Gus Dur backs down on Wiranto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An anticlimax was the result of the high-profile
\nstandoff between President Abdurrahman Wahid and Coordinating
\nMinister for Political Affairs and Security Gen. Wiranto when the
\nPresident stated on Sunday he would allow the minister to remain
\nin the Cabinet, pending a probe into his alleged involvement in
\nlast year's East Timor violence.<\/p>\n
But Abdurrahman, fresh from his 16-day whirlwind trip
\noverseas, defended his decision, saying he had to give Wiranto
\nthe opportunity to go through the legal process.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, who during his two-week trip abroad had
\nrepeatedly called for Wiranto's resignation, said the former
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) chief had requested that due process of
\nthe law be allowed to run its course before any decision was made
\non his position as minister.<\/p>\n
"Pak Wiranto just prefers to go through the legal process. I
\nam sure he doesn't want his career tainted," Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman met with Wiranto, Vice President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri and Attorney General Marzuki Darusman only hours
\nafter touching down at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in the early
\nhours of Sunday.<\/p>\n
TNI chief Adm. Widodo A.S. and chief of the State Intelligence
\nCoordinating Board (Bakin) Lt. Gen. Arie J. Kumaat were also
\npresent at the emergency meeting.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman told a media conference upon leaving Bangkok for
\nhome on Saturday that the fate of Wiranto would be determined on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
The President asserted on Sunday that Wiranto would be removed
\nfrom his post only if the Attorney General's Office found in its
\ninvestigation that Wiranto was responsible for what transpired in
\nEast Timor following the August ballot, which resulted in
\noverwhelming rejection of Jakarta's offer of wide-ranging
\nautonomy.<\/p>\n
A government inquiry has named Wiranto as being accountable
\nfor the post-ballot violence, prompting Abdurrahman to announce
\nhe would dismiss Wiranto. The President assigned Minister of
\nDefense Juwono Sudarsono to relay the message to Wiranto.<\/p>\n
Wiranto, however, refused to bow to the calls, saying he would
\nwait until the President returned home.<\/p>\n
A UN inquiry has also implicated Wiranto, with the UN Human
\nRights Commission advocating he be tried by an international
\ntribunal. But UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who will arrive
\nhere on Tuesday, has said an international tribunal would be
\nunnecessary if the Indonesian process of law was seen to be
\nadequate in dealing with those named as responsible for the
\nviolence.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman denied on Sunday he had compromised or been under
\npressure to back down on his earlier decision.<\/p>\n
"There has been no compromise. I do have the prerogative to
\nreplace Wiranto," the President said, adding, however, that he
\ndid not want to "ruin someone's career".<\/p>\n
He also denied that Megawati had urged him to retract his call
\nfor the resignation of Wiranto, a former adjutant of former
\npresident Soeharto and the TNI chief during the East Timor
\nviolence.<\/p>\n
"No. I just asked Mbak Mega to talk to him (Wiranto). It was
\nlearned later that the problem was Pak Wiranto's wish to go
\nthrough a legal process," Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
"No problem. Pak Wiranto and I are good friends. Only the
\nmedia describes us as foes."<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman said his decision had nothing to do with the
\ninternational community, to whom he relentlessly announced his
\nplan to drop Wiranto from his Cabinet.<\/p>\n
"I won't think about it too much. I'm not dealing with the
\ninternational (community), but the law."<\/p>\n
Meeting<\/p>\n
Later in the day, Wiranto held a regular meeting with lawyers
\ndefending TNI top brass implicated by the government-sanctioned
\ninquiry into the East Timor debacle. None of the lawyers,
\nincluding Adnan Buyung Nasution, responded to media requests for
\ncomments on Abdurrahman's latest move.<\/p>\n
In an earlier media briefing that followed the emergency
\nmeeting, Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak said there would
\nbe no decision on Wiranto's future before the attorney general's
\nreport was handed to the President.<\/p>\n
He said the attorney general's investigation should be
\ncompleted within a month, although no deadline had actually been
\nset.<\/p>\n
In response to Abdurrahman's announcement, Minister of Law and
\nLegislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra said in Bandung that the ball
\nwas now in the attorney general's court.<\/p>\n
"It's up to him whether or not Wiranto's case will be
\ncontinued."<\/p>\n
He expressed rejection of the possibility of an international
\ntribunal trying Indonesian military officers, citing national
\nsovereignty as his reason.<\/p>\n
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, Wirabuana Military Commander Maj.
\nGen. Agus Wirahadikusumah said Wiranto did not represent the
\nmilitary.<\/p>\n
He told reporters here that such a clarification was necessary
\ndue to a growing impression that the call for Wiranto's
\nresignation faced a hurdle because Wiranto represented TNI.<\/p>\n
"That's not true. Wiranto is already out of the TNI system,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
"Coordinating minister for political and security affairs is a
\nvery strategic position. However, with all due respect as his
\njunior, I wish Wiranto would resign."<\/p>\n
According to Agus, Wiranto could achieve his political
\nambitions in the Golkar Party. "I see a possibility for him to
\nregain his image."<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, chairman of the United Development Party Hamzah Haz
\nsaid in Medan, North Sumatra, that presumption of innocence must
\nbe respected in the case.<\/p>\n
Hamzah said that Indonesia was facing big challenges in the
\nfuture. "We cannot waste time with the past. We have economic
\nproblems which are at a standstill." (25\/39\/27\/sur\/das\/byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gus-dur-backs-down-on-wiranto-1447893297",
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