Nationalism rears its head, as do General Wiranto and others.

First Kompas reported on 31st May that the Perhimpunan Kebangsaan, Nationalist Association, may in future form the basis for a new political party, a party that would be led by General Wiranto, he of East Timor fame. Speaking at a meeting of leaders of the Association at the Hotel Kartika Chandra in Jakarta, (31/5) Wiranto said he was undecided on the question of a new party.

It’s possible but later on. We’ll see how things develop. At the moment we are testing to see how far we can raise nationalist feeling.
(Itu ada. Tapi, nanti. Itu kita lihat nanti bagaimana perkembangannya. Saat ini kita menguji dulu seberapa jauh kami mampu membangkitkan rasa kebangsaan.)

The meeting was attended by a string of old political hacks and retired generals including Try Sutrisno, Akbar Tandjung, Amin Arjoso, Haryono Suyono, Hari Sabarno, Basofi Sudirman, and Fuad Bawazier.

Meanwhile a week later another meeting, again attended by Wiranto, took place, of a group the Jakarta Post called the “Indonesian Nationalist Alliance” which seems to be a similar grouping to Perhimpunan Kebangsaan. This event was attended by many politicians of the so-called “nationalist” parties PDI-P and Golkar, among whom could be seen PDI-P figures Kwik Kian Gie, who is the former chairman of the National Development Planning Board, and Permadi and Aria Bima, Sri Eddy Swasono, Sukardi Rinakit, and Revrisond Baswir, all economists, Hardi, an artist, as well as Wiranto, from Golkar.

Kwik Kian Gie said the Nationalist Alliance had been formed to counter the capitulation of president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration to dastardly foreign interests. Kwik said the craven kow-towing of Indonesia to foreigners had caused much misery to the long-suffering poor masses of Indonesia.

We have seen how disastrous the effects have been of the policy to hike fuel prices. This is the result of adhering to a school of thought that allows market mechanisms to set fuel prices.

Kwik opined that the nation’s indebtedness to international financial institutions such as the World Bank had put the country’s sovereignty at risk.

However, the policy of always looking for foreign loans and aid is maintained just to keep our state budget sound.

Kwik, who is a senior politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said that the first job of the new organisation would be to expose the untold litany of bad policy decisions made by the present government.

We will consistently present our views to counter the conventional wisdom preached by the government, and if that helps foment a movement that ends in a revolution, then that is good.

Specific policies it appears are not yet forthcoming. Wiranto said:

The movement was only declared today. Details about our program will soon follow. Our team of experts is still discussing it.

Bizarrely, Kwik cited the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran as inspiration for the group, that is, in its aims of hurling out foreigners and their companies, presumably. More nationalism was the answer.