Word: sukarno
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Like Gilbert & Sullivan's John Wellington (The Sorcerer) Wells, Indonesia's President Sukarno is a believer In magic and spells, In blessings and curses And ever-filled purses, In prophecies, witches, and knells...
...Djakarta diplomatic reception last year, Bung Karno (meaning Brother Karno) showed up in a beautifully tailored white uniform-barefoot. As he padded around the terraces and lawns, Sukarno explained that an electric storm was brewing and "I want to build up my energy. I absorb electric impulses from the ground." Some time ago, Bung was told by his dukun (medicine man and soothsayer) that his life would be in no danger so long as he avoided contact with steel. Sukarno thus decided against the kidney surgery advised by his medical specialists, instead relied for a cure on a team...
Last week the dukun's stock as a prophet rose even higher with Sukarno. At a prayer meeting in the presidential palace grounds, a Moslem fanatic suddenly rose from the assembled crowd, shouted "Allah is great!", and produced a pistol (steel, of course). He blazed away at the kneeling Sukarno, missed him, but wounded five persons around him. The Indonesians tried to implicate the Dutch in this fifth attempt on Sukarno's life in five years by declaring that the assassin's pistol was "Dutch made." But the ploy was as trans parent as the halfhearted invasion...
Official reason for the cancellation was "rising tension" over West New Guinea (West Irian to the Indonesians), which Sukarno keeps threatening to "liberate" from Dutch rule. Actually, while Sukarno kept ranting, he managed quietly to postpone his deadline. Before, he had sounded as if an invasion of New Guinea were imminent, but now he shouted: "Whatever happens, before the sun rises on Jan. 1, 1963, West Irian will be ours. If the Dutch oppose peaceful means, we shall liberate with force." Before Jan. 1, 1963, Sukarno wall have plenty to preoccupy him at home...
Last week Sukarno installed a military-style "Economic Operations Staff" to deal with the situation. The governor of the National Bank became an army major general; the Chief Minister became a full general; the Foreign Affairs Minister became an air force vice marshal; the Distribution Minister became a rear admiral. The costume change will probably inspire a flurry of salutes at staff meetings, but as long as Sukarno keeps Indonesia on a war footing, the switch will be of little help...