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Govt urged to apologize to Soekarno over communism accusations
The Peopleâs Consultative Assembly (MPR) has said that president Sokarno was a victim of 1965âs communist movement, better known as G30S/PKI, and thus the government should apologize to the nationâs founding father instead of saying sorry to former communists
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he People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has said that president Sokarno was a victim of 1965's communist movement, better known as G30S/PKI, and thus the government should apologize to the nation's founding father instead of saying sorry to former communists.
The highest legislative body also urged the government to revoke the Temporary People's Consultative Assembly's decree number XXXIII/1967, which annulled president Soekarno's authority to govern and allowed president Soeharto to be inaugurated as the new president.
According to Article 6 of the decree, president Soeharto was responsible for the proper legal processing of the claim that Soekarno supported the communist movement. But, it never happened as president Soekarno passed away on June 21, 1970.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on November 7, 2012, acclaimed president Soekarno as a national hero. According to Law number 20/2009 on titles and honors, figures named as national heroes must never have betrayed the nation.
Once the 1967 decree has been revoked, and now that Soekarno is officially a national hero, the Indonesian government should follow up with an apology to the president and his family, according to MPR.
The MPR also contends that the government should not apologize to Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) victims and survivors of the 1965 killings, or to their families and supporters.
