Security volunteers vow no mobilization on Oct. 20<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Executives of the many security volunteer groups
\nand task forces from several organizations have vowed not to
\nmobilize their personnel ahead of the Oct. 20 presidential
\nelection day.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, students have temporarily been divided
\nabout their plans for election day.<\/p>\n
Interviewed separately by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, the
\ngroups' leaders of the task forces also insisted that there would
\nbe no increase in the number of personnel who are already
\ndeployed at certain spots in the capital.<\/p>\n
"Based on the instructions of our leader, Al-Habib Muhammad
\nRizieq, none of us, personnel of the Islamic Defenders Soldiers,
\nare allowed to go to the streets in any form and for any reason,"
\nBadrussalam, a senior member of the group, said.<\/p>\n
"There are no exceptions," he added.<\/p>\n
According to him, Rizieq, chairman of the Islamic Defenders
\nFront (FPI), has also instructed the thousands of FPI "soldiers"
\nto just "wait and see."<\/p>\n
Endang Shabirin of the Anshor's Youth Movement (GP-Anshor)
\nwhich supervises the Nadhlatul Ulama Banser security volunteers
\ngroup said that his organization strongly believed that
\nmobilizing its members on the streets would only spark clashes
\nwith other presidential candidate's supporters.<\/p>\n
"Our initial commitment is only to safeguard the General
\nSession of the People's Consultative Assembly without giving
\nfavors to any presidential candidates," Endang, GP-Anshor's
\ndeputy secretary-general, said.<\/p>\n
According to Endang, Banser personnel would be deployed on the
\nstreets only under the order of the Nadhlatul Ulama board of
\nexecutives, or a request from the Jakarta Police.<\/p>\n
Nadhlatul Ulama is one of the largest Muslim organizations in
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
Endang said some 30,000 to 40,000 Banser NU personnel are
\nready to be mobilized at any time.<\/p>\n
"At the moment, we have 3,000 Banser personnel on the
\nstreets," he said at GP-Anshor's headquarters in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Attired in their respective uniforms, scores of security
\nvolunteers from different organizations have been seen
\ncongregating at several spots in the capital, including areas
\nlocated near the Assembly.<\/p>\n
But their numbers have been slightly reduced in the past few
\ndays. Some personnel said several of them, wearing plain clothes,
\nare still being placed at important places, such as the business
\nand shopping centers in the Glodok Chinatown area in West Jakarta
\nand around the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, a popular place
\nnow for many protesters.<\/p>\n
"The city police recently asked all groups of security
\nvolunteers to help safeguard several religious sites and popular
\nmarkets in the city," Endang of GP-Anshor said.<\/p>\n
Many Jakarta residents are worried that the presence of the
\nestimated tens of thousands of personnel from security volunteer
\ngroups and task forces, some of which usually equip themselves
\nwith knives, machetes and other weapons, will only ignite clashes
\nwith similar "military-like" groups from other organizations.<\/p>\n
Richard Tulis, a commander of a 500-member task force
\nbattalion of the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) deployed at Hotel Indonesia, said his party has
\ninstructed them not to take part in any rallies staged by
\nsupporters of PDI Perjuangan chairman Megawati Soekarnoputri, one
\nof the strong presidential candidates.<\/p>\n
"Our task is safeguarding the Assembly's General Session and
\nto prevent our PDI Perjuangan legislators from engaging in money-
\npolitics practices," he said.<\/p>\n
Richard also said that there would no addition to the number
\nof PDI Perjuangan task force personnel next week.<\/p>\n
"We won't add to the number of our task force personnel in the
\ncity ahead of the presidential election," he said.<\/p>\n
PDI Perjuangan claimed last week they had 15,000 uniformed
\ntask force personnel and 10,000 plainclothes members.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Muslim' Unity Front (Buistu), an organization
\nwhich strongly supports president B.J. Habibie, promised not to
\ntake to the streets.<\/p>\n
"Our personnel are limited," coordinator for Buistu's
\nTangerang chapter Tubagus Abdul Basid said, referring to its
\n2,000 members.<\/p>\n
Separately on Tuesday, an executive at the University of
\nIndonesia's Student Executive Body (BEM UI) said the university's
\nstudents would only send delegations to convey messages to the
\nlegislators, instead of conducting protests on the streets during
\nthe day of the presidential election.<\/p>\n
"Such a protest will only spark violence on the streets.
\nMoreover, tension has gripped the city streets for days as so
\nmany presidential candidate supporters have taken to the streets
\nto push forward their candidates to become the country's new
\npresident," Arie Wibowo, BEM UI secretary general, said.<\/p>\n
Activist Mixil from the City Forum (Forkot), however,
\nconfirmed that his group would stage a protest on Thursday and a
\nday before the election day.<\/p>\n
"The Thursday protest is to reject Habibie's accountability
\nspeech, while the one on Oct. 19 is designed to reject Habibie's
\nreelection," Mixil said.<\/p>\n
He said Forkot has yet to decide whether to stage another
\nprotest on Oct. 20. (asa\/bsr)<\/p>",
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