Military faction in House sits out censure decision<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Military (TNI)\/Police faction at
\nthe House of Representatives decided to play safe on Monday,
\nopting to sit on the fence on the crucial decision of whether to
\nissue a second memorandum of censure against the President.<\/p>\n
TNI\/National Police faction chairman Lt. Gen. Budhi Harsono
\nsaid his faction decided to abstain because it did not want to
\nget caught up in the mounting political conflict between the
\nPresident and the legislature.<\/p>\n
\"We decided to stay out of the voting because both the
\nmilitary and its faction in the House want to remain neutral.
\nBoth the military and the National Police do not want to be
\ntrapped between rival groups,\" he told The Jakarta Post here on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Budhi expressed regret that the prelude over the second
\nmemorandum had sharpened conflict between certain factions in the
\nHouse and the President along with his supporters.<\/p>\n
\"Our faction is very concerned ... the conflict has been
\nmounting not only between the President and the legislative body
\nbut has also dragged in the grassroots level which could lead to
\na civil war,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Budhi remarked that the faction supported the issuance of the
\nfirst memorandum on Feb. 1 \"because we considered it as a mere
\nwarning to the President.\"<\/p>\n
\"But now, we're seeing that the first memorandum has
\naccentuated the conflict and struggle for power. This conflict
\ncould pose a serious danger to the nation unless the military and
\nthe National Police remain neutral,\" he said.<\/p>\n
During the evening vote on the memorandum all 38 legislators
\nin the faction abstained.<\/p>\n
The TNI\/Police faction in its political stand presented to the
\nplenary session skirted the issue of the memorandum and instead
\nfocused on an appeal for all sides to end political bickering and
\npay serious attention to the nation's problems.<\/p>\n
\"The prolonged conflict must be halted and all sides should
\nwork hard to resolve all the problems through dialog,\" Maj. Gen.
\nRonggo Soenarso said reading the faction's political stance at
\nthe plenary House session.<\/p>\n
Ronggo also expressed concern over various interpretations of
\nthe substance of the memorandum.<\/p>\n
\"Some are of the opinion that the memorandum concerns the
\nPresident's violations while according to others the memorandum
\nis based on the House's evaluation of the government's
\nperformance,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the different interpretations must be sorted out by
\nthe legislative assembly as the highest state institution and
\nlaw-making body.<\/p>\n
Separately political analyst Mochtar Masoed of Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity told the Post in Yogyakarta that the TNI\/Police
\nfaction's stance aimed not to alienate other factions thus
\nallowing it, if necessary, to work with these factions in the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
Mochtar said even if the TNI\/Police agreed with the memorandum
\nit did not have to go public since it was already well known that
\nthe majority of House factions would support the censure.<\/p>\n
Military observer MT. Arifin remarked that despite their
\ndeclared stance, the TNI\/Police faction actually supported the
\nissuance of the second memorandum.<\/p>\n
But by abstaining TNI\/Police can project a more acceptable
\nimage.<\/p>\n
\"Should military and police personnel have to deal with
\nsecurity problems due to the issuance of the second memorandum,
\nthey won't be burdened by their decision and won't find it
\ndifficult to gain the people's trust,\" he said. (44\/rms)<\/p>",
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