Army stance on Golkar draws fire

Army stance on Golkar draws fire

JAKARTA (JP): The Army chief's claim that all Armed Forces
(ABRI) members are cadres of the ruling political group Golkar
drew criticism from rival politicians and scholars yesterday, but
gained backing from the military.

Critics said that Gen. Hartono's statement has damaged ABRI's
reputation as a neutral political force and betrayed public trust
in it as the guardian of the nation's security.

Maj. Gen. Suwarno Adiwijoyo, assistant to the ABRI's socio-
political affairs chief, stressed that Hartono was only stating
the obvious because it was the Armed Forces which founded Golkar.

"ABRI has to take sides to safeguard political stability, the
1945 Constitution and (the state ideology) Pancasila," Suwarno
told The Jakarta Post.

He said as far as politics is concerned, it is impossible for
ABRI's 400,000 members to stay neutral because not all groups in
society accept the 1945 Constitution and Pancasila.

Hartono told a Golkar rally in Central Java Wednesday that
"every ABRI member is a Golkar cadre", according to yesterday's
edition of Kompas.

"ABRI members are forbidden from supporting Golkar half-
heartedly," he said when addressing the crowd with Golkar deputy
chairperson and President Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti
Hardiyanti Rukmana.

Three other generals were also present: Chief of ABRI
Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, Assistant to Army
Chief of Territorial Affairs Maj. Gen. Suparman and Diponegoro
Regional Military Command Chief Maj. Gen. Soebagyo. And to hammer
home their support, the four generals lined up on the stage
wearing yellow Golkar jackets.

Legislators Sophan Sophiaan and Marcel Beding of the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) considered Hartono's remarks as
tragic because ABRI is now taking sides.

"If the general's statement is taken as true, a whole range of
political laws will have to be overhauled, and the ABRI faction
in the House of Representatives will have to be scrapped because
ABRI can channel its aspirations through the Golkar faction,"
Marcel said.

Sophan added that if Hartono's statement is valid, the PDI
would have to review its support of ABRI's controversial dual
function doctrine which justifies it becoming involved in
political issues apart from defense.

While Hartono's statement stung PDI politicians, it came as no
surprise to Zain Badjeber, deputy chief of the Moslem-oriented
United Development Party (PPP).

"The Army Chief only spelled out what ABRI has been doing for
decades. Remember that Golkar was founded by ABRI," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Badjeber said the PPP is optimistic that although ABRI openly
backs Golkar, it will not resort to dirty tricks in favor of the
political grouping in next year's election.

ABRI, which does not take part in elections but is
automatically allocated 100 of the 500 seats in the House of
Representatives, has pledged to remain neutral during elections.

The Army established Golkar in 1964 to counter-balance the
growing influence of the Indonesian Communist Party, which was
blamed for the bloody abortive coup attempt a year later.

Meanwhile, political scholars Arief Budiman and Riswandha
Imawan said that although ABRI's support of Golkar has been
public knowledge, Hartono's remarks betrayed the people's trust
in the Armed Forces.

"The general's statement implies that ABRI no longer belongs
to the whole nation, but to Golkar," said Arief, a well-known
government critic.

Riswandha said Hartono hoped to attract younger Moslem voters
in next year's election because he made the statement at an
Islamic boarding school.

"But it may also serve as a warning that although Golkar is
currently led by a civilian, ABRI is still in command," said the
lecturer at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

Susilo Utomo, a political analyst from Semarang's Diponegoro
University, theorized that Hartono meant to make it clear that
Golkar is not being used by certain groups, like the Association
of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), for their own ends.

"General Hartono wants every ABRI member to support Golkar,"
he said. "He probably also meant to say that ABRI can accept
Golkar being led by a civilian."

Arief, Riswandha and Susilo said they believe not all ABRI top
leaders share Hartono's view.

In an unrelated development, security forces in Bandung
forcibly dispersed about 200 demonstrating students who demanded
that the 1997 election be canceled because they saw indications
that the government will resort to dirty tricks to ensure Golkar
secures another landslide victory.

Dozens of troops in anti-riot gear blocked the streets around
the Padjajaran university where the protest took place to prevent
demonstrators from going down the street. (pan/har/rms/17)

Motives -- Page 2