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