Armed Forces ready to secure general election
JAKARTA (JP): The National Police, with the support of the Army, Navy, Air Force and civilian defense units, is ready to secure next month's general election, the Armed Forces spokesman, Brig. Gen. Slamet Supriyadi, said Saturday.
"Technically and mentally, we are ready," Supriyadi told The Jakarta Post.
All four military forces and civilian defense units have declared their readiness to ensure that the general election will proceed smoothly.
Supriyadi said that about 250,000 police and members of civilian defense units and about 60,000 personnel from the Army, Air Force and Navy would be deployed across the country during campaigning and balloting.
More than 124 million Indonesians are eligible to vote in this year's election, the seventh since the country's independence in 1945. The Moslem-oriented United Development Party (PPP), the dominant Golkar and the Christian-Nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) will contest the election.
The PPP, Golkar and the PDI will vie for 425 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives. The remaining 75 seats are reserved for the Armed Forces, whose members do not vote.
President Soeharto called earlier this month for the Armed Forces to prepare well to safeguard the election.
"The general election is a channel for people to express their political wishes. Therefore, an optimal effort is necessary to make sure that there are no obstacles, no disturbances and no threats by anyone for any reason to foil the election," Soeharto told top military staff after the armed forces leadership meeting on April 4.
Supriyadi said Saturday that Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung was touring regional police and military forces nationwide.
Early last week, Feisal urged officers to ignore provocation and exercise restraint while securing the election.
"All ABRI members should be able to control themselves, remain patient and do their jobs wisely," Antara quoted him as saying Thursday in Medan, North Sumatra.
He said that, if officers could not control their emotions, those opposing the general election would use it to taint the election's validity.
But Feisal told the soldiers to do everything necessary to stop people violating electoral laws.
Street rallies
Supriyadi reiterated his earlier statement that the authorities would not hesitate to take tough action if supporters of the overthrown PDI leader Megawati Soekarnoputri went back to the streets.
"ABRI won't have any hesitation and will deal with groups seeking to foil the general election. The Armed Forces have pledged to make the poll a success," he said.
Thousands of Megawati supporters took to the streets last Tuesday, demanding representation in the May 29 general election.
Megawati lost the party's chair to Soerjadi in a government- backed PDI congress in Medan last year and has been barred from running in the election.
There have been unconfirmed reports that Megawati loyalists plan to hold another large demonstration in the capital next week before the election campaign kicks off. (imn)