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Soeharto doesn't deserve to be a national hero: activist
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President Soeharto announces his resignation as president of Indonesia at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, May 21, 1998. (Kompas.com/-)
A
n activist has opposed the idea proposed by the Golkar Party to name late dictator Soeharto a national hero, saying that the blemishes in his record made him ineligible.
A hero was someone who had done something meritorious, Panel Barus, an activist during the 1998 reform movement said on Sunday.
"Soeharto developed Indonesia on debt that later in 1997 brought Indonesia's economy to the point of collapse," he said as quoted by news portal kompas.com.
Army General Soeharto, who led Indonesia for 32 years was allegedly involved in human rights abuses such as the 1989 Talangsari incident in Lampung in which over 130 people are estimated to have been killed in a clash between the military and local villagers.
"Has he [Soeharto] been taken to court for Talangsari and other cases?" Panel added.
He said Golkar’s proposal of the idea lowered public trust in the party closely linked to Soeharto.
Former Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie announced the party's plan to propose Soeharto’s nomination as a national hero during an Extraordinary National Meeting of the country’s longest-surviving political party in Bali on Monday.
"Golkar has earlier proposed that Soeharto be named a national hero, but thus far we have not succeeded. This time, the National Meeting has also urged the central board [DPP] that Soeharto be named a national hero," Aburizal said.
Soeharto lost his grip on power after 32 years following Indonesia's worst economic crisis in 1997 and mounting protests that led to his resignation as president in May 1998. (rin)
