As the Golkar Party readies itself to seize on the upcoming legislative election, political analysts remind voters to keep in mind its contentious past.
“Wasn’t it nice in Suharto’s time?” asked Aburizal Bakrie, Golkar Party’s chairman and presidential candidate during his campaigning in Banjarmasin.
In a bid to win more votes, the Golkar Party draws the masses to reminisce on the “good old time” when Suharto was in power, a move met with harsh criticism by an array of political analysts.
“No matter what, Golkar cannot wash away its sins from the New Order Era. It served as a platform which enabled Suharto to act as a dictator. That is its biggest sin,” said Arbi Sanit, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia. Underlying Arbi’s disenchantment toward Golkar and its strong affiliation with Suharto was his personal encounter with rampant corruption during the New Order era.
“Sometime in 1997, we conducted a research on how Golkar managed to continually win [elections]. We discovered they won because they had taken money meant for development projects,” Arbi said.
“Project contractors had to pay 25 percent [of the total budget] to Golkar. The money was then used for political purposes. The funds were used to purchase goods for voters. That habit continues today.
“Golkar is the political guru who taught politicians how to manipulate and turn to corruption.”
Similarly, Ade Irawan, coordinator of Indonesia Corruption Watch, expressed his disappointment on what he views as Golkar’s backward rhetoric on the past.
“To me, who witnessed the turbulence of 1998, this is very painful indeed,” he said, before dismissing the party’s much-cited argument that Suharto was to be credited for Indonesia’s prosperity.
“Indonesia prospered not because of its own competitiveness, but because of its protectionism and subsidies, which made competition irrelevant,” Ade said. “What he did was build his own empire, not look after people’s welfare. Regardless, Suharto was responsible for Indonesia’s plight back then.”
Ade also laments that few are concerned about the prevalent human rights violations that took place when Suharto — and Golkar — was in power.
“Suharto and his New Order were responsible for numerous disappearances and cases of violence,” he said.
Whether the people of Indonesia agree with Golkar’s claims revering the past over the present will only be made clear by the results of the upcoming election.
Source/Fuente: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/golkars-trip-memory-lane-incites-wid...
