ABRI removes its outspoken legislators

ABRI removes its outspoken legislators

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) will remove its
outspoken legislators Maj. Gen. Raja Kami Sembiring Meliala and
Maj. Gen. Samsudin from the House of Representatives (DPR) as it
reshuffles its faction.

Sembiring and Samsudin are among 15 legislators from the Armed
Forces faction who will be replaced as of June 1 as part of what
it calls a routine tour of duty.

According to a list issued by the House's secretariat obtained
by The Jakarta Post yesterday, Sembiring will be replaced by Col.
Usman Achmad and Samsudin by Col. Djorali Purba.

The other new legislators to be sworn in on June 1 are Brig.
Gen. R. Mudjadi, Col. Daniel Toding, Col. Syamsul B. Nasution,
Col. Herman Hidayat, Col. Faisal Bedy, Brig. Gen. Bonard Maruhum,
Col. Ali Ampan Sidik, Lt. Col. Liberty Junizar Arifin, Vice
Marshal Adimulyo, Col. Daryanto, Vice Marshal Ismu Aksoputra,
Maj. Gen. Muhammad Affandi and Brig. Gen. Toni Sugiarto.

Sembiring and Samsudin are best known for their daring
maneuvers that deviated from their headquarters' official
stances, and their pioneer political openness when they headed
the House Commission II in charge of home political affairs.

Sembiring, a former Cendrawasih Military Command overseeing
security in Maluku and Irian Jaya, will now sit on Commission II
and Samsudin on Commission VII on finance.

They have also been noted for their defense of poor farmers
who were forced to surrender their land to make way development
projects.

Sembiring moved to the center of major controversy after the
ruling Golkar political grouping elected its first civilian
leader last October, when he made it clear that no one in
Indonesia could become a president unless he had a military
background.

Although the Armed Forces insisted that Sembiring was only
airing his personal views, observers believed that most ABRI
members shared his opinion.

"I have never been reprimanded by the (ABRI) headquarters for
my comments," he once said.

Samsudin won plaudits when he turned his commission into an
"open house," in which the public was free to visit and air their
grievances. Among his guests was a retired brigadier general,
Ibrahim Saleh, who was also losing his land to a development
project.

Meanwhile, senior leaders of the dominant Golkar faction close
to former Golkar chairman Lt. Gen. (ret) Wahono are overwhelmed
by unconfirmed reports that they will be replaced in the very
near future.

Wahono, now the House speaker, lost his chair in a national
congress in September to Harmoko, who became Golkar's first top
leader without a military background.

Sources at the Golkar headquarters have said that faction
leader Usman Hasan, his secretary Novian Kaman and coordinator of
general affairs Abdullah Zainie will have to pack up and leave
their office soon.

Usman, named faction chairman in 1992, will reportedly be
replaced by Mustahid Astari, a liaison officer serving the Golkar
headquarters and the faction.

Usman and Zainie said they have been bombarded with inquiries
about the possible faction leadership reshuffle, but that they
have failed to obtain confirmation from the headquarters.

"Obviously, the board of executives has not discussed it,"
Usman said yesterday. "Possibly, the rumor was spread by
individuals for their personal political gains." (pan)