ABRI in the 90s takes a political back seat: Ma'ruf
ABRI in the 90s takes a political back seat: Ma'ruf
JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces is taking a back seat when it comes to politics and allowing civilians to take all the initiatives, its new chief of socio-political affairs says.
The Armed Forces (ABRI), however, is not completely washing its hands of politics and is prepared to move to the forefront anytime the situation demands, Maj. Gen. Moch. Ma'ruf said yesterday in his first media conference since his appointment last week.
Ma'ruf's main task, as outlined by ABRI Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung during his inauguration last week, is to advise him on how the military should carry out its political tasks.
Under ABRI's dual-role concept, the military is recognized as both a defense force and a political force.
Ma'ruf described ABRI's current position in Indonesian political development as 'tut wuri handayani', a philosophical Javanese expression meaning to supervise from behind.
"Don't interpret this in the narrow sense as if ABRI is completely withdrawing from the nation-building process," he said, stressing that the military will continue to encourage the development of democracy in the country.
The intention of taking this position is to give civilian political forces ample opportunity to play their role in building the Pancasila democracy, he said.
ABRI could change its position, however, should circumstances change. It could move to the forefront to set the tone, he said (in accordance with the Javanese philosophy ing ngarso sung tulodo), or move to the middle and help build initiative (ing madyo mangun karso).
"If we have to move to the middle or to the front, we're ready for it. But we feel that the political condition of the country currently is quite good and that is why we're giving liberty to the other forces to play a more active role."
Asked on ABRI's position regarding the conflict at the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Ma'ruf firmly stated that the military supports the leadership of Megawati Soekarnoputri.
He said the military will not allow a rival board, which is challenging Megawati's leadership, to hold their meetings again in the future.
Megawati's opponents in the PDI held a meeting last month in Cipayung, near Jakarta, after which they announced the lineup of a rival board led by Jusuf Merukh.
Many of Megawati's supporters denounced the authorities for allowing the meeting to take place.
Ma'ruf said that the meeting proceeded without the authorities' permission.
He said, however, that the military will not intervene in any other party conflicts. "I sincerely hope they can resolve this problem through deliberation and consensus."
On East Timor, Ma'ruf said ABRI's presence in the territory is to promote both stability and development. "We need to maintain some presence. Otherwise, the rebels will continue to destroy whatever we build there," he said referring to the remnants of Fretilin, the armed separatist movement.
He said he hoped the East Timorese people would understand that development is for their own benefit. "We've got to communicate with them to eliminate misunderstandings about the military presence."
Ma'ruf said a military fact-finding team led by Brig. Gen. Sumarna T. recently returned from East Timor after investigating the killing of six people by the military in the Liquisa regency last month.
The military based in East Timor insist that the six killed were supporters of Fretilin and that they were all killed during an armed conflict. A number of East Timorese, however, say the six were unarmed farmers.
ABRI plans to establish a honorary military council to follow up on the investigation and to advise on the need for disciplinary action, he said, in the event of troopers violating procedure.
"Please be patient. We'll announce the results as soon as we complete the evaluation of the investigation," he said.
Meanwhile Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said yesterday that the military investigation team may want to talk to Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, East Timor's Roman Catholic leader, about the killing.
Belo had earlier written to President Soeharto to protest the Liquisa incident. (imn)