Indonesia ATL: The Presidency of Try Sutrisno (1997-)

[Kosaki_MacTavish]

Regarding the 2002 Elections, from a writer’s standpoint, the PKPB won because I wanted Tutut to have her moment and give her a possibility of winning at the MPR Session.

Hm, interesting. But still very much plausible, given what happened in OTL Indonesia (and that's with Soeharto's name tarnished unlike ITTL).....

In that ad he's 63-64 looking 50.

And by 2003 is probably 5 years behind his age (67).

Here's in OTL September 2003, Try watching as Edi shaking hands with a preacher that (probably) would not support them ITTL, Abdullah Gymnastiar.

I know Indonesia ends up quite a bit on the receiving end of this balkanization trope as far Alternatehistory goes .

And have it Soeharto couped Soekarno-Hatta to boot. But the balkanization stays just for a few years before Soeharto reunited most of Indonesia from the Islamists with the help of both Fascist and Democratic blocs.

If i'm already at the forums earlier, maybe i can suggest that it should've been a bomb that planted by DI killing the Dwitunggal, then Nasution takes control and goes after the Islamists. Then the rest of the TL goes on, including the seizure of West Papua by Australia, Timor by Portugal, and South Moluccas goes independent, with Army-led Indonesia would rule the remaining lands, dealing with the remaining rebels.

 

[Pio2013]

Question regarding Tutut surrender: How are the unions in Indonesia? Are the majority pro-Tutut? In many countries, unions are strongly identified with a specific party, so its no surprise when these unions strike against a govt opposed at their political party.

 

[GSD310]

Question regarding Tutut surrender: How are the unions in Indonesia? Are the majority pro-Tutut? In many countries, unions are strongly identified with a specific party, so its no surprise when these unions strike against a govt opposed at their political party.

This is a great question.

This is where the Try regime inherited and is perpetuating how the Soeharto regime operates. The Soeharto regime operates on the basis that there is only one organization allowed to represent one "element" or "section" of society. One organization for farmers (HKTI), one organization for fishermen (HNSI), one organization for teachers (PGRI), one organization for reporters/journalists (PWI) etc. etc. including one organization/union the All-Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI). Under Soeharto, these organizations are theoretically non-partisan but are mobilized to support the regime and its political party, Golkar.

ITTL, Try has not touched this system. But the system was somewhat shaken by Golkar's split into the PKPI and the PKPB and the rivalry between Try and Tutut where the two of them looked to be evenly-matched. Organizations like the SPSI thus operated on the basis that it would be best if they became non-partisan/impartial/neutral in the contest between Try and Tutut though in practice it was difficult for them to avoid taking sides. The current chairman of the SPSI, who has held office since 1995, is Bomer Pasaribu. When Golkar split into two he didn't take up either a PKPB or PKPI membership. Though he is known as an associate of Akbar Tandjung, the person seeking to replace Tutut as Chairman of the PKPB.

TLR:
There's only one recognized union which is theoretically non-partisan/impartial/neutral so it would not be taking sides, again theoretically, between Try and Tutut.

OOC: I've never really focused on the heads of such organization as HKTI, HNSI, PGRI, SPSI, PWI simply because even though they theoretically have influence because they are heading what in a Western system be considered a "pressure group" or "special interest", they are not that powerful in practice. You can count on one hand, at least during the New Order period anyway, someone who headed one of these organizations and then made the jump to be a minister (Harmoko was Chairman of the PWI before he became Minister of Information).

 

[GSD310]

6th July 2003:
Cendana Street was the site of an unexpected visit today as Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri was seen emerging out of a car. With a serene smile, Megawati only said to the gathered press that she was there on a non-political visit before disappearing inside the residence. An hour or so later, Megawati emerged out of the house with Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto and looking very much like old friends.

“Mbak Mega and I didn’t talk about the politics”, Tutut said “We just discussed the ups and downs of life, that’s all.”

When asked who did she intend to support at the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress, Tutut said that right now she was only intending to see out her final week as chairwoman of the PKPB peacefully. And that her final political activity will be to take part at the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress.

7th July 2003:
Protocol meant that President Try Sutrisno was always the last one to arrive at such meetings and that when he does arrive everyone would stand up. The President took his seat at the head of the table and it was only once he has sat down that Vice President JB Sumarlin and the other attendees of the DKN could sit down.

The President looked around at the officials who had gathered in the room, military and civilian alike. In addition to the DKN’s members, Minister of Legal Affairs Oka Mahendra, Minister of Information, Post, and Telecommunications Dahlan Iskan, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Arief Koeshariadi, and Attorney General Muchtar Arifin had also been asked along to attend.

“I declare this meeting open and I have nothing further to say as I believe we’ve got a lot to get through”, said the President curtly making everyone in the room suddenly wonder what the meeting was about “Chief of BAKIN, the floor is yours.”

Chief of BAKIN Ari Sudewo spoke and began to brief the entire meeting about intelligence that had been gathered over the past 14 months. That the OPM is active in the Pacific Island and is, at the very least, raising funds for something; that the GAM has received military training in Libya and had taken part in military operations to defend the Central African Republican government; and that those elements of Fretilin which are not in Indonesia has received military training in Angola and taken part in military operations in the Angolan Civil War. In the case of the GAM and Fretilin there are indications that they will be departing or have already departed from their respective places of training. Ari also reported about his recent trip to Aceh, Irian Jaya and East Timor where he had not found any traces of activities in the three provinces.

The President looked around at the other meeting participants. There were those who had only just heard it for the first time and those who looked like they had encountered bits and pieces of information in the recent past.

“BAKIN’s conclusion is that all three separatist organizations are now actively planning something”, Ari said as he finished his presentation “And that while they are now still far away from Indonesia, we are certain that they will arrive here soon and implement whatever it is that they are planning.”

Bowing his head in the President’s direction, Ari took his seat.

“Thank you very much to the Chief of BAKIN for the briefing”, the President said “In the five and half years that I’ve held this office, I have not been faced with a separatist rebellion. Part of that is probably just circumstances but part of that is deliberate. I wanted to give more autonomy, more economic development and more revenue in their direction than my predecessor, so that there is no reason left for them to plan anything against this Republic much less want to leave it.

But here we are…the dormant situation in Aceh, Irian Jaya, and East Timor are in all likelihood coming to an end. We’re going to go back to a situation that I thought we would never face again with the three hot spots in the archipelago becoming active again.

Having heard the Chief of BAKIN’s briefing and having said all that, I want to ask your considerations and opinions on this matter.”

“I don’t want to sound like I’m invalidating months and months of intelligence gathering”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Marzuki Darusman “But diplomatically, it’s difficult to do anything with the information we’ve just been presented with. We had a meeting about vague information that elements of the OPM are raising funds in Oceania last year and my stance is the same as last year: if we use this information and try to do something about it, it won’t look good. It’ll just look like we’re picking fights with Libya, Central Africa, Angola, and Mozambique.”

“Well, domestically if we just start conducting arrests and crackdowns in those three provinces off the back of this intel”, Minister of Home Affairs Sintong Panjaitan said “We would’ve just given a propaganda victory to those three organizations. We would look like we’re conducting wholescale repression on them instead of what we had been actually doing the last few years with their Special Region status.”

“ABRI has plans for various contingencies including the possibility of the GAM, Fretilin and the OPM returning” replied Commander of ABRI TB Hasanuddin “But until we are certain what we can anticipate from them, it’s difficult to plan, prepare, and train for something specific.”

“Doesn’t mean we’ll just sit back and wait until we get punched in the face though, right?” State Secretary Edi asked sounding frustrated “There has to be something we can do as a first step.”

“We absolutely need to prepare for them; I for one am curious what weapons they will have…as well as who’s supplying them, because they would have to have gotten them from somewhere if ABRI posts has not been attacked” spoke up Minister of Defense and Security Wiranto “But on the other hand, I worry if we end up being the aggressor in this situation…what does that mean for the weapons systems we want to procure or are procuring to strengthen ABRI? If it’ll make it difficult to have weapons procured and delivered, we have to be cautious about what we do now.”

“Pardon me for being a smartass civilian but I think we need more information before we can know what steps we can take”, piped Minister of Information, Post, and Telecommunications Dahlan Iskan “There’s basically no intelligence from inside the country and little from outside of it so maybe we can dig around for more information.”

“And where do you suppose the Chief of BAKIN should start with? GAM, Fretilin, or OPM?” asked Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Arief Koeshariadi “The first two are making their plans from Africa and the last one are making their plans somewhere in the Pacific; speaking as someone with nautical experience, that’s a very big place to hide in.”

“There’s something we can do”, said Minister of Legal Affairs Oka Mahendra “We’ve established that they’re outside the country, right? Why not put them on a blacklist and be on the lookout for them at various checkpoints airports, ports, land borders. If they come in, deny them entry and arrest them.”

“These guys are probably not travelling using their real names”, Sintong said “I’ll be surprised if they’re not using fake passports, IDs and other documents, actually.”

“We’ll have to make sure that immigrations, customs, and various entry checkpoints into the country are aware of not just their names but also their faces”, Oka countered.

“Sounds like a plan”, the President said “Any preparations we have to make to bring this travel ban about?”

“The Immigration Law says that if we want to deny entry to Indonesians wanting to go into the country requires me to consult with ABRI Headquarters, the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General’s Office, and BAKIN”, Oka replied “But mostly, what I will be needing is the names and faces of those we want to prevent from coming into the country.”

“I’ll be sure to get you those, Mr. Minister of Legal Affairs”, Ari said.

There was silence at the table.

“I think as a first step against the threat that has been conveyed to us today, this is all well and good”, Sumarlin commented “But the I think the question that we need to answer is, ultimately what is our end goal and our ultimate aim when it comes to the GAM, the Fretilin, and the OPM?”

Almost reflexively, everyone turned in the President’s direction. The President took a few seconds to reflect and then answered.

“The total defeat of the OPM, the GAM, and the Fretilin, Mr. Vice President”, the President said “What I mean by that is we know that they’re defeated, they know that they’re defeated, and the world knows that they’re defeated. It is preferable to me, in much the same way as recent political developments, that they’re compelled to openly acknowledge their defeat to us so there are no more questions or disputes. If we claim victory but they’re still harassing military bases or police stations or we’re still chasing remnants of them around the mountains and jungles and villages 20-25 years from now, that will not be good enough.”

There was silence in the room as all present processed the President’s words.

“And I don’t wish to be melodramatic but this is what’s at stake. We are in the midst of leveraging three decades of economic development so that we can become firmly established as an emerging economic power, be more assertive in world affairs, and be able to strengthen our nation’s militarily. We’re in a situation where we’re concerned about China’s intentions towards our region and we have Australia behind us if we want to focus on China but the way our relation is with the Land Downunder, it’s not safe to turn our backs.

And they’ve picked precisely this moment to begin to be active again. We don’t know what they’re going to do, what they’re going to do, and where they will do it. We only know the following things: that they are coming and that they seem to have spent a considerable time making sure that this time around, they land a good hit on us.”

The only noise being heard in the room is the scratching of pens on notepads.

“I’m going to assume that their respective goals is to successfully break apart from this Republic”, the President said “But even if they do not achieve that, they will at the very least be a distraction. In economic relations, I wouldn’t be surprised if they will become real topic again among some of those seeking to trade with us, invest in us, or provide us with aid.

Geopolitically, we’ll have to spend some time away from ASEAN and other matters because we would have to address these separatists. All the while we’re seeing something that is not a good precedent in Yugoslavia; if you try to do something about people trying to secede from you, you get a “humanitarian intervention” thrown in your face.”

Silence dawned in the room.

“And if I may, Mr. President”, Sumarlin asked “This total defeat, is it to be achieved militarily?”

The President was silent for a while.

“If it can be achieved any other way, I’m all for it”, the President said “But I don’t think these guys have undergone military training or are preparing something from afar just so they can achieve their aims diplomatically.”

“Very well, Mr. President”, Sumarlin said as he nodded in Minister of Economics and National Development Planning Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti and Minister of Finance Boediono’s direction “We will make plans accordingly.”

“Do what you have to, but don’t make it too obvious or visible”, the President said before turning to the others “That goes for all of you too, let’s not look to the outside world like we’re planning anything to anticipate or respond to something because they will know.”

There was silence in the room again and TB Hasanuddin felt the President’s eyes scan in his direction.

“Commander, in the event of military engagement, how do you expect our personnel will perform?” asked the President.

“Well, Mr. President the information we’ve received, we will either be going against personnel trained in Libya with counterinsurgency experience in Central Africa or against personnel that have been trained and gotten field experience in the Angolan Civil War with the OPM’s training still unaccounted for”, Hasanuddin said “And our personnel…well…we saw our personnel’s capabilities at the last exercise and…erm…well…I don’t wish to be disparaging but…”

Wiranto looked at this with an expression of sympathy on his face.

“Permission to speak, Mr. President”, Wiranto said “I just want to put it on the record that our personnel will struggle because they have shown that they could not make it through a training exercise without getting diarrhea or dengue fever. It happened under my command, I take full…”

The President lifted his hand.

“I don’t want responsibility, I want improvements”, the President told Wiranto before turning to Hasanuddin “Right now, the goal of implementing the improvements recommended by the 2002 ABRI Joint Exercise Review is not merely to get better, it’s to prepare for to meet these guys on the battlefield and of course, you’re welcome if there are any additional training you want to add into the equation.”

“Sir, yes Sir”, said TB Hasanuddin.

“Another question, Lt. Gen. Amirul as the Chief of ABRI Intelligence Agency is coordinated by the Chief of BAKIN because he’s part of the intelligence community but he’s your direct subordinate which means he has reported to you about some of the things that had been discussed today, has he not?” asked the President.

“That’s correct, Sir”, replied Hasanuddin “Lt. Gen. Amirul kept me updated when he was well enough to come into the Headquarters.”

“Is there anyone else ABRI are aware of the intel from the ABRI Intelligence Agency aside from you?” asked the President.

“The Deputy Commander of ABRI, the Army, Navy, and Air Force Chiefs of Staff and the Chief of Police, the ABRI Chief of General Staff, the ABRI Chief of Socio-Political Affairs Staff, the Inspector General of ABRI, Mr. President and of course the present Chief of ABRI Intelligence Agency was brought up to speed upon taking over”, replied Hasanuddin.

“Let’s start bringing in more people into the loop”, the President said “The Army, Navy, Air Force Deputies Chief of Staff and the Deputy Chief of Police, the staff members at the ABRI, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Police Headquarters; the Education and Training Commands of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Police; I'll add my Military Secretary as well…these can all start to be brought up to speed on things.”

“Yes, Mr. President”, said Hasanuddin.

“Anyone in command of combat personnel need to be brought into the loop as well”, the President continued “The Commander of Kostrad with his 3 divisions, the regional military commanders, and the Commander of Kopassus for the Army; the commanders of the 3 fleets, the Commander of the Kolinlamil and the Commander of the Marine Corps with his 3 troops for the Navy; the commander of the 3 Air Force operations commands, the Commander of the National Air Defense Command, and the Commander of the Air Force Special Forces for the Air Force; the chiefs of the regional police and the Commander of the Mobile Brigade for the Police. Bring them and only them into the loop at this time."

“Sir, yes Sir”, said Hasanuddin.

"For the Department of Defense and Security, the Departmental Secretary, Inspector, and Directors General can be briefed on this", the President said, turning to Wiranto "Don't forget the Lemhanas as well."

While Hasanuddin and Wiranto wrote down the President’s instructions, Edi looked around at the expressions around the table. Those with a military background got the message immediately and had a concerned expression on their faces with Sintong’s face seeming to scream “I wish I had known of this earlier”. Of the civilians, Sumarlin and Marzuki looked the most concerned. Sumarlin because he sat very close to the President and could see the grievous expression on his face as he said these things while Marzuki was clearly pondering the consequences of the coming three separatist rebellions for Indonesia’s present geopolitical jockeying. The remaining civilians, though realizing that the President was concerned about this, seemed to still see the threat being presented as a largely “abstract” one.

“Well, if there’s nothing else to discuss, let’s close the meeting”, the President said as he pushed his chair back and stood up; everyone else standing up out of respect. He nodded at all in the room before turning around to leave.

Sumarlin turned and followed the President out of the room while the rest of officials packed their paperwork and chatted amongst themselves. Ari gathered up his paperwork and went to approach Edi as the latter gathered their paperwork.

“That went all right, I suppose”, Ari said “Though the meeting is correct, there’s still a lot of information to dig up.”

“It got more people are thinking about these things instead of everything being on his shoulders, in that sense it went all right”, Edi replied “And yes, there’s still a lot of the puzzle for us to figure out but whatever it is that our enemies are preparing for us out there, we’re making our own preparations too and we’ll be ready for them, they can be sure of that.”

---
Yeah, it’s a quiet Friday where I am. Very relaxed and once again this just wrote itself.

Megawati visiting Tutut is an echo of a part of her OTL personality that I’ve always found interesting: her empathy towards Soeharto after he had fallen from power. It’s not that she has forgotten what Soeharto has done to her or her father, but somehow she’s empathetic towards him. In OTL on 1st June 1998, which means just days after Soeharto fell from power, she’s recorded as calling on the public to stop insulting and castigating Soeharto (https://www.google.co.id/books/edit...nghujat+soeharto&pg=PA115&printsec=frontcover).

And when she became president, she did not try and push for Soeharto to be put on trial and even considered pardoning him though there is question about whether or not this was Megawati or Yusril’s idea (https://www.hukumonline.com/berita/a/tepatkah-abolisi-untuk-soeharto-hol4475/).

Indonesia has, under different names, a national security council but history suggests that it is rarely used. Soekarno used it in the lead-up to West Irian but other than that there’s no record of it being used to make policies and decisions (https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewan_Ketahanan_Nasional).

The law being cited is article 16 of the Immigration Law of 1992 (https://bphn.go.id/data/documents/92uu009.pdf).

 

[Kosaki_MacTavish]

6th July 2003:
Cendana Street was the site of an unexpected visit today as Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri was seen emerging out of a car. With a serene smile, Megawati only said to the gathered press that she was there on a non-political visit before disappearing inside the residence. An hour or so later, Megawati emerged out of the house with Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto and looking very much like old friends.

“Mbak Mega and I didn’t talk about the politics”, Tutut said “We just discussed the ups and downs of life, that’s all.”

Kindred spirits.

When asked who did she intend to support at the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress, Tutut said that right now she was only intending to see out her final week as chairwoman of the PKPB peacefully. And that her final political activity will be to take part at the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress.

Dasvidaniya.

7th July 2003:
Protocol meant that President Try Sutrisno was always the last one to arrive at such meetings and that when he does arrive everyone would stand up. The President took his seat at the head of the table and it was only once he has sat down that Vice President JB Sumarlin and the other attendees of the DKN could sit down.

The President looked around at the officials who had gathered in the room, military and civilian alike. In addition to the DKN’s members, Minister of Legal Affairs Oka Mahendra, Minister of Information, Post, and Telecommunications Dahlan Iskan, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Arief Koeshariadi, and Attorney General Muchtar Arifin had also been asked along to attend.

“I declare this meeting open and I have nothing further to say as I believe we’ve got a lot to get through”, said the President curtly making everyone in the room suddenly wonder what the meeting was about “Chief of BAKIN, the floor is yours.”

Chief of BAKIN Ari Sudewo spoke and began to brief the entire meeting about intelligence that had been gathered over the past 14 months. That the OPM is active in the Pacific Island and is, at the very least, raising funds for something; that the GAM has received military training in Libya and had taken part in military operations to defend the Central African Republican government; and that those elements of Fretilin which are not in Indonesia has received military training in Angola and taken part in military operations in the Angolan Civil War. In the case of the GAM and Fretilin there are indications that they will be departing or have already departed from their respective places of training. Ari also reported about his recent trip to Aceh, Irian Jaya and East Timor where he had not found any traces of activities in the three provinces.

The President looked around at the other meeting participants. There were those who had only just heard it for the first time and those who looked like they had encountered bits and pieces of information in the recent past.

“BAKIN’s conclusion is that all three separatist organizations are now actively planning something”, Ari said as he finished his presentation “And that while they are now still far away from Indonesia, we are certain that they will arrive here soon and implement whatever it is that they are planning.”

Bowing his head in the President’s direction, Ari took his seat.

“Thank you very much to the Chief of BAKIN for the briefing”, the President said “In the five and half years that I’ve held this office, I have not been faced with a separatist rebellion. Part of that is probably just circumstances but part of that is deliberate. I wanted to give more autonomy, more economic development and more revenue in their direction than my predecessor, so that there is no reason left for them to plan anything against this Republic much less want to leave it.

But here we are…the dormant situation in Aceh, Irian Jaya, and East Timor are in all likelihood coming to an end. We’re going to go back to a situation that I thought we would never face again with the three hot spots in the archipelago becoming active again.

Having heard the Chief of BAKIN’s briefing and having said all that, I want to ask your considerations and opinions on this matter.”

It's going to be interesting, nonetheless. And still no mention of RMS lol, much less the OTL Riau and Dayak separatists in the aftermath of 1998 Crisis which only emerged after decades of rampant centralization and 'foreign' intrusions.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m invalidating months and months of intelligence gathering”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Marzuki Darusman “But diplomatically, it’s difficult to do anything with the information we’ve just been presented with. We had a meeting about vague information that elements of the OPM are raising funds in Oceania last year and my stance is the same as last year: if we use this information and try to do something about it, it won’t look good. It’ll just look like we’re picking fights with Libya, Central Africa, Angola, and Mozambique.”

“Well, domestically if we just start conducting arrests and crackdowns in those three provinces off the back of this intel”, Minister of Home Affairs Sintong Panjaitan said “We would’ve just given a propaganda victory to those three organizations. We would look like we’re conducting wholescale repression on them instead of what we had been actually doing the last few years with their Special Region status.”

Very much agreed.

[snip]

“There’s something we can do”, said Minister of Legal Affairs Oka Mahendra “We’ve established that they’re outside the country, right? Why not put them on a blacklist and be on the lookout for them at various checkpoints airports, ports, land borders. If they come in, deny them entry and arrest them.”

“These guys are probably not travelling using their real names”, Sintong said “I’ll be surprised if they’re not using fake passports, IDs and other documents, actually.”

“We’ll have to make sure that immigrations, customs, and various entry checkpoints into the country are aware of not just their names but also their faces”, Oka countered.

“Sounds like a plan”, the President said “Any preparations we have to make to bring this travel ban about?”

“The Immigration Law says that if we want to deny entry to Indonesians wanting to go into the country requires me to consult with ABRI Headquarters, the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General’s Office, and BAKIN”, Oka replied “But mostly, what I will be needing is the names and faces of those we want to prevent from coming into the country.”

“I’ll be sure to get you those, Mr. Minister of Legal Affairs”, Ari said.

Good one.

There was silence at the table.

“I think as a first step against the threat that has been conveyed to us today, this is all well and good”, Sumarlin commented “But the I think the question that we need to answer is, ultimately what is our end goal and our ultimate aim when it comes to the GAM, the Fretilin, and the OPM?”

Almost reflexively, everyone turned in the President’s direction. The President took a few seconds to reflect and then answered.

“The total defeat of the OPM, the GAM, and the Fretilin, Mr. Vice President”, the President said “What I mean by that is we know that they’re defeated, they know that they’re defeated, and the world knows that they’re defeated. It is preferable to me, in much the same way as recent political developments, that they’re compelled to openly acknowledge their defeat to us so there are no more questions or disputes. If we claim victory but they’re still harassing military bases or police stations or we’re still chasing remnants of them around the mountains and jungles and villages 20-25 years from now, that will not be good enough.”

There was silence in the room as all present processed the President’s words.

Getting Tutu'd.

[snip]

“I’m going to assume that their respective goals is to successfully break apart from this Republic”, the President said “But even if they do not achieve that, they will at the very least be a distraction. In economic relations, I wouldn’t be surprised if they will become real topic again among some of those seeking to trade with us, invest in us, or provide us with aid.

Geopolitically, we’ll have to spend some time away from ASEAN and other matters because we would have to address these separatists. All the while we’re seeing something that is not a good precedent in Yugoslavia; if you try to do something about people trying to secede from you, you get a “humanitarian intervention” thrown in your face.”

Silence dawned in the room.

Yeah, the Americans still can't give a concrete answer for the Indonesians regarding this one.

“And if I may, Mr. President”, Sumarlin asked “This total defeat, is it to be achieved militarily?”

The President was silent for a while.

“If it can be achieved any other way, I’m all for it”, the President said “But I don’t think these guys have undergone military training or are preparing something from afar just so they can achieve their aims diplomatically.”

“Very well, Mr. President”, Sumarlin said as he nodded in Minister of Economics and National Development Planning Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti and Minister of Finance Boediono’s direction “We will make plans accordingly.”

“Do what you have to, but don’t make it too obvious or visible”, the President said before turning to the others “That goes for all of you too, let’s not look to the outside world like we’re planning anything to anticipate or respond to something because they will know.”

Shower them with so much welfare that they would think thrice (not just twice) to secede awokawoakwokawok

There was silence in the room again and TB Hasanuddin felt the President’s eyes scan in his direction.

“Commander, in the event of military engagement, how do you expect our personnel will perform?” asked the President.

“Well, Mr. President the information we’ve received, we will either be going against personnel trained in Libya with counterinsurgency experience in Central Africa or against personnel that have been trained and gotten field experience in the Angolan Civil War with the OPM’s training still unaccounted for”, Hasanuddin said “And our personnel…well…we saw our personnel’s capabilities at the last exercise and…erm…well…I don’t wish to be disparaging but…”

Wiranto looked at this with an expression of sympathy on his face.

“Permission to speak, Mr. President”, Wiranto said “I just want to put it on the record that our personnel will struggle because they have shown that they could not make it through a training exercise without getting diarrhea or dengue fever. It happened under my command, I take full…”

The President lifted his hand.

“I don’t want responsibility, I want improvements”, the President told Wiranto before turning to Hasanuddin “Right now, the goal of implementing the improvements recommended by the 2002 ABRI Joint Exercise Review is not merely to get better, it’s to prepare for to meet these guys on the battlefield and of course, you’re welcome if there are any additional training you want to add into the equation.”

“Sir, yes Sir”, said TB Hasanuddin.

They would need it sorely. Can't have it if those Army Wannabes still get accepted.....

“Another question, Lt. Gen. Amirul as the Chief of ABRI Intelligence Agency is coordinated by the Chief of BAKIN because he’s part of the intelligence community but he’s your direct subordinate which means he has reported to you about some of the things that had been discussed today, has he not?” asked the President.

“That’s correct, Sir”, replied Hasanuddin “Lt. Gen. Amirul kept me updated when he was well enough to come into the Headquarters.”

“Is there anyone else ABRI are aware of the intel from the ABRI Intelligence Agency aside from you?” asked the President.

“The Deputy Commander of ABRI, the Army, Navy, and Air Force Chiefs of Staff and the Chief of Police, the ABRI Chief of General Staff, the ABRI Chief of Socio-Political Affairs Staff, the Inspector General of ABRI, Mr. President and of course the present Chief of ABRI Intelligence Agency was brought up to speed upon taking over”, replied Hasanuddin.

“Let’s start bringing in more people into the loop”, the President said “The Army, Navy, Air Force Deputies Chief of Staff and the Deputy Chief of Police, the staff members at the ABRI, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Police Headquarters; the Education and Training Commands of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Police; I'll add my Military Secretary as well…these can all start to be brought up to speed on things.”

Hmm, i think Bambang knows some stuffs too.... Too bad he sided with the wrong flock and got kicked just as things are going to be interesting.

[snip]

“Well, if there’s nothing else to discuss, let’s close the meeting”, the President said as he pushed his chair back and stood up; everyone else standing up out of respect. He nodded at all in the room before turning around to leave.

Sumarlin turned and followed the President out of the room while the rest of officials packed their paperwork and chatted amongst themselves. Ari gathered up his paperwork and went to approach Edi as the latter gathered their paperwork.

“That went all right, I suppose”, Ari said “Though the meeting is correct, there’s still a lot of information to dig up.”

“It got more people are thinking about these things instead of everything being on his shoulders, in that sense it went all right”, Edi replied “And yes, there’s still a lot of the puzzle for us to figure out but whatever it is that our enemies are preparing for us out there, we’re making our own preparations too and we’ll be ready for them, they can be sure of that.”

Hope so, probably this would push for a bit more of democratization (or rather, deconcentration) down the line, huehuehue.....

---
Yeah, it’s a quiet Friday where I am. Very relaxed and once again this just wrote itself.

Megawati visiting Tutut is an echo of a part of her OTL personality that I’ve always found interesting: her empathy towards Soeharto after he had fallen from power. It’s not that she has forgotten what Soeharto has done to her or her father, but somehow she’s empathetic towards him. In OTL on 1st June 1998, which means just days after Soeharto fell from power, she’s recorded as calling on the public to stop insulting and castigating Soeharto (https://www.google.co.id/books/edit...nghujat+soeharto&pg=PA115&printsec=frontcover).

And when she became president, she did not try and push for Soeharto to be put on trial and even considered pardoning him though there is question about whether or not this was Megawati or Yusril’s idea (https://www.hukumonline.com/berita/a/tepatkah-abolisi-untuk-soeharto-hol4475/).

Lemme guess, either out of respect for ex-presidents, or because Soeharto bowed down to IMF? Anyway, Soeharto did reverse some of the De-Sukarno-izations by building the mausoleum. But i know that he did let Sukarno die by giving what amounts to be a house arrest with minimal hospice care, but on the flip side Sjahrir died after previously being put in the same condition by Sukarno due to influence of Subandrio.

Indonesia has, under different names, a national security council but history suggests that it is rarely used. Soekarno used it in the lead-up to West Irian but other than that there’s no record of it being used to make policies and decisions (https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewan_Ketahanan_Nasional).

So considering the circumstances of it being made, it involves all kinds of security, whether military, social, or economic. The ITTL iteration would be all three, i think.

 

[Pio2013]

Its a good time to uncover the old man notes! I guess Try can count with Philipines to assist, right?

 

[Kosaki_MacTavish]

Its a good time to uncover the old man notes!

The housemaid placed it somewhere on Amirul's house, together with his personal, non-work-related belongings. Would be not picked up unless Ari does a thorough searching on his house.

I guess Try can count with Philipines to assist, right?

Yes, and Thailand too, as always. All three actually has separatist problems at the same time, Thailand with the Pattani Malays, Philippines with the Moros.

 

[Pio2013]

Yes, and Thailand too, as always. All three actually has separatist problems at the same time, Thailand with the Pattani Malays, Philippines with the Moros.

I was about to say Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam but Philipines and Thailand will be more than happy to assist.

Now for the terrorists training in Africa, its gonna be hard, but at least Try has a good reputation and im sure some sort of assistance can be given. Of course, many would like to get something in exchange.

 

[GSD310]

Lemme guess, either out of respect for ex-presidents, or because Soeharto bowed down to IMF? Anyway, Soeharto did reverse some of the De-Sukarno-izations by building the mausoleum. But i know that he did let Sukarno die by giving what amounts to be a house arrest with minimal hospice care, but on the flip side Sjahrir died after previously being put in the same condition by Sukarno due to influence of Subandrio.

I think you've nailed it indirectly there. I think it's just the case that Soeharto and Sukarno's relationship, and those related to them, are complicated.

The ITTL iteration would be all three, i think.

Could be. For the moment it's copying the US NSC which is why Dorodjatun and Boediono are there.

Its a good time to uncover the old man notes! I guess Try can count with Philipines to assist, right?

The housemaid placed it somewhere on Amirul's house, together with his personal, non-work-related belongings. Would be not picked up unless Ari does a thorough searching on his house.

Yes, and Thailand too, as always. All three actually has separatist problems at the same time, Thailand with the Pattani Malays, Philippines with the Moros.

I was about to say Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam but Philipines and Thailand will be more than happy to assist.

Now for the terrorists training in Africa, its gonna be hard, but at least Try has a good reputation and im sure some sort of assistance can be given. Of course, many would like to get something in exchange.

Enjoy the ride, folks lol.

 

[Kosaki_MacTavish]

Enjoy the ride, folks lol.

Certainly awokawokawok

 

[GSD310]

8th July 2003:
The DPR was in session today, complete with the PKPB members who are now back in Jakarta instead of campaigning ahead of the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress. In the days’s proceedings, the DPR passed the Titles, Awards, and Honours Law which governs the types of Titles, Awards, and Honours that could be given by the President. State Secretary Edi Sudrajat was on hand for the passing of the law. When asked about the Anti-Terror Bill, Edi only said that the government, the DPR and all are waiting for the PKPB to sort out its internal affairs.

Elsewhere in the DPR that day, the Leader of the PKPB in the DPR Yusril Ihza Mahendra held a press conference surrounded by PKPB DPR Members MS Kaban, Nurmahmudi Ismail, and Hidayat Nur Wahid to announce that he will be a candidate for the chairmanship of the PKPB at the Extraordinary National Congress.

9th July 2003:
The President had a meeting with Minister of Mining and Energy Awang Faroek Ishak with the latter reporting about various developments from his policy area. Awang reported that Unocal’s offshore deepwater oil field in the Makassar Strait will become operational before the year is out, that Exors will be completed betwen 2005-2006, and that they will start seeing the completions of the expansions of the existing oil refineries.

The matter that the President was most keen to discuss was oil prices. Awang said that it was “almost cliché” to say it but the world got lucky the United States attacked Yugoslavia instead of somewhere in the Middle East because that would definitely push oil prices up. At the same time, it now still has to deal with the BRIC + Indonesian economies putting upward pressure on oil prices.

“Had they gone somewhere in the Middle East, they could have taken the price of oil over $30 per barrel, Mr. President” Awang said “But as it stands, we’re on track to cross $30 before the year is out just on the basis on increasing demand from emerging economies like ours”

“If I asked you whether a fuel price increase is necessary at the moment, what would you say?” asked the President.

“Eventually you’ll have to increase it because increased oil prices mean we’ll have to spend more on subsidies and we can’t have that”, Awang explained “But right now we’re looking at a slow but steady increase rather than a jolt and shock. If the argument is made that the economy can absorb it then it can be argued back that the State Budget can still absorb it and we need to be mindful about those in Eastern Indonesia and more isolated areas where the fuel price is always higher than the price we set here in Jakarta. If there’s no urgent imperative, we’ll just be adding to costs and hindering economic activity over there.”

10th July 2003:
In a press conference, Minister of Health Azrul Azwar said that Indonesia welcomes the WHO’s announcement that SARS has been contained and that as a result all of the policies put in place to contain SARS are hereby revoked. Azrul only smiled when asked what effect it would have on the region that the last SARS case had been in Cambodia saying that he would not be drawn into geopolitics.

Participating in a question-and-answer session at an APINDO business luncheon, Vice President JB Sumarlin spoke about recent developments including how in the aftermath of the fall of Belgrade, the US Dollar had strengthened and that the Rupiah had slid down to around $1= Rp. 3,975-Rp. 3,980 range.

“This is a good exchange rate for those of us here wanting to open factories and plants as well as import raw material from abroad”, Sumarlin said “At the same time, our goal since the mid-1980s has been to become an export-oriented economy and we have also set ourselves the aim of making tourism our largest foreign currency earner by the end of Repelita VII and we have to be mindful that perhaps our currency is not in a competitive position to achieve these positions. We thus have to be worth every one of our investors’ and our trading partners’ penny, to be more productive and more efficient. And the government is making preparations to enact policies that will help achieve these goals.”

11th July 2003:
The President had a breakfast meeting with Minister of Home Affairs Sintong Panjaitan and Chairman of the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress Moerdiono. The two came to get final instructions ahead of the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress which was due to start that day. The President only said to go ahead with the Extraordinary National Congress and to proceed as planned. Moerdiono asked whether the President will be coming because a seat has been set aside for him.

“The Minister of Home Affairs will represent me”, the President said “I’ve already had my meeting with the Chairwoman last week.”

At the Jakarta Convention Center, the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress got underway. In addition to the representatives of the PKPB’s Provincial, Regency and Municipal branches there were the PKPB’s DPR members and its Central Leadership Council. The mood was one of a last hurrah. There were cheers for Tutut when she walked into the convention center and as she delivered her accountability address which made mention of the PKPB getting the most seats at last year’s elections. Even Akbar joined in the applauding. But there was an unspoken realization by all at the event, that once she completed her speech, that it was time to move on.

Tutut herself was under no illusions even as she wiped away her tears in response to the standing applause which the PKPB gave to her at the conclusion of her speech; the Chairwoman of the PKPB had by then decided then that she would take no further part in the Extraordinary National Congress.

12th July 2003:
Chairman of the PKPI Basofi Sudirman came out of a meeting with the President this morning. Basofi said that the President’s instructed him to begin preparing the PKPI National Congress. When asked about dates, Basofi said they are looking at late September after the President’s trip to the G-15 but before the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta.

The spotlight was very much not on the PKPI that day. After the representatives from the PKPB Provincial, Regency, and Municipal branches had voted and the votes counted, it was evening when former Treasurer of the PKPB Akbar Tandjung was declared the winner over Yusril Ihza Mahendra by 203 votes to 125 votes.

“I thus declare Ir. Akbar Tandjung elected as the new Chairman of the PKPB”, Moerdiono announced as Akbar’s supporters cheered at the news.

13th July 2003:
Tutut was seen arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. She largely ignored the press presence that was there, saying that she was taking her “long overdue holiday”.

Without her, but quite smoothly, The PKPB Extraordinary National Congress was brought to a smooth close today. Akbar Tandjung promised to keep Treasurer of the PKPB Fuad Bawazier in his position if the latter would not run for Secretary against Akbar-supported candidate Theo Sambuaga. Thus it was that Theo was elected unanimously as Secretary of the PKPB and Fuad Bawazier retained as Treasurer of the PKPB.

Meanwhile, with Akbar sitting down next to him cameras on him throughout the whole process, Ginandjar Kartasasmita filled in his PKPB membership form. By the time the closing ceremony rolled around, Ginandjar’s membership card had been completed and he received it to much applause while Akbar received the PKPB’s flag to mark the beginning of his chairmanship from Moerdiono.

14th July 2003:
The day began with the President accompanied by Sintong Panjaitan and Edi Sudrajat meeting with Chairman of the PKPB Akbar Tandjung and Secretary of the PKPI Theo Sambuaga. Akbar came to formally introduce himself in his new capacity. Akbar reiterated his promise for a more constructive attitude towards the government, support for the Anti-Terror Bill so that it could be passed into law unanimously, and also support for ABRI’s territorial reforms. The President happily accepted Akbar’s commitments though he asked what would happen now to those PKPB members who try to make “religious-based appeals” and make it seem that the government is against the majority religion.

“They voted for the other candidate for chairman at the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress and the results show that they are in the minority, Mr. President”, Akbar said “And they will be further in the minority now that Pak Ginandjar’s supporters are applying for memberships as well.”

For a split second the President thought about the possibility of the PKPB becoming Ginandjar’ political vehicle but he brushed that aside and expressed his satisfaction with Akbar’s answer, thinking that finishing off Tutut as a political force and turning those who would use religion in politics into a meaningless minority were the more important things.

That day the DPR unanimously passed the Anti-Terrorism Bill into Law. Meanwhile Edi Sudrajat, Chairman of the BP-7 Agus Widjojo, and Attorney General Muchtar Arifin held a joint press conference. Muchtar said that with the Anti-Terrorism Law now passed and with the Attorney General’s Office having been on standby since before the passing of the law, everything is now in order to prosecute the Jemaah Islamiyah operatives in Indonesian custody and bring them to court.

Agus Widjojo discussed the law’s provisions on counter-radicalization and deradicalization which had been entrusted to the BP-7 saying that it must always be remembered that after communism, the other threat seeking to unseat Pancasila are those seeking to establish “religious rule” whether through violent or non-violent means. Meanwhile, Edi said that the law’s provision calling for the formation of an anti-terrorism agency will be fulfilled as soon as possible by the President.

15th July 2003:
The President met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Marzuki Darusman to discuss various issues. Marzuki said that SARS had not been good for Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen. In addition to contracting cases of SARS, Cambodia has also been affected by the travel warnings which in turn has had a negative impact on the Cambodian economy. Marzuki believes that this will still be fresh in the Cambodian voters’ minds as they go to vote in the election on the 27th and that President of the Cambodian National Assembly Norodom Ranariddh has a good shot.

“Ranariddh wins and there’ll be six of us in ASEAN”, the President commented “We’ll be a majority.”

The two also discussed the aftermath of the fall of Belgrade. The United States had installed Dragoljub Micunovic as acting president who will be in charge of holding the next election, has acknowledged Milo Dukanovic as President of Montenegro, and then had backed Dukanovic to obtain agreement from Micunovic to hold an independence referendum. Marzuki said that the United States are definitely feeling confident about themselves at the moment.

“Has the United States gotten news about the passing of the Anti-Terror Law?” asked the President.

“They have and they have welcomed it, Mr. President, it will be an asset we can point to in future talks with them that shows we’re committed to the War of Terror”, replied Marzuki “It’s just that right now their priority is on Yugoslavia and we have Australia all but solidifying its position in the United States’ ear given the additional personnel they have sent to Yugoslavia because of the United Kingdom’s non-participation.”

The President scoffed at this last part.

“What’s the latest on the People’s Republic of China?” asked the President as though fishing in the dark for good news.

“Our Embassy in Beijing is reporting that China’s immediate priority in foreign policy is actually getting more nations to switch recognition from Taiwan to them, Mr. President”, Marzuki said.

“Luo is moving on from Soong, I take it?” asked the President about the President of China and the President of Taiwan.

“President Soong looks set to be challenged by the DPP’s Chen Sui-bian at Taiwan’s Presidential Elections next year and he will be fighting an uphill battle”, said Marzuki “And in the event that President Soong loses, Beijing wants to be sure that there will be less nations that recognize Taipei over it. And the thing is, with President Soong advocating closer relations with the mainland, there are nations thinking no point maintaining relations with Taiwan over the mainland when Taiwan itself favors closer relations with China.”

“Should we be concerned about this?” asked the President.

“To a certain extent”, said Marzuki “One part of the world where Beijing is seeking a switch in recognition from Taipei to it is in Oceania which is not far from us. They’ve already gotten Nauru and Kiribati looks set to be next. You see focusing on China as turning our backs on Australia and Oceania. Well now we are turning our backs on Australia, Oceania, with China seeking to increase its presence behind our backs, if that makes sense.”

“The Aussies aren’t worried about this?” asked the President “More of China in their neighborhood?”

“As they head off to battle in Yugoslavia and feel anxious about having a considerable amount of their troops half a world away from Australia, it’s not China they’re worried about, as I’m sure you are well aware, Mr. President”, replied Marzuki.

“Do you suppose that China and Australia are…” began the President and then he struggled to find the right word.

“Allies is not the right word”, replied Marzuki “But the possibility is there that they’ll cooperate, tacitly or otherwise, as far as it concerns us. And we are concerned about this possibility. The real problem about Malaysia procuring MBTs is not the fact that they had gone ahead and done that, it’s the fact that they procured it from China with Australia cheering them on.”

---
Regarding oil prices, in OTL the monthly prices increased from $24.54 in November to $28 in December to $30-32 in January-March before going down to $25.60 once Baghdad fell. ITTL, the oil price increase as a result of the imminent invasion of Iraq doesn’t happen. But in its place, you have the oil price still steadily going up because of demand from the emerging economies, including our protagonist country. Source for OTL oil price: (https://www.indexmundi.com/Commodities/?commodity=crude-oil&months=360)

The Anti-Terror Law is as OTL, both the original 2002-2003 law and the 2018 amendment. The difference is that counter-radicalization and de-radicalization is the BP-7’s responsibility rather than the BNPT.

Nauru and Kiribati did switch from Taiwan to China in 2002 and 2003 respectively in OTL.

 

[Kosaki_MacTavish]

8th July 2003:
The DPR was in session today, complete with the PKPB members who are now back in Jakarta instead of campaigning ahead of the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress. [snip] Elsewhere in the DPR that day, the Leader of the PKPB in the DPR Yusril Ihza Mahendra held a press conference surrounded by PKPB DPR Members MS Kaban, Nurmahmudi Ismail, and Hidayat Nur Wahid to announce that he will be a candidate for the chairmanship of the PKPB at the Extraordinary National Congress.

Heh, four years late from OTL. I remember when he almost nominated himself as a presidential candidate in 1999 but then withdrawn and supporting Gus Dur just because the other contender is none other than Megawati. Also, the Tarbiyah Caucus finally showed themselves.

9th July 2003:
The President had a meeting with Minister of Mining and Energy Awang Faroek Ishak with the latter reporting about various developments from his policy area. Awang reported that Unocal’s offshore deepwater oil field in the Makassar Strait will become operational before the year is out, that Exors will be completed betwen 2005-2006, and that they will start seeing the completions of the expansions of the existing oil refineries.

The matter that the President was most keen to discuss was oil prices. Awang said that it was “almost cliché” to say it but the world got lucky the United States attacked Yugoslavia instead of somewhere in the Middle East because that would definitely push oil prices up. At the same time, it now still has to deal with the BRIC + Indonesian economies putting upward pressure on oil prices.

“Had they gone somewhere in the Middle East, they could have taken the price of oil over $30 per barrel, Mr. President” Awang said “But as it stands, we’re on track to cross $30 before the year is out just on the basis on increasing demand from emerging economies like ours”

“If I asked you whether a fuel price increase is necessary at the moment, what would you say?” asked the President.

“Eventually you’ll have to increase it because increased oil prices mean we’ll have to spend more on subsidies and we can’t have that”, Awang explained “But right now we’re looking at a slow but steady increase rather than a jolt and shock. If the argument is made that the economy can absorb it then it can be argued back that the State Budget can still absorb it and we need to be mindful about those in Eastern Indonesia and more isolated areas where the fuel price is always higher than the price we set here in Jakarta. If there’s no urgent imperative, we’ll just be adding to costs and hindering economic activity over there.”

"BBM Satu Harga" soon as part of the 2003 Policy Package? Certainly it would make gasoline more expensive in Java, but still cheaper at Natuna and Merauke, not to mention the additional policies the government can do to justify the increase.

10th July 2003:
In a press conference, Minister of Health Azrul Azwar said that Indonesia welcomes the WHO’s announcement that SARS has been contained and that as a result all of the policies put in place to contain SARS are hereby revoked. Azrul only smiled when asked what effect it would have on the region that the last SARS case had been in Cambodia saying that he would not be drawn into geopolitics.

Let Marzuki handle that one.

Participating in a question-and-answer session at an APINDO business luncheon, Vice President JB Sumarlin spoke about recent developments including how in the aftermath of the fall of Belgrade, the US Dollar had strengthened and that the Rupiah had slid down to around $1= Rp. 3,975-Rp. 3,980 range.

“This is a good exchange rate for those of us here wanting to open factories and plants as well as import raw material from abroad”, Sumarlin said “At the same time, our goal since the mid-1980s has been to become an export-oriented economy and we have also set ourselves the aim of making tourism our largest foreign currency earner by the end of Repelita VII and we have to be mindful that perhaps our currency is not in a competitive position to achieve these positions. We thus have to be worth every one of our investors’ and our trading partners’ penny, to be more productive and more efficient. And the government is making preparations to enact policies that will help achieve these goals.”

Let's goooo!!!

11th July 2003:
The President had a breakfast meeting with Minister of Home Affairs Sintong Panjaitan and Chairman of the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress Moerdiono. The two came to get final instructions ahead of the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress which was due to start that day. The President only said to go ahead with the Extraordinary National Congress and to proceed as planned. Moerdiono asked whether the President will be coming because a seat has been set aside for him.

“The Minister of Home Affairs will represent me”, the President said “I’ve already had my meeting with the Chairwoman last week.”

At the Jakarta Convention Center, the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress got underway. In addition to the representatives of the PKPB’s Provincial, Regency and Municipal branches there were the PKPB’s DPR members and its Central Leadership Council. The mood was one of a last hurrah. There were cheers for Tutut when she walked into the convention center and as she delivered her accountability address which made mention of the PKPB getting the most seats at last year’s elections. Even Akbar joined in the applauding. But there was an unspoken realization by all at the event, that once she completed her speech, that it was time to move on.

Tutut herself was under no illusions even as she wiped away her tears in response to the standing applause which the PKPB gave to her at the conclusion of her speech; the Chairwoman of the PKPB had by then decided then that she would take no further part in the Extraordinary National Congress.

Good riddance

12th July 2003:
Chairman of the PKPI Basofi Sudirman came out of a meeting with the President this morning. Basofi said that the President’s instructed him to begin preparing the PKPI National Congress. When asked about dates, Basofi said they are looking at late September after the President’s trip to the G-15 but before the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta.

The spotlight was very much not on the PKPI that day. After the representatives from the PKPB Provincial, Regency, and Municipal branches had voted and the votes counted, it was evening when former Treasurer of the PKPB Akbar Tandjung was declared the winner over Yusril Ihza Mahendra by 203 votes to 125 votes.

“I thus declare Ir. Akbar Tandjung elected as the new Chairman of the PKPB”, Moerdiono announced as Akbar’s supporters cheered at the news.

13th July 2003:
Tutut was seen arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. She largely ignored the press presence that was there, saying that she was taking her “long overdue holiday”.

Without her, but quite smoothly, The PKPB Extraordinary National Congress was brought to a smooth close today. Akbar Tandjung promised to keep Treasurer of the PKPB Fuad Bawazier in his position if the latter would not run for Secretary against Akbar-supported candidate Theo Sambuaga. Thus it was that Theo was elected unanimously as Secretary of the PKPI and Fuad Bawazier retained as Treasurer of the PKPI.

Meanwhile, with Akbar sitting down next to him cameras on him throughout the whole process, Ginandjar Kartasasmita filled in his PKPB membership form. By the time the closing ceremony rolled around, Ginandjar’s membership card had been completed and he received it to much applause while Akbar received the PKPB’s flag to mark the beginning of his chairmanship from Moerdiono.

Akbar-Ginandjar vs [REDACTED]to-Hamzah for 2008?

14th July 2003:
The day began with the President accompanied by Sintong Panjaitan and Edi Sudrajat meeting with Chairman of the PKPB Akbar Tandjung and Secretary of the PKPI (?) Theo Sambuaga. Akbar came to formally introduce himself in his new capacity. Akbar reiterated his promise for a more constructive attitude towards the government, support for the Anti-Terror Bill so that it could be passed into law unanimously, and also support for ABRI’s territorial reforms. The President happily accepted Akbar’s commitments though he asked what would happen now to those PKPB members who try to make “religious-based appeals” and make it seem that the government is against the majority religion.

“They voted for the other candidate for chairman at the PKPB Extraordinary National Congress and the results show that they are in the minority, Mr. President”, Akbar said “And they will be further in the minority now that Pak Ginandjar’s supporters are applying for memberships as well.”

For a split second the President thought about the possibility of the PKPB becoming Ginandjar’ political vehicle but he brushed that aside and expressed his satisfaction with Akbar’s answer, thinking that finishing off Tutut as a political force and turning those who would use religion in politics into a meaningless minority were the more important things.

Ginandjar is a political squirrel for sure, but i hope Akbar can rein him in. Also, there's a typo.

That day the DPR unanimously passed the Anti-Terrorism Bill into Law. Meanwhile Edi Sudrajat, Chairman of the BP-7 Agus Widjojo, and Attorney General Muchtar Arifin held a joint press conference. Muchtar said that with the Anti-Terrorism Law now passed and with the Attorney General’s Office having been on standby since before the passing of the law, everything is now in order to prosecute the Jemaah Islamiyah operatives in Indonesian custody and bring them to court.

Agus Widjojo discussed the law’s provisions on counter-radicalization and deradicalization which had been entrusted to the BP-7 saying that it must always be remembered that after communism, the other threat seeking to unseat Pancasila are those seeking to establish “religious rule” whether through violent or non-violent means. Meanwhile, Edi said that the law’s provision calling for the formation of an anti-terrorism agency will be fulfilled as soon as possible by the President.

Gotta be real careful on this one.... But the deradicalization program would be interesting, as there is one certain prisoner who stayed alive just like OTL.

15th July 2003:
The President met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Marzuki Darusman to discuss various issues. Marzuki said that SARS had not been good for Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen. In addition to contracting cases of SARS, Cambodia has also been affected by the travel warnings which in turn has had a negative impact on the Cambodian economy. Marzuki believes that this will still be fresh in the Cambodian voters’ minds as they go to vote in the election on the 27th and that President of the Cambodian National Assembly Norodom Ranariddh has a good shot.

“Ranariddh wins and there’ll be six of us in ASEAN”, the President commented “We’ll be a majority.”

Heh, so they're still struggling?

The two also discussed the aftermath of the fall of Belgrade. The United States had installed Dragoljub Micunovic as acting president who will be in charge of holding the next election, has acknowledged Milo Dukanovic as President of Montenegro, and then had backed Dukanovic to obtain agreement from Micunovic to hold an independence referendum. Marzuki said that the United States are definitely feeling confident about themselves at the moment.

“Has the United States gotten news about the passing of the Anti-Terror Law?” asked the President.

“They have and they have welcomed it, Mr. President, it will be an asset we can point to in future talks with them that shows we’re committed to the War of Terror”, replied Marzuki “It’s just that right now their priority is on Yugoslavia and we have Australia all but solidifying its position in the United States’ ear given the additional personnel they have sent to Yugoslavia because of the United Kingdom’s non-participation.”

The President scoffed at this last part.

Yeaah, still no commitment about the "Yugoslavian Precedence", the longer it takes for them to clarify, the more anxious Indonesia is going to be. Would be interesting to know how McCain would react when that time comes.

“What’s the latest on the People’s Republic of China?” asked the President as though fishing in the dark for good news.

“Our Embassy in Beijing is reporting that China’s immediate priority in foreign policy is actually getting more nations to switch recognition from Taiwan to them, Mr. President”, Marzuki said.

“Luo is moving on from Soong, I take it?” asked the President about the President of China and the President of Taiwan.

“President Soong looks set to be challenged by the DPP’s Chen Sui-bian at Taiwan’s Presidential Elections next year and he will be fighting an uphill battle”, said Marzuki “And in the event that President Soong loses, Beijing wants to be sure that there will be less nations that recognize Taipei over it. And the thing is, with President Soong advocating closer relations with the mainland, there are nations thinking no point maintaining relations with Taiwan over the mainland when Taiwan itself favors closer relations with China.”

“Should we be concerned about this?” asked the President.

“To a certain extent”, said Marzuki “One part of the world where Beijing is seeking a switch in recognition from Taipei to it is in Oceania which is not far from us. They’ve already gotten Nauru and Kiribati looks set to be next. You see focusing on China as turning our backs on Australia and Oceania. Well now we are turning our backs on Australia, Oceania, with China seeking to increase its presence behind our backs, if that makes sense.”

“The Aussies aren’t worried about this?” asked the President “More of China in their neighborhood?”

“As they head off to battle in Yugoslavia and feel anxious about having a considerable amount of their troops half a world away from Australia, it’s not China they’re worried about, as I’m sure you are well aware, Mr. President”, replied Marzuki.

“Do you suppose that China and Australia are…” began the President and then he struggled to find the right word.

“Allies is not the right word”, replied Marzuki “But the possibility is there that they’ll cooperate, tacitly or otherwise, as far as it concerns us. And we are concerned about this possibility. The real problem about Malaysia procuring MBTs is not the fact that they had gone ahead and done that, it’s the fact that they procured it from China with Australia cheering them on.”

The right word is maybe "Strategic Partners", like the relationship US and Indonesia has right now. And i'm sure that knowing the two Oceanic countries are part of the Commonwealth, the Brits are always watching over this development.....

---
Regarding oil prices, in OTL the monthly prices increased from $24.54 in November to $28 in December to $30-32 in January-March before going down to $25.60 once Baghdad fell. ITTL, the oil price increase as a result of the imminent invasion of Iraq doesn’t happen. But in its place, you have the oil price still steadily going up because of demand from the emerging economies, including our protagonist country. Source for OTL oil price: (https://www.indexmundi.com/Commodities/?commodity=crude-oil&months=360)

I concur as there is no "Fall of Baghdad", the price would still steadily increase after it crosses $30 mark. On the flip side, it's the US$ that gets fluctuated because of the American-Yugoslav war.

The Anti-Terror Law is as OTL, both the original 2002-2003 law and the 2018 amendment. The difference is that counter-radicalization and de-radicalization is the BP-7’s responsibility rather than the BNPT.

BP-7 is still going strong.

 

[focus9912]

Ginandjar is a political squirrel for sure, but i hope Akbar can rein him in.

We will see...at this rate I am very sure he would perhaps try to get a higher position in a hypothetical PKPB-led cabinet....

Also, there's a typo.

Akbar Tandjung promised to keep Treasurer of the PKPB Fuad Bawazier in his position if the latter would not run for Secretary against Akbar-supported candidate Theo Sambuaga. Thus it was that Theo was elected unanimously as Secretary of the PKPI and Fuad Bawazier retained as Treasurer of the PKPI.

err...mistype I guess?

 

[GSD310]

Edited the PKPB/PKPI mix-up.

Ginandjar is a political squirrel for sure, but i hope Akbar can rein him in. Also, there's a typo.

We will see...at this rate I am very sure he would perhaps try to get a higher position in a hypothetical PKPB-led cabinet....

Going to be an interesting dynamic that's for sure. Two guys with a rep for being cunning.

BP-7 is still going strong.

The BP-7 is easily dismissed as responsible for indoctrination but it's interesting the kind of things that are said about it.

Muncul seruan hidupkan lagi BP7

Guna melestarikan nilai-nilai Pancasila dalam kehidupan berbangsa dan bernegara, pemerintah mesti menghidupkan kembali Badan Pembina Pendidikan ...

www.antaranews.com

Muncul Radikalisasi dan Ektremisme Agama, MPR: Pemerintah Pernah Abai Bangun Mental Ideologi Bangsa

BERITABUANA.CO, JAKARTA - Dalam konteks bernegara persoalan munculnya radikalisasi dan ekstrimisme agama yang muncul di tengah masyarakat, terutama kaum muda lantaran pemerintah pernah abai dalam melaksanakan tugas dan tanggung jawabnya. Terutama, dalam membangun dan membina mental ideologi...

beritabuana.co

 

[Kosaki_MacTavish]

The BP-7 is easily dismissed as responsible for indoctrination but it's interesting the kind of things that are said about it.

Tbf if they can do it right, one can become a proper Pancasilaist without being indoctrinated by making it dialogue-oriented (and Agus Widjojo has made progress towards it ITTL). My college teacher back then is vehemently against the Pyramidal Hierarchy concept introduced by Prof. Notosutanto (explained several pages back) in favour of Sukarno's Pentapod Holder concept.

Furthermore, learning from actual examples, like teaching how inter-religious strife can break a (multi)national-state like Yugoslavia into several pieces, despite they are of the same ethnic family (South Slavs). And ITTL Try did the right thing by enforcing the Land aspect of Nationalism rather than Blood to snuff out any major racial sentiment conflagrations. Sure that Timor Leste's inclusion is rather shaky (and my view is that Indonesia's territory is just Dutch East Indies', no more and no less), but it can be handwaved by APODETI's 1975 Proclamation. That's for the 1st and 3rd Silas.

2nd 4th Silas are still easy to be taught. Even dialogue-oriented studies to achieve common understanding is one of the main points of the 4th Sila itself.

The 5th one is kinda tricky since ITTL Try did liberalize the economy a bit and not requiring cooperatives to be the sole receiver of the farming and crop products. But since the major BUMNs aren't disbanded yet (only remodeled to be more effective and efficient), one can argue that the resources that are vital for the livelihood of the people are still managed by the state, fullfilling the 33rd Article of the 1945 Constitution and also one of the main points of the 5th Sila. Even spreading of cement factories on the Eastern Islands can be made as an example.

Furthermore, i can foresee another example would be made soon, considering the oil prices....

 

[GSD310]

16th July 2003:
At the Presidential Palace, a giant joint press conference was held attended by Minister of Home Affairs Sintong Panjaitan, Minister of Finance Boediono, Minister of Mining and Energy Awang Faroek Ishak, Minister of Tourism Sutiyoso, Minister of Manpower Muhyiddin Arubusman, State Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Cacuk Sudarijanto and State Minister of the Development of Eastern Indonesia Maria Fernanda Lay.

State Secretary Edi Sudrajat introduced them by saying that President Try Sutrisno has approved of the July 2003 Policy Package. The themes of the policy package are to provide support to a key sector of the economy, begin to take policies to increase the efficiency of the economy by streamlining procedures and organization in the Department of Finance and the state-owned enterprises, continue to build a predictable industrial relations system to attract investors, and use equitable development to boost growth outside of areas where there are already high levels of economic growth.

Finance:
-Corporate Taxpayer Number holders are automatically holders of the Customs Identification Number.
-Importers which, among other criterias, have not misused customs facilities and which have not made errors in reporting the number, types, and value of cargo in the past year as well as no overdue payments of import duties to the Directorate General of Customs and Excise is eligible to be put on the Priority Lane.
-Priority Lane privileges, among others, include there being no examination of documents and physical examination of cargo except for certain kinds of goods, if there is a requirement for physical examination of cargo this can be done in the importer’s warehouse and can transfer its cargo straight from the ship to its land transport without the cargo being placed in a temporary storage area.

Mining and Energy:
-A moratorium on new gas stations in Java and Sumatra for existing gas station owners. If they wish to open new gas stations, they must open in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, and the Lesser Sundas.
-For those seeking to open gas stations for the first time, their location must alternate. They may seek to do so in Java and Sumatra for their first gas station but their second gas station must be in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, and the Lesser Sundas. Their third gas station can be in Java and Sumatra.

Tourism:
-Reduce Hotel Tax to 5% though Restaurant Tax will remain at 10%.
-Cap on existing levies for Inns, Guesthouse, and Villas to be 10% of advertised room rate.
-Moratorium on new levies related to the tourism sector in the provinces, regencies, and municipalities.
-For tourist attractions and sites entrance fees, foreigners holding residential permits and their families to get local price. Foreigners may only be a charged a maximum of 150% of local price.
-Separate categories of pricing may be placed on children, senior citizens, and students at a lower price than that of an adult.

Manpower:
-Unauthorized strikes to be considered as absence without leave and if the worker in question does not return to work after a week, they are deemed to have resigned.
-Provincial Manpower Offices to accelerate the formation of Bipartite Forums.
-The Utilization of Foreign Manpower Plan and the Utilization of Foreign Power License to be merged rather than remain as two distinct steps.

State-Owned Enterprises:
-The Pertamina Board of Commissioners has instructed the Pertamina Board of Directors to prioritize Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, and the Lesser Sundas when constructing Pertamina-owned gas stations and petroleum depots.
-The four Pelindo enterprises and the two Angkasa Pura enterprises to be respectively merged into one. The aim to streamline and make operations more efficient in ports and airports.

17th July 2003:
The President and Minister of Education Juwono Sudarsono inspected the student registration and acceptance process at various State Junior High Schools around Central Jakarta. Speaking to the gathered press, the President and Juwono explained that this was the “final offensive” as far as achieving Compulsory 9 Year Education was concerned and that after 1st April next year, the beginning of Repelita VIII, the focus will be on Compulsory 12 Year Education and getting people to attend either a High School or a Vocational School. At the same time, the President and Juwono gave assurances that the government will continue to develop facilities at Primary Schools and Junior High Schools.

Most of the questions however were about the July Policy Package and the President replied to this.

“A strong economy and a strong currency brings with it its own challenges and this nation has to rise up to the challenge”, the President “To do that we have to be more efficient, we have to be more competitive. We can't just say "Everybody wants to come so Indonesia, so we'll charge them however many more times than the locals to go into tourists sites", we can't do that anymore because with our strong currency, we'll just be making things more expensive for foreigners wanting to come into our countries.

The policies announced yesterday will be implemented, we’ll study and we’ll review its impact on the economy and then we will decide if more policy packages are necessary.”

18th July 2003:
The President was at Serpong, West Java on a toll road where accompanied by Minister of Public Works Budi Soesilo Soepandji, Cacuk Sudarijanto, Governor of West Java Muzani Syukur, and Governor of Jakarta Endriartono Sutarto, the President inaugurated the following:

*The Serang-Balaraja Toll Road
*The Revitalization of the Serpong Railway Station
*The Revitalization of the Palmerah Railway Station

In his speech, the President highlighted the private sector’s roll in constructing the toll road. He said that private sector and foreign involvement in infrastructure development must be intensified in the future because Indonesia does not have time to waste and so that the government can focus on other infrastructure which the private sector does not see to be profitable. At the same time, he highlighted the state sector’s role in leading the way in various areas of development. The President and his entourage then went to Serpong station where after inspecting the station, he caught the commuter line to Palmerah Railway Station.

19th July 2003:
It was a Saturday night and the First and Second Couples decided to have dinner together, the President with First Lady Tuti Setiawati and Vice President JB Sumarlin with Second Lady Sudarmi Sumarlin. The ladies disappeared after dinner so the two men can talk about various matters.

“Thank you for understanding that the timing is not right for a fuel price adjustment, Mr. Vice President”, said the President.

“I must insist though, that sooner or later it is a call that we have to make, Mr. President” said Sumarlin “It’s just the case that the big DKN meeting last week made me reconsider that perhaps a new gas station or two or some in Irian Jaya and East Timor to further encourage economic activity in those two provinces.”

The President was about to reply that this can be arranged when he saw Commander of the Presidential Bodyguard Gories Mere approach the table. Gories reported that there were guests.

The guests were Minister of Defense and Security Wiranto, Commander of ABRI TB Hasanuddin, Chief of BAKIN Ari Sudewo, Army Chief of Staff Srijanto, Chief of Police I Made Mangku Pastika, and Chief of ABRI Intelligence Agency Iwan Sidi. All looked proper in batik rather than uniform as though they had attended a formal event.

“I know that you all attended Amirul’s 40 Days Commemoration”, the President said “But you're not here to talk about that.”

Hasanuddin looked and gestured towards Srijanto and Mangku Pastika to step forward. The two officers did so with Srijanto doing the talking and Mangku Pastika handing a brown envelope to the President.

“The East Timor Regional Police got a tip-off about gunshots from some kind of a firefight being heard on the night of the 17th in Maubisse, south of Dili and they went to the East Timor Regional Military Command to discuss this”, Srijanto explained “The Regional Military Command and the Regional Police conducted a joint patrol and investigation of the area over the course of yesterday and what we found is what you are now seeing, Mr. President. The team finished compiling their report this afternoon and we all decided to bring this to your attention after Amirul’s commemoration.”

The President’s eyebrows raised dangerously as he looked at the photographs in the brown envelope before handing it over to Sumarlin, who he had asked to stick around.

“From investigation of the crime scene”, Mangku Pastika began “It can be established that there was some kind of an ambush by a bigger group of attackers on a smaller group. The ambushees managed to bring down a few of the ambushing personnel but it is clear that the ambusher overwhelmingly got the better of that exchange because all of those ambushed has been…”

“My God, it’s a slaughterhouse”, Sumarlin said returning the grizzly photographs of rotting dead bodies all over what looked like the forest floor outside of a hut to the President.

“Have we established who these guys are?” the President asked.

“The group being ambushed are members of the Enforcers of Integration Young Guard, otherwise known as the Garda Paksi, including its leader Marcal de Almeida, Mr. President”, said Ari Sudewo “The group doing the ambushing are the Falantil.”

“5 years ago we beat the Garda Paksi and took back control of East Timor from those who would take a hardline stance on that province, 4 years ago we got the leaders of the province to accept that East Timor would do better under my government than my predecessors and that was why they accepted Special Autonomy”, the President said almost to himself “What the hell’s happening here?”

“After we beat Garda Paksi, we had an informal arrangement with the Falintil to go after the Garda Paksi because the Garda Paksi were conducting hit and run raids”, Wiranto explained “This went on until mid-2000 when the Garda Paksi’s activities petered out after Golkar split into two because they practically became the PKPB’s East Timor Provincial Branch.”

“About the Falintil, we continued and have continued to maintain contact with it”, continued Ari “My agents in East Timor routinely meet with Falintil representatives but there is nearly nothing notable to be noted about their future intentions. Even after President Sassou-Nguesso’s disclosure to the President that their comrades are training in Angola all this time, they have not shown any signs to be planning anything.

Much like the GAM and the OPM, they have, as we like to say, become dormant. The only noteworthy thing about our agents’ interaction with Falintil is that while they don't deny that the President’s government is at least better than the previous government for the general population, they've always stopped short of saying that they have no more grievance against the Republic.”

“That’s because if they say they have no more grievances, they have to dissolve and disband because they have no reason to exist”, said Wiranto.

The President looked at the photographs again, his eyes focused on a picture of a corpse whose shirt has been unbuttoned and writing scrawled on his singlet.

“Happy Integration Day…”, the President read.

“17th July is the day East Timor became an Indonesian province, Mr. President”, said Ari.

The President looked at some more photographs, deep in thought.

“We need to get the Garda Paksi out of East Timor”, the President said before asking “Does Prabowo know anything about this?”

“He has reported precisely the people who are killed as missing to ABRI Headquarters and to the Police, Mr. President”, replied Hasanuddin.

“After you’re finished here, you must tell him to evacuate the Garda Paksi out of East Timor”, instructed the President “Under normal circumstances, we can pass this off as the Garda Paksi clashing with the Falintil. But after the DKN meeting, we need them out of the equation so they don’t complicate matters.”

“Yes, Sir”, replied Hasanuddin.

“How many strong are the Falintil?” asked the President.

“A maximum of 1,500 personnel, Mr. President”, replied Hasanuddin.

“Their whereabouts will need to be determined before I can decide anything about what we must do next”, the President ordered.

“Yes, Sir”, replied Hasanuddin.

The military men left not long thereafter, leaving the President and Sumarlin by themselves again. Sumarlin was under no illusion that the President’s mood had soured after that meeting.

“Do you think this is the Falintil getting ready to rebel, Mr. President?” asked Sumarlin.

“I don’t think so, Mr. Vice President, because it just doesn’t make sense”, said the President “It’s not just a numerical thing but because we know their comrades has been trained in an African battlefield and are, well, on their way here. Wouldn’t it make more sense to wait for everyone to be at one place, concentrate their forces, and then make their move?”

---
For this policy package, the policies are a combination of Megawati (Establish a priority lane at customs for compliant importers) and Jokowi (Merge the Pelindos and Angkasa Puras, putting in place policies for gas stations to be opened in Eastern Indonesia). The ones that are purely fictional is the government are such things such as pushing for bipartism and the near-uniform pricing for foreign tourists.

Yeah, regarding the way locals and tourists are priced in Indonesia, take a look at this website where foreigners wanting to go into Mount Bromo National Park has to pay nearly 10 times the amount than a local (https://www.explorebromo.com/2019/02/tiket-wisata-gunung-bromo.html). Probably a nice revenue raiser in OTL Indonesia but definitely makes ITTL Indonesian tourist sites more expensive with the exchange rate at $1= Rp. 3,980ish.

Falintil having a max of 1,500 personnel is based on estimates using OTL numbers. In OTL 1999, the personnel numbers is 500-600 in two out of the four Falintil military regions (https://www.google.co.id/books/edit...+500-600+personil&pg=PA98&printsec=frontcover). The total, assuming all things are equal are 1,200 but let's make it with a max of 1,500

 

[focus9912]

Well things are happening

“Thank you for understanding that the timing is not right for a fuel price adjustment, Mr. Vice President”, said the President.

Well the fact that there seems to be a need to reduce subsidies...especially keeping in mind there could some wild card that could play a hand in determining the fuel prices...I wouldn't be surprised if...to paraphrase @Kosaki_MacTavish previous statement....

"BBM Satu Harga" soon as part of the 20034 Policy Package? Certainly it would make gasoline more expensive in Java, but still cheaper perhaps it would remain the same at Natuna and Merauke, not to mention the additional policies problems had to faced/initiative started by the government can do as a way to justify the increase.

 

[GSD310]

Well the fact that there seems to be a need to reduce subsidies...especially keeping in mind there could some wild card that could play a hand in determining the fuel prices...I wouldn't be surprised if...to paraphrase @Kosaki_MacTavish previous statement....

In a way there is some logic to it. The currency is strong, inflation is low, why wait until oil prices go up uncontrollably to cut fuel subsidies? I was 50-50 about it too but I felt that
even if the reduction in subsidies did not happen, Sumarlin was going to make an argument for it. You might say it's Sumarlin's economist and Berkeley Mafia background rearing its head. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Mafia).

 

[Pio2013]

TTL Indonesia had bigger and complex operations, such as the Myanmar Auxiliaries and the Philipines Joint Task Force against terrorists. Falintil would be less complex. Unless Australia or others are facilitating resources...

 

[Kosaki_MacTavish]

16th July 2003:
At the Presidential Palace, a giant joint press conference was held attended by Minister of Home Affairs Sintong Panjaitan, Minister of Finance Boediono, Minister of Mining and Energy Awang Faroek Ishak, Minister of Tourism Sutiyoso, Minister of Manpower Muhyiddin Arubusman, State Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Cacuk Sudarijanto and State Minister of the Development of Eastern Indonesia Maria Fernanda Lay.

State Secretary Edi Sudrajat introduced them by saying that President Try Sutrisno has approved of the July 2003 Policy Package. The themes of the policy package are to provide support to a key sector of the economy, begin to take policies to increase the efficiency of the economy by streamlining procedures and organization in the Department of Finance and the state-owned enterprises, continue to build a predictable industrial relations system to attract investors, and use equitable development to boost growth outside of areas where there are already high levels of economic growth.

Finance:
-Corporate Taxpayer Number holders are automatically holders of the Customs Identification Number.
-Importers which, among other criterias, have not misused customs facilities and which have not made errors in reporting the number, types, and value of cargo in the past year as well as no overdue payments of import duties to the Directorate General of Customs and Excise is eligible to be put on the Priority Lane.
-Priority Lane privileges, among others, include there being no examination of documents and physical examination of cargo except for certain kinds of goods, if there is a requirement for physical examination of cargo this can be done in the importer’s warehouse and can transfer its cargo straight from the ship to its land transport without the cargo being placed in a temporary storage area.

Well, kinda good, i think.

Mining and Energy:
-A moratorium on new gas stations in Java and Sumatra for existing gas station owners. If they wish to open new gas stations, they must open in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, and the Lesser Sundas.
-For those seeking to open gas stations for the first time, their location must alternate. They may seek to do so in Java and Sumatra for their first gas station but their second gas station must be in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, and the Lesser Sundas. Their third gas station can be in Java and Sumatra.

[snip]
State-Owned Enterprises:
-The Pertamina Board of Commissioners has instructed the Pertamina Board of Directors to prioritize Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, and the Lesser Sundas when constructing Pertamina-owned gas stations and petroleum depots.

This is interesting. No price adjustments yet but pushing more availability of gasolines outside of Java-Sumatera.

Tourism:
-Reduce Hotel Tax to 5% though Restaurant Tax will remain at 10%.
-Cap on existing levies for Inns, Guesthouse, and Villas to be 10% of advertised room rate.
-Moratorium on new levies related to the tourism sector in the provinces, regencies, and municipalities.
-For tourist attractions and sites entrance fees, foreigners holding residential permits and their families to get local price. Foreigners may only be a charged a maximum of 150% of local price.
-Separate categories of pricing may be placed on children, senior citizens, and students at a lower price than that of an adult.

To be honest, i think "three time as much" is already high enough OTL (let alone ITTL Indonesia) since our current purchasing parity is 1/4 of the Americans for now, but there are places when tourists can get charged as high as seven times the original price. Some uniformity would be good, and 1,5 times is well within my purchasing parity prediction (just between 40-45% of the Americans').

Manpower:
-Unauthorized strikes to be considered as absence without leave and if the worker in question does not return to work after a week, they are deemed to have resigned.
-Provincial Manpower Offices to accelerate the formation of Bipartite Forums.
-The Utilization of Foreign Manpower Plan and the Utilization of Foreign Power License to be merged rather than remain as two distinct steps.

Still not much for the workers (PNI would still complained), but hopefully Bipartite Forums can solve it lawfully in spirit rather than textually.

State-Owned Enterprises:
-The four Pelindo enterprises and the two Angkasa Pura enterprises to be respectively merged into one. The aim to streamline and make operations more efficient in ports and airports.

This is big for both Pelindo and AP, and a TIL moment since i thought that Pelindo was organized as a whole instead of divided into 4 working territories. Knew a long time that Adisucipto is part of AP II's working teritory (anything east of Pangandaran Airport).

17th July 2003:
The President and Minister of Education Juwono Sudarsono inspected the student registration and acceptance process at various State Junior High Schools around Central Jakarta. Speaking to the gathered press, the President and Juwono explained that this was the “final offensive” as far as achieving Compulsory 9 Year Education was concerned and that after 1st April next year, the beginning of Repelita VIII, the focus will be on Compulsory 12 Year Education and getting people to attend either a High School or a Vocational School. At the same time, the President and Juwono gave assurances that the government will continue to develop facilities at Primary Schools and Junior High Schools.

Most of the questions however were about the July Policy Package and the President replied to this.

“A strong economy and a strong currency brings with it its own challenges and this nation has to rise up to the challenge”, the President “To do that we have to be more efficient, we have to be more competitive. We can't just say "Everybody wants to come so Indonesia, so we'll charge them however many more times than the locals to go into tourists sites", we can't do that anymore because with our strong currency, we'll just be making things more expensive for foreigners wanting to come into our countries.

The policies announced yesterday will be implemented, we’ll study and we’ll review its impact on the economy and then we will decide if more policy packages are necessary.”

Amen to that! Also about the bolded line, i remember the recent trip a tourist had at Malioboro, the fare he paid to a street masseur there is 5 times the fare my father give to our family's village masseur per person. Certainly that fixed pricing would make the gap not too much apart....

18th July 2003:
The President was at Serpong, West Java on a toll road where accompanied by Minister of Public Works Budi Soesilo Soepandji, Cacuk Sudarijanto, Governor of West Java Muzani Syukur, and Governor of Jakarta Endriartono Sutarto, the President inaugurated the following:

*The Serang-Balaraja Toll Road
*The Revitalization of the Serpong Railway Station
*The Revitalization of the Palmerah Railway Station

In his speech, the President highlighted the private sector’s roll in constructing the toll road. He said that private sector and foreign involvement in infrastructure development must be intensified in the future because Indonesia does not have time to waste and so that the government can focus on other infrastructure which the private sector does not see to be profitable. At the same time, he highlighted the state sector’s role in leading the way in various areas of development. The President and his entourage then went to Serpong station where after inspecting the station, he caught the commuter line to Palmerah Railway Station.

Can't wait for further extensions of Sumatra and Sulawesi (with French assistance) railways, hehe..... Also, Prameks, anyone?

19th July 2003:
It was a Saturday night and the First and Second Couples decided to have dinner together, the President with First Lady Tuti Setiawati and Vice President JB Sumarlin with Second Lady Sudarmi Sumarlin. The ladies disappeared after dinner so the two men can talk about various matters.

“Thank you for understanding that the timing is not right for a fuel price adjustment, Mr. Vice President”, said the President.

“I must insist though, that sooner or later it is a call that we have to make, Mr. President” said Sumarlin “It’s just the case that the big DKN meeting last week made me reconsider that perhaps a new gas station or two or some in Irian Jaya and East Timor to further encourage economic activity in those two provinces.”

Hopefully before the ASEAN Summit?

The President was about to reply that this can be arranged when he saw Commander of the Presidential Bodyguard Gories Mere approach the table. Gories reported that there were guests.

The guests were Minister of Defense and Security Wiranto, Commander of ABRI TB Hasanuddin, Chief of BAKIN Ari Sudewo, Army Chief of Staff Srijanto, Chief of Police I Made Mangku Pastika, and Chief of ABRI Intelligence Agency Iwan Sidi. All looked proper in batik rather than uniform as though they had attended a formal event.

“I know that you all attended Amirul’s 40 Days Commemoration”, the President said “But you're not here to talk about that.”

Hasanuddin looked and gestured towards Srijanto and Mangku Pastika to step forward. The two officers did so with Srijanto doing the talking and Mangku Pastika handing a brown envelope to the President.

“The East Timor Regional Police got a tip-off about gunshots from some kind of a firefight being heard on the night of the 17th in Maubisse, south of Dili and they went to the East Timor Regional Military Command to discuss this”, Srijanto explained “The Regional Military Command and the Regional Police conducted a joint patrol and investigation of the area over the course of yesterday and what we found is what you are now seeing, Mr. President. The team finished compiling their report this afternoon and we all decided to bring this to your attention after Amirul’s commemoration.”

The President’s eyebrows raised dangerously as he looked at the photographs in the brown envelope before handing it over to Sumarlin, who he had asked to stick around.

“From investigation of the crime scene”, Mangku Pastika began “It can be established that there was some kind of an ambush by a bigger group of attackers on a smaller group. The ambushees managed to bring down a few of the ambushing personnel but it is clear that the ambusher overwhelmingly got the better of that exchange because all of those ambushed has been…”

“My God, it’s a slaughterhouse”, Sumarlin said returning the grizzly photographs of rotting dead bodies all over what looked like the forest floor outside of a hut to the President.

“Have we established who these guys are?” the President asked.

“The group being ambushed are members of the Enforcers of Integration Young Guard, otherwise known as the Garda Paksi, including its leader Marcal de Almeida, Mr. President”, said Ari Sudewo “The group doing the ambushing are the Falantil.”

Speaking about Garda Paksi and the Falintil....

“5 years ago we beat the Garda Paksi and took back control of East Timor from those who would take a hardline stance on that province, 4 years ago we got the leaders of the province to accept that East Timor would do better under my government than my predecessors and that was why they accepted Special Autonomy”, the President said almost to himself “What the hell’s happening here?”

“After we beat Garda Paksi, we had an informal arrangement with the Falintil to go after the Garda Paksi because the Garda Paksi were conducting hit and run raids”, Wiranto explained “This went on until mid-2000 when the Garda Paksi’s activities petered out after Golkar split into two because they practically became the PKPB’s East Timor Provincial Branch.”

“About the Falintil, we continued and have continued to maintain contact with it”, continued Ari “My agents in East Timor routinely meet with Falintil representatives but there is nearly nothing notable to be noted about their future intentions. Even after President Sassou-Nguesso’s disclosure to the President that their comrades are training in Angola all this time, they have not shown any signs to be planning anything.

Much like the GAM and the OPM, they have, as we like to say, become dormant. The only noteworthy thing about our agents’ interaction with Falintil is that while they don't deny that the President’s government is at least better than the previous government for the general population, they've always stopped short of saying that they have no more grievance against the Republic.”

“That’s because if they say they have no more grievances, they have to dissolve and disband because they have no reason to exist”, said Wiranto.

Ah, just like RMS....

The President looked at the photographs again, his eyes focused on a picture of a corpse whose shirt has been unbuttoned and writing scrawled on his singlet.

“Happy Integration Day…”, the President read.

“17th July is the day East Timor became an Indonesian province, Mr. President”, said Ari.

The President looked at some more photographs, deep in thought.

Oh well, certainly ominous....

“We need to get the Garda Paksi out of East Timor”, the President said before asking “Does Prabowo know anything about this?”

“He has reported precisely the people who are killed as missing to ABRI Headquarters and to the Police, Mr. President”, replied Hasanuddin.

“After you’re finished here, you must tell him to evacuate the Garda Paksi out of East Timor”, instructed the President “Under normal circumstances, we can pass this off as the Garda Paksi clashing with the Falintil. But after the DKN meeting, we need them out of the equation so they don’t complicate matters.”

“Yes, Sir”, replied Hasanuddin.

Well, looks like they're saved now, since Prabowo folded instead of going rogue or strike it out on his own like Yusril attempted to do....

“How many strong are the Falintil?” asked the President.

“A maximum of 1,500 personnel, Mr. President”, replied Hasanuddin.

“Their whereabouts will need to be determined before I can decide anything about what we must do next”, the President ordered.

“Yes, Sir”, replied Hasanuddin.

The military men left not long thereafter, leaving the President and Sumarlin by themselves again. Sumarlin was under no illusion that the President’s mood had soured after that meeting.

“Do you think this is the Falintil getting ready to rebel, Mr. President?” asked Sumarlin.

“I don’t think so, Mr. Vice President, because it just doesn’t make sense”, said the President “It’s not just a numerical thing but because we know their comrades has been trained in an African battlefield and are, well, on their way here. Wouldn’t it make more sense to wait for everyone to be at one place, concentrate their forces, and then make their move?”

Hhhh, it's warming up!!!

---
For this policy package, the policies are a combination of Megawati (Establish a priority lane at customs for compliant importers) and Jokowi (Merge the Pelindos and Angkasa Puras, putting in place policies for gas stations to be opened in Eastern Indonesia). The ones that are purely fictional is the government are such things such as pushing for bipartism and the near-uniform pricing for foreign tourists.

Yeah, regarding the way locals and tourists are priced in Indonesia, take a look at this website where foreigners wanting to go into Mount Bromo National Park has to pay nearly 10 times the amount than a local (https://www.explorebromo.com/2019/02/tiket-wisata-gunung-bromo.html). Probably a nice revenue raiser in OTL Indonesia but definitely makes ITTL Indonesian tourist sites more expensive with the exchange rate at $1= Rp. 3,980ish.

Bruh, never knew that it would be that high there.

In a way there is some logic to it. The currency is strong, inflation is low, why wait until oil prices go up uncontrollably to cut fuel subsidies? I was 50-50 about it too but I felt that
even if the reduction in subsidies did not happen, Sumarlin was going to make an argument for it. You might say it's Sumarlin's economist and Berkeley Mafia background rearing its head. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Mafia).

Well, looking on that wikipage, safe to say he's a part of it as a quartet rather than just a protege of the original three. Other than that, i mean, as long as there are complementary policies that can be done before the gasoline revenue caused by the price gap greatly diminished by early 2004.....

TTL Indonesia had bigger and complex operations, such as the Myanmar Auxiliaries and the Philipines Joint Task Force against terrorists. Falintil would be less complex. Unless Australia or others are facilitating resources...

I have reserved a possible scenario about this one, but waited until it revealed for itself. I've almost talked about it a few pages ago when commenting about Ted Diro. Not directly involving the Australians, though.