Bandarlampung candidates fight to win support of paramilitary group
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.