Et Tu, Sumual

Like a cluster of overripe bananas, the Republic of Indonesia was slowly disintegrating. For more than two months the satraps of oil-and rubber-rich Central and South Sumatra to the west had been defying the authority of the central government in Djakarta. Last week four provinces of East Indonesia followed the Sumatrans into revolt.

East Indonesia's 12 million inhabitants have long been hostile to the "Java-centric" government in Djakarta. A sprawling collection of islands which includes Celebes, the Moluccas and fabled Bali, East Indonesia has spawned half a dozen revolutionary movements--among them the fanatically Moslem Darul Islam and the so-called "Republic of the South Moluccas." At the head of last week's bloodless coup, however, was no sworn foe of the government but one of President Sukarno's favorites--handsome, 35-year-old Lieut. Colonel Ventje Sumual. A onetime sergeant in the Dutch army, and a Christian, who won Sukarno's affections while serving as his bodyguard. Colonel Sumual had the backing of 51 East Indonesian political and military leaders.

Ostensibly, Sumual's demands were much the same as those of the Sumatra rebels: autonomy within the Indonesian Republic, plus local control of the foreign exchange earned by East Indonesia's exports. But in Djakarta, Indonesian army spokesmen suggested that the spark which set off the revolt was Sukarno's plan to bring the Communists into a reorganized Indonesian government (TIME, March 4). Unless Sukarno backs down, he might one day find that he is President of little more than the island of Java.

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