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Suharto's Burma Trip Could Spark Mi



Subject: Suharto's Burma Trip Could Spark Militarism, Warns Opposition  Leader

Suharto's Burma Trip Could Spark Militarism, Warns Opposition Leader
By Andreas Harsono
(Jakarta)
	 An opposition figure has questioned the purpose of President Suharto
visiting the military regime in Burma, speculating that the visit might
revitalise fascism and militarism in the historically-troubled southeast
Asian region.
	Indonesian opposition leader Sri-Bintang Pamungkas told The Nation
yesterday that the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) in
Rangoon had long imported military doctrines and techniques from Jakarta.
	''Suharto is now looking for friends to excuse the practice of fascism in
Indonesia, to legitimise the practice of having only one single state
ideology, one single party system and widespread intelligence services,"
Pamungkas said.
	The former legislator said that former fascist-communist countries in
southeast Asia, which include Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, could
easily adopt a renewed fascist-militaristic ideology. Suharto arrived in
Rangoon yesterday from Vientiane on the last leg of a tour to Cambodia, Laos
and Burma. The Indonesian president, who rose to power in 1965, visited
Burma in 1974 during the rule of Burmese strongman Ne Win.
	According to Pamungkas, the Slorc generals had adopted the Indonesian
doctrine of ''Dwifungsi Abri" which literally means the ''Armed Forces' Dual
Function" and principally justifies the involvement of active officers in
politics.
	An Indonesian representative in Rangoon once said the Burmese government
would like to imitate the Indonesian government in three key areas: the
Indonesian state ideology Pancasila, the 1945 constitution and the Dwifungsi
Abri.
	Rangoon has also learned from Jakarta sophisticated methods to suppress
dissent as well as intelligence techniques to divide-and-rule the opposition
in a bid to suppress Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi.
	''Suharto's move is very dangerous. He could incite the rise of militarism
here. He might build Asean [The Association of Southeast Asian Nations] into
a fascist-military block," said Pamungkas, referring to the Vietnam War, the
communism threat in Malaysia and southern Thailand, border conflicts between
Indonesia and Malaysia in the 1960s, as well as the civilian war in Cambodia
which concluded with the end of the Cold War. Indonesian officials said that
during his visit Suharto would sign a memorandum of understanding between
Citra Lamtoro Gung, a business group controlled by his eldest daughter Siti
Hardiyanti Rukmana, and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings.
	Indonesia has already begun cooperating with Burma in the cement and
tobacco industries and trading. Indonesia's PT Semen Cibinong said last
month that it would invest US$210 million (Bt5.25 billion) in building
cement plants in Burma.
	Other observers said Suharto wants to give his support to Laos, Cambodia
and Burma, which are expected to enter Asean in July. Asean's current
members are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.
	A human rights campaigner said in a separate interview that Suharto's
support for the military regime in Rangoon is supposed to be answered with
broader Asean support of Indonesia's stance on East Timor. ''It's parallel.
Suharto wants to get wider support on East Timor. Burma wants to get Asean
support as well as deal with international pressure," said Bonar Tigor
Naipospos of the Jakarta-based Pijar rights organisation.
	Pijar is among a few Indonesian NGOs which openly supported and displayed
Suu Kyi's picture during last year's pro-democracy street protests in
Jakarta in support of Indonesian leader Megawati Sukarnoputri. The protests
ended in serious riots on July 27.
	Naipospos said Suharto needs Burma, especially after East Timorese Bishop
Carlos Ximenes Belo and resistance leader Jose Ramos-Horta received the
prestigious Nobel Peace Prize Award in December.
	''Suharto wants to stress his stance that other countries, especially
Western ones, should not intervene in the internal affairs of countries like
Burma or Indonesia," he said, adding that despite freer trade and
globalisation, Suharto wants to stick to his own rule that politics should
be separated from human rights and democratisation issues.
	Naipospos also said that the international community should realise now
that Suharto had become the ''main guardian" of the Burmese generals. ''If
they want to put pressure on Burma, they have to put on their agendas the
name of Suharto as well," he added.
	The mouthpiece of the Burmese military regime, the <I>New Light of
Myanmar</I> newspaper, once dubbed the relationship between Indonesia and
Burma, ''Two Nations with a Common Identity" as it reported a sharp increase
in the exchange of official visits between the two governments.
	Indonesian officials including Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and Defence
Minister Edi Sudrajat visited Rangoon in February 1994 and November 1995,
respectively.
	Earlier, in August 1994, businessman Hutomo Mandala Putra of the Humpuss
business group and the youngest son of President Suharto also led a
high-profile business delegation to Rangoon.
	Slorc leader Senior Gen Than Shwe also met Suharto in Jakarta in June 1995
and in November 1996 while his aide, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, who heads the
intelligence service, travelled more frequently to Jakarta.
	The Burmese embassy in Jakarta is the largest among Burma's in southeast
Asia, demonstrating that Jakarta is crucial for Slorc.
	The Burmese ambassador, U Nyi Nyi Tant, a close associate of Khin Nyunt, is
portrayed as the spearhead of his nation's lobbying efforts in Jakarta,
which also hosts the Asean Secretariat.
	


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