No solution can come from elite, meeting told
BY MATT LIVINGSTON
BRISBANE — The crisis in Indonesia cannot be solved by "shifting deck chairs on the Titanic", the national coordinator of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET), Max Lane, told a public gathering at the University of Queensland here on August 8.
Speaking at a forum on "Fighting the IMF in Indonesia" organised by Resistance and ASIET, Lane detailed the economic and political crises facing Indonesia.
In the face of International Monetary Fund-imposed conditional loans, the economy is spiralling into debt, and the masses of Indonesian people are struggling for survival, he said. He recalled that both the Indonesian and Australian governments have supported the IMF's role for over 30 years and continue to do so under President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Lane emphasised that the solution does not lie within the political elite. The next step, he argued, could occur only when the Indonesian people realise their potential power.
This, however, would be a huge leap to revolutionary consciousness, which is presently evident only within university campuses and amongst groups such as the People's Democratic Party (PRD). For these progressive groups, the situation is a race against time before the social and economic structure collapses.
The role for Australian solidarity activists, Lane said, is to expose the Australian government's complicity in the situation, demanding cancellation of debt owed, the withdrawal of the IMF and an end to the recently re-established ties with the Indonesian armed forces. Lane stressed the key role of ASIET in solidarity with progressive groups in Indonesia such as the PRD.
The event also relaunched the University of Queensland ASIET club. The UQ ASIET club will provide an avenue for activists to campaign in solidarity with the Third World victims of corporate tyranny.
The club will be organising part of the national postcard campaign demanding 1000 scholarships for East Timorese students and will promote the forthcoming tour of an Indonesian trade union activist. The next meeting will be held at noon on August 15, in the Tivey Room. For more information, contact 3831 2644.