Golkar tightens security measures at office entrance
JAKARTA (JP): Dominant faction Golkar beefed up its security yesterday by placing metal detectors at the entrance of its office on the seventh floor of the People's Consultative Assembly building.
Security guards from the Jakarta military command, wearing batik shirts, asked people entering the site, even Golkar members, to pass through the metal detectors and searched their bags.
The devices were not seen on the floors of the other four factions.
Golkar Secretary General Ary Mardjono, responding to queries about the curious heightening of security, said the devices were installed as a precaution.
"Security measures are always needed everywhere. Although strict security has already been applied around the Assembly compound, we think it is acceptable to place the devices here," Ary told a media conference.
"This is for the sake of your safety too. We don't intend to restrict your activities here," he added, referring to journalists.
The seventh floor is serving as the post of the Golkar faction during the March 1 to March 11 general session of the Assembly. Each of its top executives, including State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita, Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tandjung, Minister of Information R. Hartono, President Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and her brother Bambang Trihatmodjo, has a working room there.
The Army, Navy, Air Force and Police have readied 25,000 personnel in Jakarta to safeguard the five-yearly meeting which will endorse the 1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines and elect a president and vice president. The number is more than twice as large as the 11,000 deployed for the 1993 event.
At least 16,500 fully armed officers are being deployed in the field, while another 8,500 will stand by in reserve.
Prior to the General Session, a spate of food riots took place in many areas in Indonesia, including the provinces of West and East Nusa Tenggara and East, Central and West Java.
The rioting died down shortly before the session commenced on Sunday, but student protests in some state-run universities have been intensifying over the past few days.
Ary said there had been no specific incident that prompted Golkar to call for an intensification of security.
When asked why Golkar had not installed the metal detectors from the beginning of the General Session, Ary said: "Maybe the city military command needs time to prepare the devices."
Spokesman for the Armed Forces, Brig. Gen. A. Wahab Mokodongan, who attended yesterday's session as an observer, agreed with Ary.
"We'd rather think positively. You know Golkar is the largest faction and there are VIPs in it. Many people walk around its quarters here," Mokodongan said, adding that each faction was allowed to request extra security.
Chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) Ismail Hasan Metareum criticized Golkar's security policy and called it an exaggeration.
He added the Moslem-based faction would not follow in Golkar's footsteps.
"What are the metal detectors for? The security officers posted at the Assembly compound are more than enough already," he told reporters after presiding over a session.
The tight security measures drew complaints from another PPP executive Hamzah Haz, who said last week that the huge deployment of troops and police had sparked anxiety among people. (amd/byg)