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)