Indonesia Army Threatens to Shoot Protesters

As rumors swept this capital Tuesday that further anti-government protests were planned in the wake of violent weekend clashes, the army threatened that demonstrators would be shot.

“We have issued orders to shoot if there are any attempts to disturb order,” the official Antara news agency quoted Jakarta-area military commander Sutiyoso as saying. “Our tolerance is limited.”

But supporters of opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri appeared not to be cowed. “They shoot us all?” asked one of her lower-level aides, laughing, when questioned about the threat.

At least three people died in rioting that broke out Saturday after authorities wrested control of Megawati’s party headquarters from hundreds of her supporters who had vowed to keep it out of the hands of a rival, government-backed faction. There was still no clear evidence Tuesday indicating whether any of her supporters were killed in the takeover.

Megawati continued to insist that she is the legal head of the Indonesian Democratic Party and that a June congress staged by the rival faction was illegal. “I have support from the people,” she said Tuesday. “So let the people say what they want to do.”

Megawati said she will press ahead Thursday morning in a Jakarta court with a case challenging the legality of her ouster. While it was unclear what prompted the army’s warning that those disrupting public order would be shot, the threat could have been related to Megawati’s legal action. Some observers say protests are possible Thursday outside the court.

Meanwhile, the government appeared to be setting the stage for the arrest of a group of political activists not directly linked to Megawati.

Susilo Sudarman, minister for political and security affairs, has charged that Saturday’s rioting was largely the responsibility of a group called the People’s Democratic Party. While Indonesia has only three officially recognized political parties that can participate in elections--Megawati’s is one of them--other groups also exist that use the word “party” in their names. The People’s Democratic Party is among those.

Indonesian newspapers Tuesday quoted Sudarman as declaring that the People’s Democratic Party has developed sub-organizations similar to those of the banned Indonesian Communist Party. Some observers saw in Sudarman’s comments a warning that members of these groups might be arrested.

Abdul Rahman Wahid, head of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s largest Muslim organization, said the government would be making a mistake if it arrested people in the groups cited by Sudarman. As long as the government acts with restraint, he said, further mass protests and rioting are unlikely.

But if the army starts arresting people across Indonesia, it will provoke a backlash, he predicted.