A political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) says the Golkar Party’s strategy of glorifying the successes of the New Order regime is a mistake.
Siti Zuhro said Golkar should focus on issues in the reform era, such as corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN), instead of reminiscing about the past.
“We should not forget that we toppled the New Order regime because we wanted to eradicate KKN,” she said after a discussion in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com.
In the 2014 general election, Siti predicted tight competition between Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). To seize victory over the PDI-P, she said, Golkar should put forward innovative ideas.
Golkar was reported to have glorified the New Order regime in its campaign rallies, including in Palembang, South Sumatra, on March 20.
In his speech in front of thousands of Golkar supporters, party chairman Aburizal Bakrie said Soeharto did much for Indonesia’s development.
Despite weaknesses, he said, Soeharto’s leadership brought many advantages to Indonesia.
“Under the leadership of Soeharto, Indonesia managed to achieve food self-sufficiency, for instance,” said Aburizal.
Source/Fuente: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/03/27/glorifying-new-order-could...
