JULIA SURYAKUSUMA reflects on the passing of Mrs Suharto
The recent death of Mrs Tien Suharto (28 April) can be likened to the demise of the consort of a reigning monarch, bringing disruption and uncertainty. From clairvoyants to seasoned political analysts alike, many see this as the beginning of the end of the rule of Suharto - now in his sixth term - which has lasted for almost 30 years, the longest of any modern national leader. The sheer length of his rule has led people to refer to it as a 'dynasty'.
Rumours of Suharto's resignation - or downfall - have been circulating and speculated on for a long time. But now the prospect becomes more imminent. Personally, for Suharto, the death of Mrs Tien is like 'losing half his soul'. However, in terms of the power, legitimacy, cohesion, stability, balance and continuity of the President's rule and the New Order regime, the implications are even greater.
Royalty
Suharto derives his power and legitimacy from both 'people power' as well as royalty. He constantly prides himself on his lower class rural origins, as being an anak desa (village boy). To this day he regularly has televised audiences with village people. However, his marriage to R. A. Siti Hartinah, his 'closest companion and loyal helpmate', who stems from the Mangkunegaran court in Surakarta, Central Java, provides him with another kind of legitimacy and mystical power needed to consolidate his rule, which can only be derived from nobility.
In political matters, it was commonly understood that Mrs Tien was also Suharto's most loyal aide, as well as his closest and most influential advisor. Mrs Tien has been known to express preferences as well as dislikes toward certain cabinet ministers, often connected with their personal lives. Throughout Suharto's rule, in almost all of his public appearances, she was at his side. It is difficult to imagine him without her.
Family principle
Social cohesion in the New Order is attained using a mix of coercion and consensus, by military, political, economic, ideological and cultural means. One is through the much-touted 'family principle': the state as family, with Suharto as the head of the state-cum-family. In the New Order paternalism, Suharto is often referred to as bapak (father) Harto and his wife,ibu (mother) Tien.
If Suharto is the Sun, the source of all power, Tien was the Moon, who reflected that power, and who also provided balance and stability. In many instances, the family principle has been criticised as justifying the practice of nepotism and cliquism, giving special favours to their children, friends and relatives, who dominate the Indonesian business world with their conglomerates and monopolies.
Harmony and balance are mainstays of Javanese life. Mrs Tien also provided these in the New Order. She was known for her involvement - as founder, patron, or head - of many social organisations and charitable foundations. This served the purpose of giving a balance - albeit merely pseudo - to the heavily economistic development strategy of the New Order regime, as well as to the business activities of her children. True that Indonesian development has raised living standards, but it has also widened the gap between rich and poor.
Sexual politics
Ibu Tien also epitomises and personifies sexual politics in Indonesia. Her unquestioning loyalty and unstinting support of Suharto - as husband as well as head of state - and her desire to be part of him rather than being herself, serves as the ideal model of Indonesian womanhood. The resulting ideology - in academic circles known by the term 'State Ibuism' - is a mish- mash of Javanese aristocratic-feudalistic, Dutch petit-bourgeois, as well as military-hierarchical values.
State Ibuism is institutionalised in Dharma Wanita, the compulsory civil servants wives' association, which disseminates the ideology through the Family Welfare Movement, an integral part of the government apparatus at the village level. Apart from the inappropriateness of many aspects of Dharma Wanita ideology to most poor women's lives, it also serves the purpose of control.
This is the reality of bedroom politics in Indonesia, which pervades the entire bureaucratic structure. The performance of a wife in Dharma Wanita can heavily affect her husband's career. Thus on the one hand, a wife is secondary to her husband, yet on the other, has the power to control and influence his career in the bureaucracy.
Icon
The death of Mrs Tien Suharto means the disappearance of one of the icons of the New Order. An icon that was never given much consideration, yet it was much like a part of the landscape one takes so much for granted - noticed only when it is gone. There is a remarkable oversight by conventional political analysis - whether journalistic or academic - which tends to look mainly at the male actors in formal politics. In fact, the informal role of women, especially as wives - traditionally as well as in modern-day politics - is crucial.
Now, after his lifelong companion and advisor - wife for 49 years and First Lady for 28 years - has gone, is Suharto still in a position to run for another term? A trader in Jakarta remarked, 'losing the First Lady is like losing your mother, who holds the household together', while a bus driver made the observation, 'Pak Harto couldn't have led the country alone and kept the nation stable for such a long time'.
In the ensuing instability after Tien's death, the fear of instability alone is enough to cause state and society alike to act in unpredictably destructive ways.
Julia Suryakusuma is a free-lance columnist, and currently visiting research scholar at the Centre for South East Asian Studies at Kyoto University.
