Generalissimo Suharto is still dying; the people are still not satisfied

"Peoples do not judge in the same way as courts of law; they do not hand down sentences, they throw thunderbolts; they do not condemn kings, they drop them back into the void; and this justice is worth just as much as that of the courts." Robespierre on trying King Louis XVI (source)

The Suharto swan-song saga continues in Indonesia. The big story on the old fascist's health: he's eating cookies. There are a number of last-ditch efforts to prosecute: the formation of a coalition of civil society organizations under the name KERAS; as well as a proposal for a 24-hour trial.

I may be bitter, but all of this may be too little too late. Why the haste for a speedy trial, a right that was denied thousands of leftist political prisoners, some of whom waited two decades between their arrest in the wake of Sukarno's 1965 coup and their kangaroo court trials?

Further, there seems a bit of a rush to bury Suharto, both literally and metaphorically. It would seem that across the Indonesian bourgeoisie, there are those who simply want to re-appropriate the embezzled state funds and let slide all of the butchery of Suharto's career (the civil war in 1965, the martial law periods of administration in Aceh, West Papua, and East Timor, not to mention the everyday extrajudicial killings, abductions, and so forth). Not to mention those in the U.S. media who conveniently accuse Suharto of being a murderer now that the smoke has cleared, but who provided cover for the man his entire term of office.

It seems unlikely that there will be any verdict on Suharto in a court of law. It will be up to the Indonesian people to decide whether they will actually make a break with the old, or accept a new New Order.

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Generalissimo Suharto is still dying

As discussed earlier, former Indonesian President Suharto's health seems to come and go. Just a few days ago, we were told of a miraculous recovery from multiple organ failure that had people talking (by turns) either his Chuck Norris-like manliness or his prowess as a witch doctor. Today? He's just another strongman becoming weak with infection.

Kudos are in store for the Indonesian student movement (pictured above, in Yogyakarta) for keeping up calls for justice as the national bourgeoisie crumbles craven to power once again. As time goes on, Suharto -- once a terror of a Southeast Asian tiger -- becomes a mere bean-curd tiger.

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Generalissimo Suharto is still dying

Those Fire on the Mountain readers who are (ahem!) senior amongst us will likely recall the agonizingly long last days of Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain. And of course, the media coverage of it which reported him either as "still alive" or "not dead." Famously, the media spectacle was parodied by the early Saturday Night Live/Weekend Update skits which which aired in the weeks after the Franco funeral, in which Chevy Chase would intone -- "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead."

Much the same spectacle is being set up in Indonesia, where Suharto the 86-year old 5-star General and former President of 32 years is holed up inside a hospital in the capital, attended to by the finest of Indonesia's doctors. Suharto has been visited by functionaries and dignitaries both foreign and domestic -- most notably his notorious spawn whose dubious achievements included lavish weddings and other conspicuous consumption as the economy of Indonesia went into the tank in the 1990's.

This spectacle only gets weirder today, as Reuters reports that Suharto, corrupt as ever, seems to be cheating death by recovering from the failure of his heart, kidneys, lungs, and brain; conditions ranging from sepsis, low blood pressure, and pneumonia. Suharto does seem to be demonstrating the monstrous trait of fascists of being able to live well past warranty.

Or could in fact there be something more to this story? Buried in Reuters' description of the scene at the hospital is the description of what appears to be the first clash between the student movement and the riot squad across the street. At least one beating was recorded, and one arrest documented -- of course, who knows who is getting shaken down right now by police and/or the military. Might it be that the situation's getting a bit hot down at Petramina Hospital that Suharto will (as he did with his Presidency) escape to his family capital for his final days?

So on that note, let's pull for the comrades in Indonesia who are saying "No" to forgiving a man who never showed one iota of forgiveness for the estimated 1 million Communists killed by his regime, and who never even pardoned his predecessor President Sukarno. Let's hope for street celebrations in the dozens, scores, or even hundreds when Suharto dies. Let's hope that Suharto's inevitable end will, in the end, weigh lighter than a feather upon the Indonesian people.

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