The government is determined to include provisions on Marxism-Leninism in the new Criminal Code bill as a real danger to the state ideology, Pancasila. This insistence is fueling fears about a comeback of
New Order era-style repression of freedom of speech. The Jakarta Post’s Nani Afrida and Pandaya look into this contentious issue.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is going ballistic following the shock defeat of its incumbent politician, Rano Karno, in a recent election in Banten, Jakarta’s western neighbor notorious for its political dynasty and corruption.

The burning issue is not so much the incumbent being crushed and the subsequent dismissal of two local party chiefs in the large constituencies of Tangerang and Serang, but it is the communist allegations leveled against Rano by his rival Wahidin Halim during the campaign.

On the campaign trail in South Tangerang on Jan. 15, Wahidin told a sea of his supporters, “Together we will beat the PKI. Are there communists around here [in Banten]? We will beat them.” The PKI refers to the defunct Indonesian Communist Party, which has been virtually condemned as the common enemy of all Indonesians.

Wahidin’s battle cry was a dig at Rano’s late father, Soekarno M. Noer, who was accused of being an activist of Lekra, the PKI’s cultural wing. Rano, who was an actor before he entered politics, has vehemently denied the accusation. He says his father was an activist of a Muslim artists group called Lesbumi.

No credible survey has been conducted on how damaging the communist accusation was for Rano’s electability. However, the burning issue proves just how significant a weapon the Marxism-Leninism accusation along with sectarianism can be to smear political opponents.

So never underestimate communism as a near extinct ideological species that currently exists only in China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba, albeit in different variants.

The Indonesian government regards communism as a serious threat to the state ideology, Pancasila, to the point that it is creating three provisions in the ongoing amendment of the Criminal Code, locally known as the KUHP.

Lawmakers and government executives deliberating the bill think that Marxism-Leninism is more dangerous than the Islamic State (IS) radical movement, despite ample evidence that numerous groups are promoting a caliphate in place of Pancasila and the hundreds of Indonesian joining the IS in Syria and Iraq.

So grave is the perceived danger that provisions on crimes of ideology are dealt with three articles, 219 and 220 on propagation of communism/Marxism-Leninism teachings and article 221 on attempts to replace Pancasila.

Lawmaker Taufiqulhadi argued that the anticommunist provisions were needed to prevent the recurrence of the 1965 bloody coup attempt, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and the subsequent stigmatization of former PKI members, supporters and their family members.

“Even in the House of Representatives, there are legislators that support communism. They are eager to revoke the 1966 People’s Consultative Assembly decree on the [PKI’s] disbandment. These new articles will effectively block such efforts,” legislator Nasir Djamil said.

The new provisions will add to the long list of regulations intended to stop communism that politicians fear can be promulgated through the internet.

Rano’s case was only the latest evidence of how the communist phobia is alive and kicking in Indonesian politics. Someone’s past and alleged ancestral link with the banned party may be exploited to smear one’s reputation for political gain.

A more famous example is the defamation case against Joko “Jokowi” Widodo when he ran for president in 2014. A tabloid presumably published by his opponents, Obor Rakyat, accused him of being a PKI member. The case was taken to court but little of the proceedings have been heard.

Attempts to defame Jokowi, a PDI-P politician, using communism continue. Last October, Muslim preacher and lecturer with Muhammadiyah University, Alfian Tanjung, singled out in one of his sermons Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki as a “communist” along with PDI-P legislator Budiman Sudjatmiko and Press Council member Nezar Patria. A criminal complaint against Alfian has been filed with the police.

Even though civil groups have ridiculed the idea to specifically state communism as the biggest ideological threat, state institutions like the military and also many Islamic organizations remain steadfast in pushing their phobic narratives. The fear of communism is the controversial raison d’etre of the Indonesian Military’s conscription scheme.

Historically, communist ideology had existed during the Dutch colonial era. The first communist rebellion occurred in 1926. Since Indonesia became independent in 1945, the PKI had rebelled twice, in 1948 and 1965.

The 1965 aborted coup attempt was the bloodiest with an estimated 500,000 to 3 million people killed in the aftermath, however, the true account remains a mystery until today.

Lawmaker Nasir Djamil said the government had gone through extensive public consultations to make sure that communism remained a relevant issue that needed to be addressed before putting the bill on the table. “Most lawmakers agreed the provisions are still relevant and important.”

Legislators have two reasons why they think it is necessary to include communism in the revised Criminal Code. Firstly, Indonesia should anticipate the revival of communism in the advent of China’s growing presence as an economic force. Secondly, the swelling number of citizens using social media means easy access to the “foreign” ideology.

Despite the strict restrictions, discourses on Marxism-Leninism will be allowed for academic purposes. But, still, this tolerance will potentially be a grey area and a source of conflict between civil groups and the authorities as have often happened even after strongman Soeharto’s downfall almost two decades ago. Since then, there have been countless incidents in which police and Islamic groups forcibly stopped seminars and film screenings about topics they suspect would be used for communist propagation.

Predictably, the provisions have met criticism and ridicule, especially from human rights activists and academics.

Rocky Gerung, a philosophy lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said: “Ideology is a belief system that can’t be penalized. To believe in an ideology is part of our human rights.” He maintains that what counts as a crime is any act against the state, while ideology is in the mind.

“How can people be prosecuted for what they have inside their minds? The state should not dictate what people should think and create an authoritarian system. As it did in the past, the state is seeking to criminalize political beliefs and this is absurd.”

Puri Kencana Putri of the Commission for Missing Person and Victims of Violence (Kontras) suspects that the inclusion of communism in the Criminal Code is a government ploy to justify its reluctance to resolve the 1965 tragedy as rights activists have tirelessly demanded.

“It looks that the provisions are intended to justify the 1965 killings as the ‘right’ thing that had to be done.”

Kontras has called the tragedy “the mother of all human rights abuses in Indonesia” and warned that the provisions would further suppress freedom of expression.

Critics say the three new provisions are sketchy articles that the state may abuse to silence dissidents.

The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) notes that the disputed articles offer overly broad definitions about key terminologies, loopholes that it fears could be abused against human rights activism.

Rights campaigners worry that the proposed amendment could give rise to the comeback of a repressive regime seen in the New Order era under Soeharto when the ghost of communism was manipulated for his political gain.

But — if you still believe in politicians — this is not yet the end of the world. The House leaves its door open for public ideas as lawmakers still have until the end of the year to complete the bill’s deliberation.

“There is plenty of time and there is room for improvement,” Nasir said.

________________________________________

Clear and present dangers:

* Rising cases of forcible disbandment of discussions and art performances that authorities suspect lean toward Marxism-Leninism

* Loopholes in new law could enable people to take law into their own hands regarding “illegal” communist discussions and performances

* Academic discussions confined to campuses

* Academic proposals on scientific work on Marxism-Leninism subject to censorship

* Scholarly works on communism cannot be checked out of campus libraries and personal possession of reading materials on the subject is liable to confiscation

Excerpt from various sources

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