The Evil Hearts of Men

INDONESIA The Evil Hearts of Men

"In all fields we are deteriorating and deteriorating continuously," complained Indonesia's President Sukarno to his Constituent Assembly. For three years the wrangling assemblymen had been trying to draw up a new constitution for the rebellion-plagued nation of 87 million. Now Sukarno urged them to vote in his old constitution of 1945, embodying the famed "guided democracy" that would give Sukarno virtually dictatorial power. "God willing," he cried, "let us carry out the socialist reconstruction of Indonesia and hurl liberalism and capitalism as far away as possible."

Having told the Constituent Assembly what to do, Sukarno last April took off on a two-month round-the-world tour. He got an honorary degree in Communist Warsaw, saw a bullfight in Mexico City, by last week was happily roaming Los Angeles in a sky-blue uniform, kissing Joan Crawford, lecturing college professors at U.C.L.A. ("We have split the atom. We are going into space. We can control agriculture. We can control weather. We can control all save the evil hearts of men").

Back home in Indonesia, while he was away, the Constituent Assembly refused to play mouse. In long, hot, humid sessions, some 65 orators monotonously followed one another to the rostrum to orate. Privately, many of them pressed Premier Djuanda for firm promises of future employment if they voted in Sukarno's constitution. Djuanda was at first evasive, finally lost his temper and shouted that "unpredictable things may happen"--a thinly disguised threat of a military takeover if the assembly did not get a move on. Angrily, the assemblymen three times refused to pass Sukarno's plan, and then voted to adjourn.

All eyes were on Lieut. General Abdul Haris Nasution, army chief of staff, who led an abortive revolt against Parliament in 1952, might do so again. Hardworking, anti-Communist General Nasution proclaimed a ban on all political activity "until further notice," and, to protect the boss, ordered that no newspaper be allowed to publish pictures showing Sukarno kissing anyone, since public kissing is offensive to many Moslems.

At week's end junketing Sukarno reached Japan in his chartered Pan Am plane, celebrating his 58th birthday aboard. Before returning to his racked island nation, he intends to visit North Viet Nam and Cambodia. A spokesman for Sukarno said airily: "If it were a critical situation in Indonesia, the President would have stayed home."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.