‘Communist’ Still a Dirty Word in Indonesia

FILE – Anti-communist protesters outside the presidential palace in Jakarta in 2001.

VOA News – Nearly 50 years after an anti-communist purge that left at least 500,000 Indonesians dead, anti-communist fervor is still heated.

Herman Koto, an Indonesian gangster and paramilitary leader, describes how he’d love to get his hands on some communist women.

“If they’re pretty, I’d rape them all,” he says. As the men around him groan with approval, Koto tells them that if the communist is just 14 years old, all the sweeter. “I’d say, it’s going to be hell for you but heaven on earth for me.”

The exchange with Koto is a scene from the documentary The Act of Killing, in which anti-communists members of death squads show how they killed communists and suspected communists in a 1965 spasm of violence described by the CIA as “one of the worst mass murders of the 20^th century.”  That the scene is so recent — The Act of Killing came out in 2012 — shows that such violent hatred toward communism remains not just tolerated but sometimes celebrated.

The anti-communist fervor persists, in part, because Indonesia never officially came to terms with this dark period in its history. The government has never apologized to survivors of the massacres, nor prosecuted the perpetrators, including those shown in the documentary. That could be changing now.

With urging from the United Nations Human Rights Council last summer, the Attorney General’s Office has finally agreed to investigate the 1965 killings. It will work with Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights, which did its own three-year investigation and declared the massacre a gross human rights violation. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia Suffers Most as Asia Stocks Slide

European Pressphoto Agency

Wall Street Journal – Indonesian stocks were Asia’s worst performers Monday, falling victim to a global selloff and losing 2.9% by midday just as sentiment was improving in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

The selling was triggered by data last week indicating a steeper slowdown in China’s manufacturing sector than previously thought, reigniting fears that China may suffer a hard landing and drag the region down with it.

Among the large Indonesia falling Monday were cigarette maker Gudang Garam, down 5.2%, and heavy-machinery distributor and miner United Tractors UNTR.JK -5.33%, down 5%.

The contagion sparked by Chinese manufacturing data struck emerging-market currencies on Friday after trading ended in Asia, setting up further falls in Indonesia. As stocks fell on Monday, Indonesia’s rupiah weakened against the U.S. dollar, sliding 0.5% to 12,240 to the dollar.

“The main thing we need to think about is China,” said Kevin Foy, director of global sales trading at Maybank Kim Eng. “Is money going to flow out because everyone is thinking China is going to slow down?”

Indonesia, along with India, is perceived as being at greater risk than other emerging economies from investment outflows because it runs a current-account deficit. Investors fear that high government indebtedness will become a growing problem as global interest rates rise and the U.S. Federal Reserve scales back its bond-buying program.

The short-term reaction may not set a trend, however. “Both countries have made progress shrinking their current-account deficits so the ‘deficit-duo’ should be more resilient to volatile financial conditions relative to 2013,” J.P. Morgan’s Jahangir Aziz said in a note. [Click here for full article…]

Prabowo Election Team Denies Role in ‘Satria Piningit’ Campaign

Images of stamped 50,000 rupiah notes are being shared on Twitter. (Courtesy of ©twitter/@simonperes)

Jakarta Globe – A grassroots campaign for presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto steeped in an ancient Javanese prophecy about a just king and the end of the world have begun to appear in the Indonesian capital.

Photos of the 50,000 rupiah bank notes, each bearing a stamp reading “Prabowo Satria Piningit Heru Cakra Ratu Adil,” hit Twitter over the weekend. The slogan roughly translates to “Prabowo: Satria Piningit, the era of the just king,” a not-so-subtle nod to the fabled Satria Piningit (Satrio Piningit in Javanese, “hidden knight” in English) foretold in the Jongko Joyoboyo (Jayabaya prophecies). According to the ancient prophecy, a just king will rise to power from within Java as the nation hits a low point, ruling the country, and then the globe, in the lead-up to the end of days.

The Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) party has denied a hand in the campaign and accused whoever stamped the bills of attempting to smear Prabowo, the party’s chairman. Presidential candidates are barred from campaigning until three weeks before the July 9 election according to General Elections Commission (KPU) guidelines and the inclusion of the stamp on rupiah notes smacked of money politics, a constant concern during election seasons in Indonesia. [Click here for full article…]

Saudi Arabia, Indonesia ink defense cooperation agreement

On target: Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Salman bin Sultan Abdul Aziz Al Saud aims an MP5 submachine gun at the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) shooting range in Cijantung, East Jakarta, on Wednesday. Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have cooperation agreements on counterterrorism, military training and the defense industry. (Courtesy of Kopassus)

Jakarta Post – Saudi Arabia and Indonesia on Thursday signed the first defense cooperation agreement (DCA) covering training and education, counter-terrorism efforts and the defense industry.

The DCA was signed by Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Sultan Abdul Aziz Al Saud and his host Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at the Defense Ministry.

Sjafrie told reporters after the signing that the DCA was the first signed since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1950. It is also the first that Indonesia has signed with a Middle Eastern country.

“This is the first time a Saudi deputy defense minister has visited Indonesia,” he said.

He said both countries agreed that terrorism affected nations across the globe. The deputy defense ministers also agreed that terrorism should not be linked to any ideology, in particular to Islam.

“No religion in the world teaches violence,” Sjafrie said.

Recent terrorist incidents have painted a bad picture of Islam. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries damaged by terrorism threats, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said in a press release.

Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have suffered from numerous attacks linked to certain Islamist groups. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia’s mining exports at standstill after new rules -govt official

Reuters – Indonesia’s metal ore and concentrate exports have ground to a halt, a trade ministry official said on Friday, with a ban on ore shipments and an export tax introduced less than two weeks ago hurting the mining industry.

“There has been no concentrate export since January 12,” Bachrul Chairi, director general of foreign trade at the trade ministry told Reuters. “As of now, no miners or companies have requested export approval for concentrate or processed ore to trade ministry.”

Indonesia introduced an ore export ban on Jan. 12, although last-minute amendments eased the impact of the export ban on copper miners Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold and Newmont Mining Corp, which are now subject to a progressive export tax on concentrates.

Freeport Indonesia has yet to resume exports since the export tax was introduced, while the Mineral Entrepreneurs Association has filed a legal challenge against the ore export ban.

The ban is expected to cut government revenue by as much as $820 million this year, the country’s finance minister has said. [Click here for full article…]

Gov’t Targets US$42 Billion Investment in 2014

Tempo.co – The government targets investment realization this year to reach Rp506.9 trillion (around US$42.2 billion). Similar to last year, the focus will still lie on major sectors—mining, transportation, and food and beverages.

According to Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, the target is not too far from last year’s investment realization, which was almost Rp400 trillion (around US$33.3 billion). The consideration is the global economic pressure.

Investment realization in 2013 was Rp398 trillion (US$33 billion), slightly higher than the targeted Rp390 trillion, an increase of 20 percent compared to 2012. About 63 percent of this figure was new investment, while the rest represented development on ongoing investment.

Approximately Rp270.4 trillion (US$22.5 billion) was foreign investment, while Rp127.6 trillion (US$10.6 billion) was domestic. This means, according to Hatta, that Indonesia has become a production-base country.

Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Suryo Bambang Sulisto, is optimistic about investment realization. Although there are the issues of bureaucracy and infrastructure, foreign investors see the promise in the Indonesian market. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesian Court Calls for Changes to Polls Beginning in 2019

Indonesian pedestrians walk past a two level traffic jam on Dec. 19 in Jakarta. Indonesia is gearing up for major elections this year that will see a new government take control of the country.

Wall Street Journal – Indonesia’s Constitutional Court on Thursday found fault with the country’s election law and ruled that legislative and presidential elections must be held simultaneously—though not until the next round of national polls in 2019.

In its ruling, the court said the current system of elections, in which presidential polls take place several months after legislative polls, is “not in line with the Constitution.”

It cited the expense, inefficiency and extended political tensions that come from a longer political season.

But it said because “there’s not enough time to draft a new law, the current system… can be considered legitimate and constitutional” this year.

Legislative polls are scheduled for April. The presidential poll will follow in July.

Thursday’s decision could set the stage for the next government to dispense with or modify a related election rule that requires legislative thresholds for parties to nominate presidential candidates. Currently only parties that secure 20% of the seats in the House of Representatives or 25% of the popular vote are allowed to nominate candidates for president. Changing the rule would allow smaller parties to do so.

Some activists and lawyers say the 2008 election law sets the bar too high for nominating a presidential candidate. Several petitions have been filed in recent years to challenge it – though all have failed. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia Reacts to ‘Act of Killing’ Academy Nomination

A scene from the documentary ‘The Act of Killing.’ (Photo courtesy of Drafthouse Films)

Jakarta Globe – It could have been a historical moment for Indonesia.

On Jan. 16 the first film focused exclusively on Indonesian history was nominated in the best documentary category in the 86th Academy Awards. The nomination was the latest in a long list of accolades for Joshua Oppenheimer’s ”The Act of Killing,” a documentary exposing the atrocities of the 1965 communist party purge that birthed the New Order and left as many as a million people dead in a bloody wave of violence.

The chilling documentary has been screened at some 120 international film festivals, netting 32 awards and earning praise from critics worldwide. But in Indonesia the film has received a cold reception from government officials, who see the documentary as an embarrassment; a dangerous film that fails to portray an accurate picture of the modern nation.

“[Indonesia] is portrayed as a cruel and lawless nation,” said Teuku Faizasyah, the presidential spokesman for foreign affairs. “The film portrayed Indonesia as backwards, as in the 1960s. That is not appropriate, not fitting. It must be remembered [that] Indonesia has gone through a reformation. Many things have changed.

“One’s perception should not be so heavily influenced by just that one film.”

The film focuses on Anwar Congo, a self-described preman (thug) from Medan, North Sumatra. The ageing Anwar guides viewers through his brutal past, coming clean about his active role in one of the nation’s darkest hours.  A film buff and murderer, Anwar recreates the killings in graphic detail by approaching the subject through the lens of his favorite film genres. [Click here for the full article…]

TNI gears up, sets sights on foreign threats

Jakarta Post – As the Indonesian Military (TNI) begins to perceive the growing threat from other nations, it is accelerating efforts to strengthen deterrence by overhauling its structure to allow for faster troop deployment, expanding the Marine Corps and procuring long-range offensive weaponry.

In what is expected to be among President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s most far-reaching military policies, a regulation is planned for June on the formation of defense groups under joint-command, locally abbreviated as Kogabwilhan.

The plan will integrate the regional resources of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force into multi-service groups that will be positioned in certain defense flashpoints integral to preserving the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“But the function of the Kogabwilhan will not be limited to that. It will also serve as a deterrence to other countries as the command will have the flexibility and the needed resources for rapid deployment,” said Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro recently.

Each Kogabwilhan group will be equipped with its own fleet of warships, jet fighter squadron and Army units. Each group’s commander, a three-star general, will be given the authority to respond without having to go through the red tape at the TNI headquarters in Jakarta. [Click here for full article…]

New refineries attract massive investment

Jakarta Post – Indonesia’s commitment to increasing its value-added exports has proven to be a vast boon to the economy, with the country set to see at least Rp 180 trillion (US$14.83 billion) of realized investment in the construction of mineral and palm-oil refineries, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) says.

Of the prospective investment plans, approximately Rp 150 trillion would be spent on the construction of mineral-smelting plants with the other Rp 30 trillion invested in the construction of palm-oil refineries, BKPM chairman Mahendra Siregar said on Tuesday.

If realized, the investments would greatly support economic growth as the amount was equal to around one-third of the annual realized investment target of Rp 450 trillion set for this year, he told a press briefing.

Mahendra predicted that total realized investment in local smelters could even jump threefold within the next two or three years if the Mining Law was imposed consistently.

“If not, however, it could lead to uncertainty for investors who, instead of implementing such investments, will adopt a wait-and-see approach,” the BKPM chief warned.

Indonesia has decided to go ahead with its controversial plan to ban exports of raw ores beginning this year in line with the 2009 Mining Law, which stipulates that mineral products should first be processed in local smelters before being shipped overseas for export. [Click here for full article…]

Scholars, intellectuals endorse Prabowo’s bid

The Jakarta Globe – A group of university professors and intellectuals announced on Wednesday its collective endorsement of Gerindra Party presidential candidate and chief patron Prabowo Subianto, giving the retired army general another moral boost ahead of the upcoming presidential election. Former Bandung-based Padjadjaran University rector Yuyun Wirasasmita, who read the group’s endorsement during a gathering […]