ABRI told to remain impartial

ABRI told to remain impartial

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security Gen. (ret) Edi
Sudrajat said yesterday that the Armed Forces should work with
other sociopolitical forces and not just the ruling Golkar group
to help develop the nation.

The political role of the Armed Forces (ABRI) is based on Law
No. 20/1982, which stipulates that it must work together with all
sociopolitical forces to ensure national development, Edi told
reporters after swearing in Lt. Gen. Sofian Efendi as governor of
the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) to replace Lt. Gen.
Moetojib.

Moetojib will be inducted as chief of the State Intelligence
Coordinating Board (Bakin) to replace Lt. Gen. (ret.) M. Sudibyo.

Edi was asked to comment on a recent statement made by Army
Chief Gen. Hartono proclaiming all ABRI members to be Golkar
cadres. The statement provoked immediate outrage among political
observers and other political groupings.

Hartono, who made the statement at a Golkar gathering in
Central Java, was also quoted as saying that ABRI, which
established Golkar in 1964, has a political interest in
supporting the ruling political group in order to safeguard the
1945 Constitution and the state ideology, Pancasila.

Those who have protested Hartono's statement, including
leaders of the United Development Party and the Indonesian
Democratic Party, want ABRI to remain impartial and true to its
roots -- the people.

Edi said that ABRI would never be separated from the people.

"ABRI is always united with the people because it comes from
the people and belongs to the people," he said.

Edi said that a small segment in society is still skeptical of
the archipelagic concept and national resilience as a national
doctrine.

He expressed his hope that Lemhanas under Gen. Sofian would be
able to use its strength as an academic institute to help the
military and government officials implement the doctrine.

Sofian, 53, spent 22 years of his military service in the
Army's special force (Kopassus) after he graduated from the Army
Academy in 1964.

In 1987 he was appointed deputy chief of the red-beret
command, a post he held until 1989.

Before his appointment to Lemhannas, Sofian held several posts
in the military: commander of the North and East Aceh military
district (1989-1991); chief of staff of the Bukit Barisan
military command comprising Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra and
Riau (1991-1993); chief of the Wirabuana Military Command
overseeing Sulawesi (1993-1994); and assistant to the chief of
staff of ABRI's general affairs (1994-1995). (rms)