Gen. Wiranto's neutrality

Gen. Wiranto's neutrality

It is very regrettable that our political party leaders have
failed to take the necessary actions to reduce the tensions at
the lower levels of society. We fear that these tensions could
influence proceedings inside the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) conference halls and thereby depreciate democracy's values.
The end result of such a drift would mean a depreciation of the
stature of the office of the presidency as well.

It is possible that our party leaders are ignoring their
supporters rambunctious behavior by design, or that they lack the
power to reign them in. If this is true, a dangerous situation
prevails. In such a condition it would be sensible for people to
put their hopes on the Armed Forces (TNI), given that only the
TNI has the means to overcome such trouble.

Seen in the context of ensuring the necessary freedom of
movement, General Wiranto's stated preference to stay out of all
existing party rivalries related to the presidential election
makes sense.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta