ABRI's internal affairs 'are not public issues'

ABRI's internal affairs 'are not public issues'

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces
(ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto called on the public on Friday to
keep out of ABRI's internal affairs.

Addressing a gathering of Army Special Force (Kopassus)
personnel, he said ABRI would review its past problems and
current policies and that it did not need help from outside
parties in making corrections.

"It's difficult now to find a person, a group of people or an
organization willing to admit a mistake and make improvements,"
Wiranto said. The only institution with such a willingness has
been ABRI, which "since the beginning, stated its readiness to
reform itself and improve itself in the future", Wiranto told
some 1,000 Kopassus members.

"But, I have to say that outsiders must not judge ABRI's
internal affairs since ABRI will make corrections itself
according to its internal rules and regulations," he said.

Wiranto was on an impromptu visit to the Kopassus headquarters
in Cijantung, East Jakarta. He was accompanied by Assistant for
Military Operations to the ABRI Chief of General Affairs Maj.
Gen. Johny Lumintang, Assistant for Territorial Affairs to the
ABRI Chief of General Affairs Maj. Gen. Suparto and ABRI
spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif.

Wiranto said the Army's elite unit would continue to perform
its duties as usual and would not undergo a name change.

"I disagree (that Kopassus should be given a new name) and I
believe all of you share my opinion that Kopassus must remain the
same. Changing a name will only mean that we are running away
from the truth," he said.

Some have suggested that Kopassus change its name in a bid to
improve its poor image after allegations that it had been
involved in a series of abductions of political activists and
torture.

Wiranto defended Kopassus, saying the elite force belonged to
the nation and that it could count many achievements from its
members in the past.

"The Red Beret corps has never been absent in the various
actions to safeguard the nation from disintegration," he said.

"It's normal that there have been one or two people in our
corps who have made mistakes. But the mistakes of a few people
should not... add up to the end of everything for Kopassus," he
said.

Following the questioning by a military honor council into the
abductions of political activists, Kopassus former chief Lt. Gen.
Prabowo Subianto was released from military service last week,
while his successor, Maj. Gen. Muchdi Purwopranjono, and Kopassus
chief of intelligence operations Col. Chairawan were released
from all structural duties.

Dual role

At a separate occasion, former chief of the Army's Strategic
Reserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. (ret) Achmad Kemal Idris said
on Friday that ABRI's political role should be limited to the
House of Representatives (DPR) and the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR).

"ABRI officials should not get involved in the executive body
anymore. Their political arena should only be in the DPR and
MPR," he said in a discussion with Jakarta-based political
correspondents.

Referring to recommendations issued by an Army seminar in
1966, which contributed to ABRI's dwi fungsi (dual role) policy,
Kemal said the number of ABRI legislators in the House and the
Assembly should be limited to a minimal figure.

"Their number should be between 15 to 20 legislators only," he
said.

Kemal, now chairman of the National Front opposition group,
dismissed allegations that ABRI had had ambitions to stay in
power since 1966. "ABRI's present appearance is due to former
president Soeharto's regime, which made an all-out effort to
maintain power," he said.

ABRI personnel, who do not vote in general elections, are
currently allocated 75 seats in the House of Representatives and
another 38 seats in the People's Consultative Assembly.

On Friday, about 100 activists staged a demonstration at
Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, demanding an end to ABRI's
dual role.

Pius Lustrilanang, an abducted activist who was released from
a Kopassus detention center last April, said: "The revocation of
ABRI's dual role should be the country's main agenda for
democratization." (imn/23/44)