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Vaudine England

IN TIMES OF stress, Indonesians need to look into their past and find the model for the nation they love - namely, founding president Sukarno.

That's the belief of the Committee to Commemorate the One Hundredth Birthday of Sukarno, which is proceeding with plans to remember the 'great man' on his birthday next week, June 6.

'Most of us on the committee are non-partisan. We are not members of his daughter's political party,' said committee vice-chairman Brandan Sembiring, referring to Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. 'But it is necessary to revive the spirit of Sukarno, the ideals of one nation. If you look to the period of 1945-55, the leaders had many different opinions and even thumped the table in their arguments, but it was always a quarrel between friends. They were united.'

People alive in that early era of independence look back fondly on their 'freedom-fighting days'. They say despite continuing war and tragedies then, life was better because 'we were all so united'.

'We need the teachings of Bung Karno [an affectionate diminutive for Sukarno]; we need them now. We want Sukarno acknowledged as the official father of the nation,' Mr Sembiring said.

Quite what those values are is a matter of debate, of course. Lauded for his charismatic oratory and his connection with the masses, Sukarno, nonetheless led his country into confrontation with Malaysia and left the nation in economic ruin. He helped inspire the newly independent states of the post-war world; he experimented with combinations of ideologies and nationalism; and he remains a symbol of Indonesians' early dreams. Sukarno died in 1970.

Committee members are hoping the parties and seminars will help highlight Sukarno's all-inclusive approach to open politics. Few can forget, however, that when Sukarno was seen as too cosy with communists, the armed forces effectively deposed him, unleashing massacres across Java.

Current political convulsions are connected to a range of constitutional and political issues unsolved since Sukarno's time such as the right balance between Islamic, military and ideological blocs, and the question of whether the constitution Sukarno wrote is presidential or parliamentary.

Birthday celebrations are already beginning. In homage to his pivotal role at the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, a new statue of Sukarno will be unveiled there tomorrow. At the weekend, special re-issues of seven books of Sukarno's oratory will be launched. Seminars are also being held in the Netherlands and Russia, the committee says. On the day there will be parades, music, dancing and a drama of Sukarno's life performed at a central stadium, the name of which will be formally changed to 'Bung Karno Stadium'.

But such innocent pleasures have taken on a new twist as President Abdurrahman Wahid fights for his job and Sukarno's daughter, Ms Megawati, appears ready to take it over. She has been in touch with the committee since its formation in January and could well be hoping for a fringe benefit in the form of increased adoration for herself.

Even holding a birthday party is a daunting task. As Ms Megawati pursues the presidency, two of her sisters have aligned themselves publicly with Mr Wahid and two brothers are active on the birthday committee. Everyone is invited, however, even Sukarno's fourth wife, the controversial Japanese socialite Dewi Sukarno. Also invited are Mr Wahid and parliamentary foes such as Amien Rais and Akbar Tandjung. If some idealised Sukarno spirit can infect such men for a day, then the committee's work will have been worth it.

Vaudine England is the Post's Jakarta correspondent (vaudine@scmp.com)



A nation turns its eyes to founding father