-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.38/pageone.html <A HREF="http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.38/pageone.html">Laissez Faire City Times - Volume 3 Issue 38</A> ----- Laissez Faire City Times September 27, 1999 - Volume 3, Issue 38 Editor & Chief: Emile Zola ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cocktails and Cookies by Richard S. Ehrlich JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Armed Forces Chief General Wiranto, under fire for not stopping the killings in East Timor, unveiled a State Security Bill which he described as a “cookie,” but thousands of street rioters scorched it with Molotov cocktails for a second day Friday (September 24). Demonstrators held signs which said, “Security Bill, A Legal Way for a Military Coup” and warned it would grant Wiranto, and his armed forces, sweeping powers to revoke civil liberties. More than 5,000 student-led protestors hurled firebombs, rocks and bottles at thousands of police and troops Thursday and Friday to denounce the bill. Helmeted security forces armed with gas masks and US-made M-16 assault rifles, fired tear gas and rubber bullets, while beating protestors with wooden clubs. Protestors said the bill destroys fragile democratic “reforms,” which resulted after students helped topple dictator Suharto in May 1998. “The state security bill -- in which a state of emergency can be declared -- gives the military the power to ban protests, take over telecommunications systems, private property and mail services, while ignoring all prevailing laws,” the Jakarta Post reported Friday. Wiranto, who is also defense minister, ignored critics when he proudly introduced the bill by saying, “It’s the same with the offer of a cookie, but before tasting it...you already say, ‘No.’ “You reject the cookie, when in fact...it’s a very delicious one.” Tossing Cookies Rioters, fed up with such rhetoric, destroyed highway dividers and landscaping on Jakarta’s main Sudirman Street in front of Parliament, and other infrastructure near universities, in the largest protests since Suharto’s downfall. The immediate result of the government’s security bill, passed by Parliament Thursday, was insecurity in four other riot-hit cities as well, including Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Semarang and Medan. Indonesia’s battered rupiah currency plunged further on news of the riots, coupled with concern over continued instability in East Timor. Wiranto claimed the bill “is not designed for the military’s interests, nor in anticipation of the upcoming general session” of Parliament. The four-star general was referring to Parliament’s sessions in October and November when squabbling political parties are supposed to agree on granting independence for East Timor. Parliament is also, at that time, scheduled to vote on who will be Indonesia’s next president. Wiranto has been tipped to be the next vice-president, which worries critics who dub him, “Suharto’s protoge.” Wiranto may be nominated to be vice-president under President Bacharuddin J. Habibie, or under Habibie’s popular rival, Megawati Sukarnoputri. Habibie’s ruling Golkar party chairman, Akbar Tandjung, said, “The teamwork of Habibie and Wiranto is quite good. “To be sure, Wiranto is Golkar’s candidate for vice-president,” Tandjung added, apparently leaving open the question of who to nominate as president. Critics, meanwhhile, said passage of the bill should have waited until a new government forms, because the current administration is headed by the unelected, widely despised Habibie who was installed by Suharto. Habibie is expected to sign the bill into law within days. During the riots, many of the security forces displayed new equipment, including new camoflauge uniforms, padded body armor and hooded gas masks which covered their heads and shoulders. Only their M-16 assault rifles and hand-held, full-body plexiglass sheilds showed signs of wear. In some confrontations, they absorbed Molotov cocktails, rocks and other debris thrown by students, while remaining in formation to block any advances, and firing occasional volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets. During a lengthy standoff near Parliament, a couple of Marines wearing red berets appeared, and consulted with the students, who temporarily dispersed. Students Respect the Marines “The students respect the Marines,” one rioter told The Laissez Faire City Times as flames from a Molotov cocktail burned in front of a nearby pharmacy. The Marines played a pivotal role in supporting students against Suharto. Other students, wearing water-soaked handkerchiefs over their mouths to neutralize tear gas, played cat and mouse with security forces by hurling Molotov cocktails and rocks, and then scattering in panic when troops stormed forward. Some protesters spilled into a lavish tourism exhibition near Parliament, causing well-dressed foreign and Indonesian officials to leave their booths and gape in horror from inside the airconditioned building at the chaos on the other side of the pavilion’s plate-glass windows. Students carried one protestor who collapsed from the effects of teargas and brought him through the tourism exhibition to medical facilities inside. Pavel Sust, a travel photographer from the Czech Republic covering the exhibition, told The Laissez Faire City Times he was shocked at the violence, and noted the irony of it erupting in and around a venue promoting tourism. M. Mahfud, a legal expert at Yogyakarta’s Islamic University, said the bill meant “the military could step forward and take control and announce that the country is in a perilous situation.” Mahfud warned, “What is also my concern is the use of ‘state terrorism.’ “Theory has it that in trying to get a powerful hold of the country, a state sometimes makes a law that can be used as a legal instrument to take an action. “To be able to take the action, however, it creates riots within a community through intelligence operations. “Certain groups of the community are incited to riot, and then it (the military) can announce that the state is in a perilous situation,” Mahfud added. “Such a theory is commonly used by developing countries. I am worried Indonesia is going to apply this theory.” The Jakarta Post said in an editorial Friday, “Under the current conditions, where the government’s credibility is practically nil, and the track record of the Indonesian military over the past 35 years or so is tarnished by incidents of harsh repression and human rights abuses, the public’s suspicions are easily -- and perhaps justifiably -- aroused. “The best thing that can be hoped for under the circumstances is that the new legislature, which will convene at the beginning of next month, will revise this controversial law, if not rescind it,” the editorial added. More protests are scheduled, especially on October 1 when Parliament convenes. Clashes are expected to become increasingly organized by university students, human rights groups and others, angry demonstrators told The Laissez Faire City Times. Parliament’s next session runs from October 1 to October 3, and resumes again on November 1 to November 10. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Richard S. Ehrlich has a Master's Degree in Journalism from Columbia University, and is the co-author of the classic book of epistolary history, "HELLO MY BIG BIG HONEY!"--Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews. His web page is located at http://members.tripod.com/ehrlich, and he may be reached by email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] from The Laissez Faire City Times, Vol 3, No 38, September 27, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Published by Laissez Faire City Netcasting Group, Inc. Copyright 1998 - Trademark Registered with LFC Public Registrar All Rights Reserved ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. 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