Jakarta – Civil Society Movement to Bring Suharto to Justice (GEMAS) says that the proposal by the Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos), Saifullah Yusuf alias Gus Ipul, for the 2nd President of the Republic of Indonesia, Suharto to be named a national hero is a disappointing move.
"Today, the Ministry of Social Affairs, through its minister, has also submitted a proposed name to the Titles, Service and Honorary Medals Board [GTK]. This is certainly a disappointing move, but it's also not surprising", said Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya Saputra representing the GEMAS when contacted on Tuesday October 21.
This not surprising position mirrors that of the current president, a product of the New Order regime and a close associate of Suharto. Beyond political momentum, Saputra said the idea of awarding Suharto the title of national hero had been around for a long time.
"For example, in 2009, sometime after Suharto's death, the Golkar Party pushed for the idea of awarding Suharto the title of [national] hero", said Saputra.
"Then it resurfaced again in 2014, during the election period, and the person who delivered it was the president, who was also campaigning for the presidential election at the time. Then it resurfaced again in 2017", he continued.
GEMAS, Saputra explained, had already sensed that the plan to award the national hero title to Suharto will proceed smoothly as it has been supported by GTK Chairperson Fadli Zon, a close associate of President Prabowo Subianto.
"We know for ourselves that Pak [Mr] Fadli Zon's background is closely tied to the Cendana [Suharto's extended family]. We feel that appointing Pak Fadli Zon as chairman of the Titles, Medals and Honorary Medals Board was strongly loaded with a conflict of interest", said Saputra.
Saputra then touched on efforts pursued by GEMAS' to push so that Suharto's is not proposed as a national hero. GEMAS, he said, has sent an open letter signed by more than 100 institutions and individuals to the Ministry of Social Affairs rejecting the nomination.
The basis for the rejection refers to the provisions of Law Number 20/2009 concerning Titles, Medals, and Honours, which contains the principle of humanity.
"If we look at Pak Suharto's track record on humanitarian issues, it's certainly questionable. Why? Because during his 32-year reign, the New Order regime saw a great deal of state violence, state terror, and gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity", Saputra said.
"Starting from the '65 Disaster process until it ended with a number of tragedies or acts of state violence that occurred in 1998", he continued.
Aside from humanitarian factors, the open letter also explains the losses incurred by the state.
"What the state losses were that we then noted was that Pak Suharto was once considered the most corrupt leader in the world because he carried out a series of corrupt actions that enriched his children, grandchildren, family and cronies, and this then caused enormous losses to the Indonesian nation", he said.
"Of course then from the classification or context of awarding the title of [national] hero this is completely contrary to the principles of humanity, then with the principles of good behaviour", he concluded.
Earlier, the Ministry of Social Affairs proposed the names of 40 figures to receive the title of national hero including female labour activist Marsinah from Nganjuk, East Java. Also included were the names of Suharto and the 4th President of the Republic of Indonesia Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
Saifullah Yusuf handed over the dossiers of the proposed names to Cultural Minister Fadli Zon at the Ministry of Culture offices in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.
"These proposals represent names that have been discussed over the past few years. Some have been eligible for the past five or six years, while others were only decided upon this year. Among them are president Suharto, president Abdurrahman Wahid and Marsinah", Yusuf said.
The process of proposing a name as a national hero begins at the community level through to the Regional Titles Research and Assessment Team (TP2GD).
Aside from Marsinah, Suharto and Gus Dur, other figures proposed included Bangkalan Islamic cleric Syaikhona Muhammad Kholil, the founder of the Islamic mass organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) KH Bisri Syansuri, KH Muhammad Yusuf Hasyim from Tebuireng, Jombang, retired General Muhammad Jusuf from South Sulawesi and from Jakarta former Jakarta governor retired General Ali Sadikin.
Fadli Zon meanwhile added that they would hold a meeting to discuss the proposal of 40 names resulting from a long process of studies, discussions and seminars conducted across institutions.
"Of course, we will convene a session, the plan is tomorrow with the titles board team. After that, we'll convey the results to the President of the Republic of Indonesia", said Zon. (ryn/dal)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "GEMAS Sentil Mensos: Usulan Soeharto Pahlawan Nasional Mengecewakan".]
