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)