But Wahid is unpredictable. According to a high-ranking military source, Wahid has signed an order to dismiss Sutarto before, so whether he will act on this threat remains a question. In any case, the political crisis in Indonesia clearly is intensifying. Some military units are on increased alert. And, worse still, the Army officer rumored to be in line to take Sutarto’s place is a radical Muslim.
Eighteen months ago, when he came to office, Wahid had broad support and personified the hopes and dreams of many Indonesians. But he squandered this support and Indonesia’s economy fell into dire straits. Wahid has told one friend that if he goes, the so called “new order” of former President Suharto will return with its autocratic trappings: limits on freedom of the press and of speech; a tainted legal system designed to benefit the elite, and larceny on a grand scale. Moreover, Wahid is said to believe that if he is removed, Indonesia will disintegrate.
Yet Wahid’s view was not shared by anyone I met on a recent trip to Indonesia. Indeed, most informed observers–even those in his government–question what will happen to the country if Wahid remains at the helm for a couple more months and the economy continues to deteriorate. Leading economists like Sri Mulyani Indrawati argued that the economy can be salvaged if its problems are addressed quickly, but that fixing it may be far more difficult if it is allowed to continue to disintegrate while a political crisis looms.
Ironically, considering the blemished record of Indonesia’s armed forces on human rights, it has fallen to Sutarto to stand up to President Wahid and to fight to uphold democratic traditions in the country. Sitting in Army headquarters in Jakarta a few days ago, the general admitted what Wahid had told him: if Parliament continues to move to conduct a special session, the president is thinking of imposing martial law and ordering Parliament disbanded. The general said he discouraged Wahid. “This country is in bad condition,” he said, “and if you have a plan to do that, it will get worse. It’s not good for the country. Hopefully, you won’t do that.”
Wahid told Sutarto that if he doesn’t like the idea of martial law, then he should attempt to halt the special session of the legislature. General Sutarto told Wahid that he would talk to the political leaders but could not guarantee a happy outcome for the president. Sutarto went on to warn Wahid that the members of Parliament would not abide by his decree, would refuse to be disbanded and would actually speed up the special session of the assembly–which would otherwise be held around the end of July. Sutarto predicted that an angry Wahid would order his armed forces to arrest the M.P.s. “The president will ruin the democracy,” said the general.
Sutarto actually said he would not implement a martial-law decree if Wahid issues one, but recognizes that Wahid has the right to replace him as Army chief of staff. He would, of course, have to accept the president’s order, he said. And this appears to be the course that Wahid has chosen to follow. Reportedly, he called his cabinet and military together last Friday morning for breakfast and told them he would declare a state of emergency and dissolve Parliament. The nearly blind president told the assembled group to either announce their support for these measures or resign before they are dismissed.
Although it is widely believed that the Army prefers Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri to Wahid, Sutarto denied this: “Whatever the political solution is, we don’t care. Whether Wahid remains as president or Megawati replaces him, we don’t care at all.” He continued, “It’s up to the politicians. That’s why there’s a Constitution and not a coup. The nation has decided to use democratic ways. That’s why I recommended to President Wahid not to impose martial law and disband the [Parliament].”
Sutarto’s chief concern, he said, was that a political solution be reached–whether it is more power sharing between him and Megawati or impeachment of the president–without bloodshed, “without killing one another because one supports the president and one supports the other.” He said the Army is asking the president to call on his 40 million supporters in NU–the largest Muslim organization in the country–not to use violence. With some disgust, Sutarto said bluntly, “Right now, the politicians are arguing about how to get power. They don’t care about the nation.”
As for himself and the Army, he closed our conversation by emphasizing once again that “who governs is not important. What matters is clean, good government. Civilians must handle this. If we start to take power, it’s a bad precedent. It’s not good to have a military president.” Standing at the door of military headquarters, Sutarto allowed that some have put pressure on the Army to step in and take over. But he says, “No way, it’s bulls–t to say the military should take over.”
