Golkar official defends ABRI over allegations on riots

JAKARTA (JP): Attempts to implicate the Armed Forces (ABRI) in the recent flurry of riots is naive, a deputy chief of the ruling Golkar party Pinantun Hutasoit said yesterday.

Hutasoit said ABRI had been the most consistent defender of the unitary state since Indonesia proclaimed independence in 1945.

"So it's naive to use the recent incidents to corner ABRI," he said as reported by Antara. "Indonesia would risk disintegrating if the people no longer trust the Armed Forces."

Hutasoit was airing his support for chief of ABRI's sociopolitical affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid's denial of allegations that the military was behind the rioting.

Rumors suggest the riots were to do with the escalating rivalry within the political elite in the run-up to the May 29 election and the 1998 presidential election.

Syarwan made the denial at a breaking of the fast dinner with local chief editors at the defense and security ministry here Thursday night.

He told journalists that ABRI "did not want to play with fire" in the current situation.

He alleged that the series of violence was masterminded by people who wanted to topple the government. These people, according to Syarwan, began their conspiracy by stirring up unrest to discredit the government, especially the Armed Forces.

They are mobilizing people to topple the government, creating chaos with the aim of undermining public trust in the government.

"The sequence is always like that. They do not attempt a coup d'etat," he said.

Indonesia was rocked by major riots in Situbondo, East Java, Tasikmalaya, West Java and Sanggau Ledo, West Kalimantan late last year. In July, a riot hit Jakarta.

In Situbondo and Tasikmalaya, over 35 churches were gutted or damaged, many government buildings and scores of shops belonging to entrepreneurs of Chinese descent were reduced to ashes. Nine people were killed in the two towns.

The Sanggau Ledo riot involved the native Dayak tribe and transmigrants from Madura, East Java. Officials said four people were killed, over 300 houses burned and about 5,000 families evacuated.

The riot in Jakarta on July 27 last year was triggered by the brutal takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters by a government-backed rebel faction.

Syarwan declined to identify who it was the military suspected of conspiring to topple the government, saying the authorities were still collecting evidence to arrest them.

He said that unlike the good old days when Indonesia still had the Security and Order Restoration Command, the authorities now could not arrest people without hard evidence.

"When we still had the command, we could arrest suspects without material evidence. Now, we can no longer do it," he said.

Meanwhile, Hutasoit called on the public to be wary of rumors designed by irresponsible people to sow hatred toward the government or other groups.

He said that under the present political situation the public should not trust rumors to be the truth. (pan)