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)