ABRI to be firm against rioters

ABRI to be firm against rioters

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto said on Monday the military would take firm action against any efforts to disrupt the government's reform agenda.

"ABRI has to take firm action against any rioters to protect the rights of most of Indonesia's 200 million people who do not know about or expect any security disturbances," he told reporters after attending a ceremony marking the Armed Forces 53rd anniversary at its headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta.

He also made references to "members of ABRI's family" who "ran from ABRI's commitment" to the nation, telling them they would have to bear all of the consequences by themselves.

Wiranto did not mention any names but was responding to a question about the reported support of the National Front -- an association of retired generals, officials and ex-Golkar leaders -- for student activists' 40-day campaign to force President B.J. Habibie to step down.

He said as ABRI's commander and chief supervisor of ABRI's Big Family, he would remind its members to follow through with their commitments.

Similarly, National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Roesmanhadi warned that his officers would take firm action against any anarchic actions.

Achmad Kemal Idris and Ali Sadikin, both leaders of the National Front, joined a gathering of student activists, who called themselves the All Java Reform Movement, in Bandung last week.

The National Front reportedly supported the student activists' decision to give Habibie 40 days to end the economic crisis. They also demanded the government accelerate the schedule for the general election and cancel the special session of the People's Consultative Assembly planned for next month.

The reported support of the National Front invited harsh criticism from various quarters.

Kemal said the National Front only briefed the student activists about its programs, but that the recommendation for the students to launch daily demonstrations for 40 days from Oct. 5 was issued by the meeting's coordinator, Koen Soekarno.

A Surabaya-based organization, the Anti-Subversion Community of Indonesia, condemned the National Front for the recommendation.

"The National Front is a group of people who had benefited from former president Soeharto's regime, but now try to detract from the reform movement through political maneuvering," the organization's coordinator, Prawira Rahadi, said in a media statement on Monday.

He lamented that the group, rather than providing constructive input to the reform movement, had committed actions that could lead to the destruction of present and future generations.

"We all realize that Habibie's government is a transitional administration. But it would be better if the National Front could help establish the infrastructure for a post-Habibie democratic administration," he said.

Soegeng Sarjadi, a former student activist of the 1966 generation, described the movement's claim as illegitimate.

"If they dislike and disagree with Habibie as president, they must express their opinions in a constitutional manner through the general election, rather than forcing him (to step down) through a mass mobilization," he said as quoted by Antara on Monday.

Soegeng dismissed the group's reported assertion that Indonesia was currently suffering from a power vacuum because Habibie's administration was deemed illegitimate.

"There is no power vacuum since the people can still continue their activities as usual, while the government, although ineffective, can carry on with its programs," he said.

Soegeng said he was confident that the movement's efforts to topple the government would be "counterbalanced" by other movements which still wanted to uphold the Constitution.

Former vice president Try Sutrisno called on the people to avoid illegal actions while channeling their aspirations.

"We all need to remember there are regulations to comply with. We should not carry out actions that create instability," he said.

"All movements for reform, as long as their goals are for the glory and prosperity of the nation, are good," he said.

Meanwhile, former minister of defense Gen. (ret) Edi Sudradjat, who has often attended National Front meetings, dismissed the allegations that the group was behind a planned movement to topple the government.

"It's just a moral movement," he said. (imn)