Crucial issues in RI's polls<\/p>\n
Why would Gen. Faisal Tandjung, chief of the Armed Forces
\n(ABRI), take the unusual step of pledging the military's support
\nto Golkar? It has by tradition been neutral in politics: soldiers
\ndo not vote in national elections and ABRI gets a fixed
\nrepresentation of 75 seats in the 500-seat parliament to give
\nsubstance to its dual function of guaranteeing state security and
\nits social role. What Gen. Feisal said flies in the face of
\nprecedent -- in January, Defense Minister Edi Sudradjat reminded
\nABRI to preserve strict neutrality and last year, army chief Gen.
\nRaden Hartono was criticized for asking army families to support
\nGolkar. Last week, Interior Minister Yogie Suardi Memet said the
\ncountry's six million civil servants had to "channel their
\naspirations through Golkar" -- in other words, vote status quo.
\nMost astounding was Mr. Soeharto's cryptic remark that he would
\n"clobber" anyone who tried to unseat him unconstitutionally.
\nThough his qualifier that he would step down -- "if that is what
\nthe people want" -- was in accord with established order, all
\nsorts of interpretations will be made of what he had said. His
\nsixth term ends in March next year, but, barring the emergence of
\na successor who has remained hidden from public view all this
\nwhile, his continued reign is his for the asking. Why, then, the
\nconvergence of prodding and less than subtle persuasion?<\/p>\n
Detractors who are ill-informed about the Indonesian fusion of
\nguided democracy and a father-figure might see the pre-election
\nskirmishing as a sign that a creaky country is coming undone.
\nLoyalists count the reminders to the military and the civil
\nservice as pure ritual, confident that the election outcome is
\npredictable. The truth lies somewhere in between. The Soeharto
\nsuccession is a constant reminder of Indonesian fragility, even
\nif he serves another term. Names have been bandied about but it
\nwould take a bold person to declare that Indonesia can move
\nseamlessly from the soeharto era, which has lasted 30 years, to
\nthe next one, when it comes. This is the key issue of the
\nelection, although it will be barely raised in the campaign.<\/p>\n
-- The Straits Times, Singapore<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/crucial-issues-in-ris-polls-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }