Bandarlampung candidates fight to win support of paramilitary group

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Should a dangerous, paramilitary-style martial arts group be mixed up in the equally volatile world of politics?

People are asking themselves this question in Bandarlampung, where the leader of the Paku Banten organization has come out support of a mayor candidate, angering some of his senior leadership.

Representatives of the group, which has more than 100,000 registered members, recently placed large advertisements in newspapers supporting the election of the Golkar Party's Lampung mayoral candidate, H. Sjachrazad, and his running mate, H. Rudi Syawal.

The ad, depicting a photo of the group's founder, martial arts master M. Mukri Marzuki, includes the sentence: "By pronouncing Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (in the name of God) we, the big family of Paku Banten (members), state our full support for H. Sjachrazad Z.P. and H. Rudi Syawal as candidates for the mayor and vice mayor of Bandarlampung."

The advertisement asserts that the entire Paku Banten community supports the pair, something that several branch leaders are angrily rejecting.

Paku Banten is the umbrella organization for the disciples of Paku Banten martial arts, named after a martial arts style that earlier flourished in Banten.

The modern Paku Banten organization was founded in 1998 by Mukri Marzuki, a highly respected martial artist, who is believed by many to possess supernatural powers.

The group's members often publicly demonstrate their skills by showing off their supposed invulnerability to sharp weapons.

However, the group's adherents have also been involved in the setting up civilian brigades, whose members march and wear military-style uniforms; groups that have begun to flourish in Lampung since the beginning of the reformasi era.

Along with Paku Banten there are other similar martial-arts- cum-military groups, including the Tari Tjimande Kolot Kebon Djeruk Hilir, and ethnically based groups -- the People's Core Elite Brigade, the Lampung Guard and the Siliwangi Front -- though all have much smaller memberships.

There is also the widespread belief that many followers of Paku Banten are involved in organized crime, such as highway extortion or guarding entertainment centers. However, despite this dubious reputation, many intellectuals, including activists, businessmen, car racers and even lecturers, have joined the group, some becoming divisional leaders.

"I joined Paku Banten for the sake of my safety. No one will annoy me, and if I hang a Paku Banten membership card in my car, people won't dare to do anything funny," said Tisnanta, a lecturer at Lampung University's School of Law, who is also an activist with Lampung Corruption Watch.

The card and its implicit threat seems to be enough for Tisnanta, a native of Boyolali in Central Java, who says he does not take part in any martial arts training held by the group.

The group also has many high-profile political adherents. Another non-Bantenese, South Lampung Regent Zulkifli Anwar, has been promoted to the position of a Paku Banten leader, one level below founder Mukri, while Central Lampung Regent Andy Achmad Sampurnajaya heads the branch's Siliwangi Front.

Mukri rejected charges his organization was a front for criminal and other illegal paramilitary activities, saying Paku Banten was a martial arts institution with a social mission.

"I will welcome whoever comes to me. Many less-fortunate people from many places come just to ask for money; only as much as is necessary. Others have come to me just to seek assistance to circumcise their children," Mukri said.

And they also ask for political support. Mukri told The Jakarta Post he was happy to put his organization's support behind Sjachrazad and Rudi but said he had also entertained many other candidates.

"They say they are just on a hospitality visit, but in the end they ask for support from us," Mukri said.

Normally, Mukri said, the candidates shunned him. However, as every election drew near they all claimed to know him and told him of their wish to become Paku Banten members. "It's been like that from the beginning," he said.

A Bandarlampung General Elections Commission member, Nur Islam, expressed concern that members of the group would be involved inter-party conflicts, or used to inflame or coerce people at the local level.

"The elite (candidates) can sit comfortably at their tables, but those at the grass roots can be easily provoked. We are preparing a draft agreement for the candidates to sign, pledging to play it safe and avoid showing using any form of paramilitary forces (during the campaign)," Nur Islam said.