Fewer seats in House will not affect ABRI role

Fewer seats in House will not affect ABRI role

JAKARTA (JP): A reduced number of seats in the House of
Representatives will have no affect on the strong political role
of the Armed Forces (ABRI), a senior cabinet minister said
yesterday.

Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security
Soesilo Soedarman said that the planned reduction in ABRI seats,
from 100 to 75, would have no effect on its role as the
"stabilizer" in Indonesian politics.

"As far as the House seats are concerned, it is the quality
(of ABRI representatives in the House), rather than quantity,
that counts," he told reporters after meeting with ministers and
officials under his coordination.

He said the government had carefully considered all the
possible consequences before it decided to reduce ABRI's seats in
the legislative body.

"The state ideology Pancasila has been well accepted, the
nation is stable and democracy is flourishing," Soesilo said.

In attendance at the monthly meeting were Minister of Defense
and Security Edi Sudradjat, ABRI Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung,
Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman, State Secretary Moerdiono,
General Attorney Singgih and Chief of the National Intelligence
Agency Soedibyo.

One hundred of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives
are currently reserved for the Armed Forces, whose
representatives do not take part in elections. The remaining 400
are contested by the three permitted political organizations: the
United Development Party, Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic
Party.

Moerdiono said earlier this week that the government was
currently working on a bill to cut the number of ABRI seats in
the legislative body to 75.

He reiterated yesterday that the idea of reducing the number
of ABRI members in the House was not new.

"People think this is a new issue, but in fact it is not. If
you look back to the President's speech on Aug. 15, 1992, the
idea was already mentioned," he said yesterday.

Soesilo refused to comment on the question whether the
proposed reduction meant that ABRI was phasing itself out of
representation in the House.

"The reduction to 75 members has not even begun and already
you ask whether the representation will be completely
eliminated," he said.

Demonstration

Responding to questions on the fate of legislator Sri Bintang
Pamungkas, Soesilo said the police were currently collecting more
evidence to back-up the military's allegation that Bintang was
involved in a recent demonstration against the Indonesian
government in Germany.

Bintang, a legislator from the United Development Party, has
been under police investigation for his alleged involvement in an
anti-Indonesian government demonstration in Dresden during
President Soeharto's visit there earlier this month.

Soesilo said police who were scheduled to leave for Germany to
collect more evidence and witnesses regarding the demonstration
had not been granted visas by the German Embassy in Jakarta.
"Perhaps because of technical and administrative reasons," he
said.

He was optimistic that the Indonesian police would obtain
their visas in the near future.

A diplomatic source at the German Embassy told The Jakarta
Post that Germany would be conducting investigations of its own
in connection with the demonstrations.

"We have laws on demonstrations and we can sue the authorities
who failed to give President Soeharto the best security," the
source said.

Soesilo asked the press not to exaggerate Bintang's case and
"not to turn the facts around, and shape public opinion".

"He was there at the time of President Soeharto's visit. This
is something we have to question. Then, he did not report to our
embassy there. He is an educated man, a public figure, surely he
must know better than that. Of course, he said he was invited to
speak at a seminar there. But anyone can say that," he said.

Representatives of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation
(YLBHI), which is representing Bintang, asked protesters outside
its office on Wednesday to respect the presumption of innocence.
One of the participants in Wednesday's demonstration carried a
placard which read "Hang Bintang!"

YLBHI spokesman Hendardi said on Wednesday that Bintang's
"trial by the press" and "trial by the public" had been initiated
by the government, who was the first to accuse Bintang of being
involved in the demonstrations. (pwn)