Jakarta waits for the new commander to act<\/p>\n
By Johannes Simbolon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): As Jakarta's new military commander Maj. Gen.
\nWiranto adjusts himself to his new seat, Jakartans wonder what he
\nwill do to make the capital a securer place to live, or at least
\nas secure as during the tenure of his predecessor Maj. Gen.
\nHendropriyono.<\/p>\n
\"I shall continue what my predecessor has done,\" said Wiranto,
\n47, born in Yogyakarta, at his recent swearing in ceremony.<\/p>\n
That may be either an expression of honest appreciation of
\nHendro's security feats, or simply a polite way of speaking.<\/p>\n
In retrospect, Hendro uttered the same words when he took the
\ncommander's baton from his predecessor, Maj. Gen. Kentot Harseno,
\nin April 1993. As it turned out, Hendro set up District Military
\nCommand schools instead of carrying on Harseno's tactic of
\nshaving the heads of juvenile delinquents.<\/p>\n
Anyway Wiranto is not the only one in town to respect his
\npredecessor's accomplishments. Hendro, honestly speaking, has
\nleft no few admirers in Jakarta for his new ideas in dealing with
\njuvenile delinquency; his relaxed and attractive style in facing
\nthe press, which generally remains a scourge to most officials;
\nhis democratic fashion in tackling social issues; his
\nanticipation of the growth of organized crime, and his zeal for
\nlearning.<\/p>\n
His popularity is such that his replacement and move to the
\npost of director of the newly-formed Military Training and
\nEducation Command has engendered speculation in the press as to
\nwhether he has been promoted or demoted. The uncertainty is
\nunderstandable. The educational body is a newborn, with Hendro
\nbeing the first to command it. Thus there is no precedent on the
\nbasis of which Hendro's future can be predicted.<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, Jakartans are not unfamiliar with
\nWiranto. He served as Hendro's deputy in the position of head of
\nthe Jakarta military command's staff. Wiranto, who was a
\npresidential guard before that stint, was known as a behind-the-
\nscenes, no-nonsense, reclusive personality; strikingly different
\nfrom his then boss.<\/p>\n
Wiranto also has been accessible to the press all along, even
\nthough his stiff military style would prevent anyone from
\npredicting that he will ever be a press darling.<\/p>\n
During his \"second-man\" posting, Wiranto, the father of three
\nchildren, once faced a tough task -- probably the toughest job
\never during that time -- in the tense aftermath of the revocation
\nof the licenses of three weekly publications, DeTik, Tempo, and
\nEditor, in June. Hendro was then reportedly in the U.S. to see
\nhis children studying there. Thus, Wiranto presumably ran the
\nshow. Some reporters may still remember how painful those days
\nwere.<\/p>\n
Hendro's tenure was marked with a series of innovations. Not
\nlong after his swearing in, the press publicized a report that
\ntwo military policemen regularly blackmailed bus drivers in North
\nJakarta. Hendro responded with the unprecedented measure of
\nletting the press cover the sacking of one of the officers, who
\nwas found guilty. This was followed with the controversial
\n\"Salute Month\" campaign, under which many officers were punished
\nby having to do pushups alongside the streets in front of the
\npublic for either forgetting to salute their seniors or having
\nhair too long for military standards.<\/p>\n
\"We should correct ourselves first, then the others,\" Hendro
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Some officers detested the policy, saying it was not humane to
\npunish adults in public places.<\/p>\n
In dealing with the recalcitrant problem of student brawls,
\nHendro ordered the setting up of schools at each military
\ndistrict with funds from several governmental agencies. At these
\nschools, trouble-making high school students were interned and
\ndisciplined, military style, for one to four weeks. At the end of
\nthe schooling, the press was invited to cover the \"graduation\"
\nceremony at which the students tearfully apologized to their
\nparents.<\/p>\n
The measure was more acceptable to the public than the ones
\ntaken by previous commanders, who shaved the heads of students
\ninvolved in brawls, or planned to broadcast their pictures and
\nannounce their names on television.<\/p>\n
\"With the shaving of their heads, the boys were taught the
\nwrong lesson on violence and force. They learned that the strong
\nor armed are the powerful,\" recalled noted human rights advocate
\nFrans H. Winarta.<\/p>\n
After several months, however, there were no more reports
\nabout the continuation of the schooling program. With Rp 4
\nmillion reportedly needed to correct just one student that way,
\nthe program may have proved too expensive.<\/p>\n
Hendro's most successful program may be the \"coffee morning\",
\nduring which he shared a modest breakfast with visitors from the
\npublic, ranging from workers and students to evicted residents,
\nat the military headquarters. He used this morning forum to
\ninformally attempt to solve their problems. With the measure,
\nHendro could reportedly prevent many public protests and strikes.<\/p>\n
Later, the program was imitated by many governmental agencies.<\/p>\n
Hendro's last action was to launch the large-scale anti-crime
\n\"Cleansing Operation\" which started in April. It was triggered by
\nthe murder of an army general by a group of young drunkards in
\nEast Jakarta and was thereby at first aimed at cracking down on
\nthe booze trade and seizing sharp weapons and firearms.<\/p>\n
Later, he marshaled all ABRI forces into the operation to
\ncombat all the evils upon which organized crime feeds and
\nflourishes, including forcible debt collection, prostitution and
\ngambling.<\/p>\n
Now, Wiranto is running the show.<\/p>\n
Will he cut down the military's involvement in police work, or
\nmaintain the status quo on the basis of the consideration that
\nthe police lack personnel and that Operation Cleansing has yet to
\nbe formally terminated? Traditionally, the Jakarta military has
\ntaken part in handling the acute problem of juvenile delinquency
\nand fighting crime anytime it shows alarming tendencies.<\/p>\n
Jakartans are waiting for the new commander to prove he is no
\nless creative than his predecessor.<\/p>",
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