with other social movements, such as the labour movement and students, is also important in order to be able to bring global problems into the conscious of the peasant class. This need for multi-sector unity is actually already understood by some organisations, but the lengthy process in this direction has not yet started in a sustainable manner. Meeting that what has taken place to date is often just based on momentum, such as during the World Trade Organisation conference.

Aims of the struggle

The KPA’s concept of agrarian reform is uniting the [problems in the] social system, starting with rural (farmers) to urban (industrial) problems, to bring this together to return to the social aims of the Indonesian state. The KPA itself believes that the three [main] rural issues are: 1) the lack of and effective use of advanced technology; 2) excess labour and: 3) the lack of productive access to the land. These problems could be overcome through village and farmer owned enterprises that manage a division of labour (diversification) that is mutually supportive. This system could improve productivity because it would hold down input [costs] and at the same time resolves the problem of excess labour and reduce the flow of labour to the cities. This would be a trial of practical socialism, which would transform one structure into the industrial world, bearing in mind that since the Dutch colonial period Indonesian agriculture has functioned simply to supply raw materials to the advanced countries.

Political parties

There are already many peasant organisations that are progressive and understand the need for political struggle in the form of advancing the agenda of agrarian reform into an agenda of taking power, because it would indeed be impossible for the peasant movement alone to influence those in power. But the problem is the readiness of the peasant unions themselves, because in confronting repression there are those within the peasant movement who are building coalitions with particular sections of the political elite. Meaning these movements will have to calculate that if they are pushed to build an independent peasant movement and sever all relations with the elite that have protected them up until now, there are risks related to their land and the repression they will face.

The 2OO9 elections

Iwan is not convinced that the 2009 elections will be able to fix the people’s problems, because these problems are related to the global economic situation. In the case of people’s political parties such as the United People's Party (PPR), if they can garner a significant vote in the 2009 elections, perhaps there are hopes that things could proceed in a better direction. But for activists that have joined the traditional parties, there is not much hope, because they can only take up their private agenda and not the people’s agenda. If the aim of addressing the elections is to organise, it would be easier to organise by campaigning around the fuel price increases, the increase in the price of basic goods and so forth rather than campaigning in the 2009 elections.


3. Rully, Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI)

The situation for farmers 10 years after the fall of Suharto

The situation for farmers over the last years has become increasingly difficult because of the liberalisation of the agricultural sector that continues to be promoted by the government. Likewise at the moment, the government is pushing farmers to change their patterns of planting and food cultivation for the needs of industry, such as agro-fuel crops, but without providing any price guarantees, so that farming activities have become like gambling, now planting a certain crop because they say the crops is good, but when they are harvested the price is no longer good. Not to mention the problems of disasters such as floods that have quite a significant influence on agricultural production, which should be overcome by the government by providing guarantees or insurance.

The principle issues facing farmers

Because of its history, SPI was established out of land problems and its members are small-scale farmers or farmers without land, so what has become the principle issue or program for SPI has been agrarian reform, particularly land ownership. Only after dealing with this can we discuss other issues such as technology, seed and so forth. There are other peasant organisations that have taken up the problem of agrarian reform because of the ownership structure or the behaviour of land owning companies, which are very unjust and need to be overhauled to become fairer.

The state of the peasant movement 10 years after Suharto

Currently there are a number of peasant organisations at the national level and the communication that exists between several of these organisations is quite good. In terms of principles, they are all in agreement about how to pursue agrarian reform. The differences that exist are about approach. But for the political struggle, more joint discussion is indeed needed in order that the peasant movement can grow strong enough to pressure the government.

Peasant movement unity

Peasant movement unity, if indeed this has become an organisational goal, could be built both from above and from below. The SPI itself, in order to overcome fragmentation and move towards unity has already changed from a federated to a unionist structure and is currently carrying out a further organisational overhaul. With regard to unity between peasant organisations, the need actually exists, but the obstacle lies with the issue of trust, which is indeed not a finished product that will simply materialise, but must be tested through joint work, developing maturity and mutual respect. In addition to this, the issue of different groups claiming authority over a given support base must be resolved, because there are indeed farmers who are members of more than one peasant organisation. The SPI itself has already suggested to other peasant organisations that this problem could be resolved by dividing up areas of work and though mutual consolidation, because the peasant movement will not develop if it only works to take away each other’s base of support.

Multi-sector unity is also needed because the farming sector cannot advance by itself if it wishes to carry out comprehensive reform. There is an interrelationship between farming sector problems and other sectors. For example, there are farmers whose family members are migrant workers and it is important to push the migrant labour movement to see the roots of their problems, such as why they go overseas to become migrant workers. Here of course, communication is needed, meetings and discussions so that the struggle can have a common view and aim. The SPI itself has been pushing for the establishment of a fisherpeople and workers organisations, specifically for migrant workers. But it also needs to be understood that although we have already reached this stage, is there still a need to strengthen the individual sectors first or are we able to pursue both at once.

Aims of the struggle

The goal of the SPI’s struggle is agrarian reform towards a structure that is more just in the agrarian sector. Here, agrarian reform is not just limited to land distribution, but also how it can be sustainable, meaning there must be support in terms of seed, prices and infrastructure. With regard to the question of the state, unity is needed not just to reform socio-economic development, but also to change its political form in the direction of democratic and populist politics in order to counter the powers of capital.

Political parties

We must indeed take political power and the discourse on a party has become one of the discussions within the SPI. But there has yet to be an organisational decision whether or not to form our own political party, join an existing party or take the extra-parliamentary road. The most important thing for the SPI at the moment is no mater what the means to carry out this reform, there must be internal organisational consolidation, because if the organisation is in order and united, whatever decisions are taken they will be easy to undertake. The SPI is not closed to the possibility of building a party jointly with other organisations because unity is indeed important to fight the current political system and oligarchy.

The 2OO9 elections

In organisational terms, the SPI has yet to determine its political stand with regard to the 2009 elections. Although personally, Rully is of the view that the 2009 elections will disrupt the work of consolidating the people’s movements, because the liberal system of politics makes the people think pragmatically. Here, the 2009 elections need to be addressed, for example, by pushing the people to speak, through their organisations, which they will not participate in the elections, if for example, land is not provided to farmers or workers’ wages are not raised to a reasonable level. This could be conveyed not just through demands, but also by boycott actions. In addition to this, golput (white movement, abstaining from voting) voters have to be consolidated into a political movement. If the people cannot be pushed to the point of boycott actions, the minimum in the 2009 elections is political eduction and achieving victories, including among others proving land to farmers. With regard to activists that have joined the traditional political parties, their goal appears to be more one of personal gain rather than organisational interests.


Fisherpeople’s organisations

Arbani Nikahi, Chairperson Saijaan Fishers Union (INSAN)

The situation for fisherpeople 10 years after the fall of Suharto

Reformasi has not brought any significant changes to fisherpeople’s lives. They continue to suffer and the government is still controlled by parties that only prioritise themselves and their own group’s interests.

The principle issues facing fisherpeople

The urgent issue for fisherpeople is the problem of fuel and the marketing of the fish catch. These issues are not just urgent for INSAN fisherpeople, but for fisherpeople throughout South Kalimantan, even perhaps throughout Indonesia.

The current state of the fisherpeople’s movement

Up until now, INSAN fishers are still struggling over the price of fuel which is becoming steadily higher while supplies are becoming scarcer. But INSAN itself already has a cooperative. In Kota Baru itself, there is a communication network between fishers and INSAN has even developed relations with other regions.

Aims of the struggle

The aims of INSAN’s struggle is first, to reform the government so that it has a vision that holds the values of openness and siding with the people in the highest esteem, and second, building a society that has a level of awareness about the existing conditions and is able to organise itself.

People’s movement unity

Unity is indeed a necessity, but it has to be supported by social autonomy that can only be created with an economic wing that is able to support the people’s movement. This need for unity itself is understood by other movement groups but the obstacle is economic problems.

Political parties

Political parties are a strategic necessity and it would be better if the various elements in the movement built a party jointly rather than building individual parties.

The 2OO9 elections

The 2009 elections are not important because it will not produce anything. So INSAN’s position with regard to the 2009 elections is to golput (abstaining from voting).


Urban and rural poor organisations

Marlo, General Chairperson Indonesian Poor People’s Union (SRMI)

The situation for the poor 10 years after the fall of Suharto

In economic terms, the impact of 10 years of reformasi on poor communities has brought absolutely no benefits. By way of example, many small-scale enterprises were bankrupted after being hit by the [economic] crisis. In political terms, although it has not been very significant, there has been change in the form of opening up democratic space that has been relatively beneficial for the people’s movement.

Strategic issues

The strategic issue at present is neoliberalism, which results in the privatisation or selling off state owned companies to foreigners. This privatisation is involving vital assets such as hospitals, which are a basic necessity for the people. This hurts the people because it results in high prices.

The current state of the poor people’s movement

Currently there are many people who practice and study Marxist ideologies, including figures who originate from Indonesia, such as Indonesia’s founding President Sukarno. But the people’s movement at the moment is becoming increasingly fragmented.

People’s movement unity

At the moment, the people’s movement – including within this the urban poor movement – is fragmented and difficult to unite. The unity that once existed was only on paper or limited to momentum such as the momentum of the election or regional heads or because of the existence of a particular issue, but it has never reach the strategic level. This fragmentation could have a bad impact on the growth of the movement itself in the future.

The obstacles to movement unity are not because there are problems in the programs or aims of the respective organisations, but because first, the individual organisations perhaps have their own respective hidden agendas that are not revealed openly. Secondly, within the urban poor sector movement, there are indeed few urban poor organisations and they are local in character.

Aims of the struggle

The aim of the SRMI’s struggle is a social order that is truly democratic, just, clean and populist. In a society such as this, the state would side with the people, not like the neoliberal state at the moment, which if seen from its policies, is very anti-poor.

Political parties

The aim of the people’s movement is to take power. In the current era of democracy, one of the means to do this is through a political party. So building a party is one of the forms of the struggle. But it can also be by participating in or supporting parties that concretely, have a clear and credible program, and takes correct positions. The SRMI itself is involved in supporting the building of Papernas. There is a need for the building of this party to be carried out jointly by the movements that have grown out of the reformasi era and have the same vision and enemies, because it will be difficult for them to carry it out individually.

2OO9 elections

We must respond to the 2009 general elections, because taking part will determine the advance or retreat of the people’s movement as well as the Indonesian nation. In the 2009 elections, the Indonesian people should support the parties and candidates that side with the people, who are competent, have good values, a high level of commitment, clear programs and not bad individuals, such as those who are corrupt or committed human rights violations. Here, the people must be sharp, don’t be lied to and don’t elect a president or party that is not prepared to undertake a political contract. With regard to activists that have joined the big political paries, this is happening because at the moment, they have left their previous organisations, so that they are acting based on their own ideas. We could control them jointly and if necessary, we could supply them with materials in order that they understand the problems that are occurring and the grassroots level or the people’s movement.


Environmental organisations

Andreat, General Secretary Green Indonesia Union (SHI)

The situation for the people 10 years after the fall of Suharto

Because during the period of Suharto’s fall, foreign capital won its fight with those forces within the country that wanted reform, what then occurred was the liberalisation and privatisation of all sectors. This worsened the situation for the people, so some people lost their trust in the government and the people’s resistance increased. On the one hand, this situation ‘ripened’ the people’s movement. But on the other hand, those who had envisioned reform, while reform never came, were then perhaps frustrated, and they then began to think that Suharto’s New Order period was better. If there is no change in the leadership of the movement, it is quite possible that the people will start dreaming of a ‘just king’ (leader, saviour of the people) and this has the potential to again bring about an authoritarian leadership.

The current state of the people’s movement

The people’s movement is still not very big and the people’s political consciousness is yet to reach the level of a critical consciousness. This can be seen, for example, from the persistence of money polities. Despite this, generally and among middle-class layers, there has been an increase in awareness about the issue of imperialism or neoliberalism. So there are two principle problems in the people’s movement. First there is fragmentation and second, there is still a disparity between different elements within the people’s movement.

Aims of the struggle

For Andreas, there are at least two political aims. First, direct democracy, which is organised starting from the community level, for example decisions about a particular mining investment must be made by local people who live in and around the mining site. Second, the economy must be determined by the public. Here, socialism, as a model of collective management is one of the models. So in the context of the struggle against neoliberalism, economic collectives need to be built that are autonomous, and support each other at the regency level so goods from outside do not expand into the regions.

People’s movement unity

The need for unity is actually well understood, but there is the problem of fragmentation, which is cased by at least four factors. First, because more and more people are working on specific issues. Second, a lack of humility between people in the movement. Third, a crisis of leadership, because barriers are created between different elements, so there is no one who can really be trusted by all elements. The other option to address the leadership problems is a collective leadership model but this is also difficult to build. Fourth, there are different readings of the current situation in Indonesia. In addition to this, there is there also problems such as occurred in the People's Movement Conference of Unity (KPGR), where when there was agreement at the national level, it was uncertain the same thing was taking place in the regions.

Bearing this fragmentation in mind, movement unity may not be able to aim for a target that is too high, but rather be started from a limited expansion. For example, left and green groups, each build and consolidate their forces first, and later at some point converge. Don’t agree to unite from the start, because the green movement still has people who will pull out if they are pressured to unite.

The question of political parties

When the SHI was established it had already been decided to build a party in 2011, but this is currently going through a process of answering what form of party will be built. Some say a green party, because they feel environmental issues are the urgent question, bearing in mind that democracy and prosperity are vulnerable without ensuring the carrying capacity of the environment.

The other debate is over the issue of the relationship between the SHI and the party that will be formed in the future. There are two view here, that is: 1) a view that states that it will be the SHI itself that will become a party and; 2) a view that states that the SHI as a mass organisation must continue to exist while building a party. Andreas himself believes that the SHI as a mass organisation should continue to exist and the masses will be active within the SHI, while its party will become a cadre party with a limited membership.

2OO9 elections

With regard to the 2009 elections, the SHI’s big agenda is the delegitimisation of the system. But whatever stand it takes in the elections, in order to bring about reform, the mass movements must be strengthened. Actually there is a potential that can be built from choosing to golput (white movement, abstaining from voting), but there are not enough people in the movement to organise these golput voters. Golput itself, although it represents a form of political consciousness, is not accompanied by more active resistance.


Student organisations

Ken, Indonesian Student Union (SMI)

The state of education 10 years after the fall of Suharto

The education sector in Indonesia is increasingly moving towards privatisation. This appears in the form of regulations, such as the Law on the National Eduction System. The impact of the implementation of these regulations is first, depoliticisation both in the form of prohibitions on student mass organisations developing their activities on campus and because education is being turned into a simple business, so that it neglects quality education with a populist character, which in its turn becomes an obstacle for the development of progressive forces on campus. Secondly, the draft Law on the Education Legal Board (BHP) that will close the opportunities for low-income people to obtain a tertiary education. All of this will further impede the strength of the productive forces in Indonesia.

The principle issues facing the student movement

The most urgent issue is how to campaign for the broadest possible capitalisation (sic) of the eduction sector, because this is closely linked with the state of productive forces in Indonesia, which is a prerequisite to strengthen the national industry. There have been two organisations that have been quite consistent over the issue the draft BHP law – the SMI and the National Student Front (FMN). The difference between them is that the FMN's focus is on providing 20 percent of the budget for education, while the SMI’s focus has been on education that is free, scientific and has a populist vision.

The current state of the student movement

In terms of issues, there are still student movements that take up general issues that very distant from students level of consciousness. If the student movement wants to win a certain demand, so that concretely it can become a basic experience that demonstrates the effectiveness of the student struggle, these general issues must be combined with concrete issues.

In terms of the movement, generally, the student movement is indeed weak, but it still exists. At the national level, there is still the SMI and the FMN which are progressive in character, while at the local level, many student organisations are still emerging that do not have an affiliation with an organisation at the national level. The perspective of local struggles must indeed be changed into a national perspective. Now, issues of the capitalisation of education cannot radicalise students as it did in 1998 because the student movement at the moment does not yet have a clear perspective in reading the state of society.

Aims of the struggle

For the SMI the aim of the struggle in national liberation, which will be achieved only by means of developing a strong national industry with a populist character, genuine structural agrarian reform, the nationalisation of vital assets and the abolition of the foreign debt. All of this can be carried out through the mass movements by the people’s sectors and organisations.

Student movement unity

The need for solidarity in the student movement is already understood. The SMI itself has already succeeded in building a strategic consolidation with a number of local organisations. In late 2007 for example, the Liberation Study Group (KSP). In the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan merged with the SMI. Currently, the SMI is also in the process of developing a more strategic consolidation with the Unikarta Student Action Front (FAMU) and other local organisations that exist in Jakarta, Lampung (South Sumatra), Lumajang (East Java) and Jember (East Java). So ideas about struggling separately are starting to disappear, the problem is how can all of this be united.

In order to achieve the aim of national liberation, it requires that the student movement unite with the other people’s sectors. The SMI itself is currently undertaking joint work with a number of other people’s organisations, both at the national as well as the local level, such as the Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM), the Karawang Peasants Union (Sepetak, West Java), the Greater Jakarta Workers Federation of Struggle (FPBJ) in Cikarang (West Java), the Batang Farmers Federation of Struggle (FPPB, Central Java) and the Pekalongan Farmers Federation of Struggle (FPPP, Central Java).

Political parties

The SMI is not allergic to a political party, but the problem is what kind of political party. Political struggle through mass organisations does indeed have its limits. The SMI itself along with a number of organisations that have similar views are endeavouring to change the character of the social movements into a political movement. As a tool in the future it will of course be more revolutionary compared with the mass organisations.

The 2OO9 elections

The 2009 elections should be addressed as a way to enlarge the strength of the mass movements in the context of challenging the hegemony of the existing bourgeois parties. Here, there are many methods that could be undertaken, but this is dependent upon the reading of the territorial situation. What is more important than the 2009 elections is understanding the national situation in order that it can become a basis to propagandise more broadly in the context of building a bigger mass movement.


Social-political organisations

1. Irwansyah, Secretary General Working People’s Association (PRP)

The situation for the people 10 years after the fall of Suharto

Over the 10 years of reformasi, the disparities and contradictions between groups whose quality of life is deteriorating and those groups who have greater access to economic wealth has been growing ever larger. The groups whose quality of live has been deteriorating are those who depend upon waged labour including the unemployed. In the midst of this situation, the creation of new space for the movement of capital has in fact broadened (privatisation and so forth) and the creation of a “new middle-class” as a social class that is not fully in control of capital but benefits in relative terms from the movement of neoliberal capital. It is this middle class that has given rise to fantasies that are also used to lull the poor as a whole into believing that anyone can improve the quality of their life if they are just prepared to work hard. The reality shows however that those who work the hardest are the social classes that are most oppressed, while the oppressor class lives without having to work hard.

The principle issues facing the people

The problem in the decline in the quality of social life is very closely linked with the problem of who is in power. Over the last 10 years political power has facilitated and been facilitated by the power of capital. The ever worsening crisis is a consequence of the power of the capitalist class that sacrifices the majority of people that do not have access to capital. This is why the PRP is proposing that a solution to the crisis must be based on a perspective of working people’s power – those who have become the victims of the crisis.

The state of the people’s movement post-Suharto

The people’s movement at the moment is facing a unique situation. On the one had, the movement succeeded in opening up greater political space when it toppled the Suharto dictatorship, but on the other hand, the movement is confused, because there has been no direct benefit that can be enjoyed after it succeeded in toppling the Suharto dictatorship. The movement to this day still carries out mass actions, but is confused about how to direct these actions. A crisis of political concepts has occurred that has resulted in the introduction and influence of counter-reformist ideas, such as concepts of sectarianism based on ethnic group, race and religion, which has in fact obscured the real problems.

As it happens there are left groups that actually still play a big role in the people’s movements at the moment. But there has been a retreat in the level of organisation of the left movement itself. They have also failed to put forward a program or concept about people’s power. What has occurred then is that these left groups continue to have an influence in people’s movement but have failed to lead the people’s movement.

People’s movement unity

The need to build joint unity clearly exists. The formation of the PRP itself was stimulated by this need, which is to address the left groups that are so splintered. Here, what is needed is a new consolidation that can learn from past mistakes. But this will first require a process to see whether this effort can proceed.

With regard to the obstacles to unity, at the programmatic level, there are actually not any differences that are too striking. Moreover at the rhetorical level, the issues that are taken by various left movement groups are mutually interconnected, such as anti-neoliberalism and so forth. The problem lies more with the inability to manage the consolidation process, because there is rarely any study of the processes that have already been undertaken. In addition to this, the spread of ideas of consolidation is still limited to elite organisational circles of the movement, as if the masses do not have the capacity or the need to consolidate, whereases at the level of actions or response, the stagnation of the elite is precisely what is being broken through by mass initiatives.

Right now, the process of the consolidation of the movement appears to be weakening, because there are still many problems in the process to which a solution is yet to be found. As a consequence, many people have given up in the consolidation of the movement. But optimism towards the consolidation of the movement must continue to be socialised, because the potential that exists is actually very big.

Aims of the struggle

The aim of the struggle for the PRP is a society that is based upon equality. Here, equality will never be achieved if the social system is established on patterns of relations that perpetuate the oppression of one group or class over another group or class. State power in society that is inequitable tends to facilitate classes that want to maintain inequality in society. So a society that is based upon equality is a socialist society.

Political parties

Political parties are one of the political tools of the oppressed classes to achieve the ideals of socialism. Political parties cannot restrict their role to the needs of formal political representation, but must relate to all strategic needs in order to realise the goal of socialism. Here, elections are not the goal, but only a space that can be tactically used to achieve strategic goals. But currently, it is precisely the procedural democratic hegemony that places elections at the final goal of for the existence of political parties, so many social movement groups who have formed parties have been trapped in the complexity of the electoral procedures and have failed to break down the limitations that hinder the achievement of these more strategic goals.

A political party has already become a necessity for the movement. This can be seen from the phenomena in the labour movement since 2006 which gave birth to the slogan “If the workers hold power, the people will be prosperous!”, which implicitly contains a desire on the part of the trade union leadership to take power politically. But the problem is that in managing the process to produce a party that is no only able to fight in tactical arenas such as elections, but one that is also able to achieve its strategic goals. With regard to the 2009 elections, although leftist organisations are not ready to participate, it could still become a momentum to consolidate and enlarge the movement, bearing in mind that there is a crisis of legitimacy exists among the parties that have failed to accommodate the people’s aspirations.

The 2OO9 elections

The 2009 elections represent an extremely important momentum, but not just in terms of the results that are achieved through the elections, but rather in terms of the possibility of change that could be generated through the non-electoral path.

The experience of 1997-98 shows that the greater the people’s antipathy towards the processes of the institutionalisation the forces that exist, the greater also are the possibilities of creative energy to generate a breakthrough in reform. What form will this breakthrough take, it is this that still has to be worked on by the people’s movement at the moment. The people’s movement, together, must increase its political consciousness and make use of the people whose positions have been hurt in this process of marginalisation to directly confront the system that exists.

With regard to former activists that have joined political parties such as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and so forth, there is a difference in consciousness between them and the masses who continue to learn. While former activists are increasingly enthusiastic about joining parties, the people on the other hand are increasingly reluctant to support these parties. The cause of this is because after experiencing political failures in the reformasi movement, and seeing that the forces that are corrupt and authoritarian have never successfully been punished for their errors, these former activist then think with the logic of what advantage and disadvantage can be gained and no longer in the framework of social reform.

The stand of the PRP itself towards the elections is to call for the formation of a [working] class or working people’s party. Even if a party such as this is unable to take part in the 2009 elections, it could still be used as an arena of consolidation by the people’s movements who no longer trust the existing parties. There is also a possibility that the PRP will take a position of opposing or boycotting the 2009 elections.


2. Zely Ariane, Spokesperson People’s Democratic Party-Political Committee of the Poor (KPRM-PRD)

The situation for the people 10 after the fall of Suharto

The economic livelihood of the people is deteriorating as a consequence of the neoliberal economic that have been pursued since the Suharto era. The burden of the foreign debt is sapping the state budget and there is no funding portion that is adequate to improve the people’s productive forces. In addition to this, the capacity of domestic industrial to absorb the productive forces has also been destroyed by foreign capital that has no interest in investing its capital to develop the national industry and prefers to speculate on the financial markets, in portfolios, bonds and shares. The destruction of the people’s purchasing power, unemployment, mass dismissals and outsourcing are a consequence of this neoliberal economic model.

In the political field meanwhile, since the fall of former President Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid), there are three political forces that are dominant: 1) the New Order forces in the shape of the Golkar Party; 2) the fake reformists, particularly those parties that became parasites on the 1998 reform movement and afterwards; and 3) the military. The fall of Gus Dur itself was a reflection of how the military supported the first and second groups to bring Gus Dur down. And now, the political tendency of these three groups is to become the agents of foreign capital.

The principle issues facing the people at the moment

The source of the people’s problems at the moment is the low level of their productive capacity. There are a number of factors that have become obstacles to the people’s productivity, such as the low levels of education and health along with poor infrastructure; low wage levels, problems with the quality agricultural land, the provision of capital, technology, prices and distribution; the lack of employment opportunities and so forth. So in the midst of the destruction of the people’s purchasing power, the thing that could unite all of the above problems is the issue of the increase in the price of basic commodities.

State of the people’s movement

Currently there are two significant spectrums within the movement. First, the movements that still have a link with those of the 1980s and 1990s, such as the Green Indonesia Union (SHI), the Working People’s Association (PRP), the Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM), the Indonesian Farmers Federation (FSPI), the National Students Front (FMN) and so forth. This spectrum is more open to programs to solve neoliberalism radically or in stages and their action committees have demands that are quite radical politically. Second, the spontaneous, fragmented and economist movement, which does not have or only has a small link with the movements of the 1980s and 1990s. Included within this movement is the response or resistance by the people that statistically could reach the thousands every month. Their actions are also becoming richer with revolutionary methods such as occupations, strikes and so forth. This spectrum is far broader and must be united and influenced by the first spectrum of the movement.

Aims of the struggle

The KPRM-PRD’s aim is to struggle for a socialist society, because socialism is the one and only solution to capitalism that is destroying humanity’s future. Under capitalism, as a result of the ownership and control by a small handful of people over the companies that produce products needed by humanity, suffering is occurring in the midst of an abundance of goods. This ownership is the principle obstacle to improving human productivity, a basis for which has already been provided by advances in scientific knowledge and technology.

Now, the development of socialism has two prerequisites. First, democracy, that guarantees the fullest possible direct participation of the people and that does not end in elections or the ballot paper, such as referendums and communal councils ala Venezuela. Second, the centralisation of all funding components under the state and under the control of the people. This is necessary to: 1) fund the emergency needs of the people, which if they are not immediately addressed could reduce the people’s productivity; and 2) funding national industrialisation by and for the people.

People’s movement unity

Movement unity is absolutely essential to provide self-confidence to the people and to build the people’s hopes to take power. The pressing issues are: 1) laying aside sectarianism and preconceptions; 2) uniting those programs of struggle that can be agreed upon; and 3) organising regular conferences to discuss and debate scientifically the programs that are unable or not yet able to be unified.

Political parties

Political parties are a necessity for the movement and their function is political education for the poor to build their own forces. Under bourgeois representative democracy, the movement is given an opportunity to form political parties and step forward as participants in elections, as if gaining seats in the parliament is only a way to advance the democratic struggle. Real change cannot be achieved through parliament. Here, these efforts to get into parliament will only be beneficial to the people, if it is based on the necessity to motivate the direct involvement of the people and confront the people with the state as the obstacle to their participation. Without this, movement parties will become no different to the other traditional parties, which believe that change can be achieved only by gaining seats in the parliament.

Currently, the reality is that a number of elements in the second spectrum of the movement have already started to form their own political parties and this represents a form of political advance for the movement, because in the past the movement has been faced by the problem of an anti-party sentiment. The current problem however is no longer the establishment of a party, but instead one of unity. Because without unity, it will impossible for these parties to succeed in becoming electoral participants, bearing in mind that the present obstacles to becoming a contestant in the elections can only be broken down with united mobilisations. This is what the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) has failed to do.

The 2OO9 elections

Given the current composition of the participants in the 2009 general elections and the increasing cooling of the people’s enthusiasm towards elections, it is impossible for the 2009 elections to answer the people’s problems. Meanwhile alternative party forces such as the United People's Party (PPR), who are not yet very popular, and Papernas, whose structure is inadequate as a result of a split within its structures that opposed forming a coalition, will find it difficult to take part in the elections. Moreover Papernas’s image has been destroyed as a consequence of its plan to merge with the Islamic based Star Reform Party (PBR) – which has now been rejected by the PBR – and carrying out a secret negotiations to form colation with the Democratic Party of Reform (PDP, a split off from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle).

With regard to Papernas and its other activities directed to joining the traditional political parties, they have begun to be coopted by the elite, the fake reformists and even remnants of the New Order. Politics such as this represent a demoralisation on the part of activities in the first spectrum of the movement, that do not want to think hard about how to cultivate the current and advantageous objective situation and also because of careerist opportunism. This last point cannot be ignored, because it will destroy the movement and the people’s trust in its own forces and political alternatives. They must be criticised and if it become increasingly detrimental, must be opposed.

The position that must be taken with regard to the 2009 elections is to unite all the political expressions of the people’s struggle and the movements under coalitions, conferences and the unification of mobilisations with various demands and solutions for the people, in order to challenge the hegemony of the existing parties and the remnants of the old elite forces. Without uniting this political expression, all of the election calls, weather they are for a boycott or to elect the PPR or Papernas, will not be able to be successfully undertaken or gain the support of the people.


3. Harris Sitorus, Secretary General National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas)

The situation for the people 10 years after the fall of Suharto

In general terms, there has been no significant change in social welfare over the 10 years since the fall of Suharto. This can be seen from the gap between levels of income and expenditure, where half of the Indonesian population have an income of less than 18,000 rupiah a day, whereas there is a need to buy rice and so forth. This is already included in the category of poverty, but officially the government states that the number of poor in Indonesia is only around 39 million or 16.7 percent, whereas it is actually three times this number.

The principle problems facing the people at the moment

The urgent problem in Indonesia is the lack of welfare that is a caused by incorrect policies, because of the grip of imperialism. Indonesia itself actually has a great deal of natural wealth, but it is not used for the benefit of the ordinary people. The state, which should be the servant of the public has instead liberalised all sectors of the economy. This is what we must take back, because we are the owners of this land of Indonesia.

This discourse, in principle, has also been developing in groups outside of Papernas. Moreover many bourgeois politicians have also been taking up the issue of national autonomy, although their seriousness is open to question. But a means has not in fact been found to correctly put the above discourse into practice. Hopefully groups or individuals that understand it can continue to mutually discuss the problem in order that it can become a joint issue that in turn can become a new political force.

State of the people’s movement

Following the fall of Suharto, many critical individuals emerged and on the one hand, this was positive, because it signified that people were struggling though their own methods and endeavouring to advance these means of struggle. But this situation of struggling individually could not be maintained, and this has been the reason for the weakness of the people’s movement over the last 10 years. Unity is needed, not just as a perspective, but with concrete measures.

People’s movement unity

Since 2001, there have been many concepts of unity. In general terms, among various movement elements, there has been a similarity in the vision and views about the basic problem in Indonesia and the means to overcome it. The problem is – and this has existed since the Suharto era – in practice these various elements have had unique and different characteristics. For example, in viewing the mass movements, there are those that prioritise moving quickly and there are those that prioritise prudence and strengthening the basis first before a large mass movement can exist. In addition to this, after Suharto was toppled, there were different experience of struggle and new ideas.

One of the best possibilities to apply is to mutually carry out things that can be jointly agreed on and to undertake individually things that cannot be jointly agreed to, while testing this in practice to obtain an understanding about which practice is the most correct. In addition to this, elements in the movement also need to discuss how, if full unity cannot yet be achieved, to mutually support each other. Papernas itself is of the view that unity in concrete terms, is building a political party, because the problem in Indonesia is a problem of power, bearing in mind the forces that have been in power up until now have not been able to pursue that which is being demanded by the people.

Aims of the struggle

Papernas’s concept is one of national unity. This concept sets out from the fact that the Indonesian people in general, from all classes or sectors, are confronting the grip of imperialism through neoliberalism. For Papernas, it is this that must be resolved first of all. Indonesia must rise up first and become a nation that is autonomous though a national government, so that its tendency is populist in general or progressive nationalist. So the fight with domestic capitalism can be continued later after this initial stage is finished, although this does not mean that Papernas excludes this fight right now.

Political parties

In a situation where state institutions have been modified in such a way that is it difficult for it to be accessed by the movement, unity is thus indeed a necessity for the movement if it is to compete with the parties that already dominate. Communication in this direction must be built in order that in 2010-2011 or other years, the movement can unite its forces. All parties also need a concrete picture about the practical steps needed for unity, so that it is not just groping around, which could then lead to splits and conflicts.

Papernas itself is projecting to take state power, because real power lies in the state institutions, such as the parliament and so fourth. It is here that political power is established, not in the streets. So, Papernas is currently endeavouring to combine extra-parliamentary methods with parliamentary methods to broaden its influence. This is why Papernas is endeavouring as fully as possible to be involved in the 2009 elections. So the form of an open mass party has been taken so that Papernas can become a tool to accelerate the political consciousness of the marginal layers, bearing in mind the potential for this exists and can be seen from the unrest that is currently spreading in society.

The 2OO9 elections

The 2009 elections are strategic, because it is linked with the issue of power. For Papernas all issues that are linked with power are strategic in character, because all of these issues will determine what Indonesia wants to become in the future. The state institutions that exist at the moment cannot of course promise anything, but in de facto and concrete terms a movement that could make revolutionary change possible does not exist. So, no matter how bad our state institutions are, they must still be intervened in so that we do not just become spectators who simply accept their policies. Although we must indeed work on concrete issues in society, at the same time we must also put forward the perspective of holding power. That is what Papernas is currently trying to do.

In the 2009 elections, the elements of the movement must take a stand and not become apolitical, such as carrying out golput (white movement, abstaining from voting). If indeed there is no alternative, it is better to carry out a boycott than to golput. Papernas itself is currently seeking another way so that it can be involved in the 2009 elections and if successful, colleagues in the movement can elect Papernas people. If this turns out to be a failure, we can elect other alternative forces such as United People’s Party (PPR). If not, perhaps in other parties there are good individuals, who have been tested and can represent this social unrest. We could elect them with the hope that after they are in power, they will not become free individuals. Papernas itself does not trust individuals such as those in the Golkar Party, because they must become a part of an organisation or collective.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

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