Gus Dur summons TNI chief
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid summoned Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Admiral Widodo A.S. on Tuesday amid growing speculations of a rift between the head of state and his generals.
There was no official statement about the afternoon meeting, which came hours after Widodo issued a statement defending the position taken by other senior military officers with regard to the President's proposal to impose a state of emergency.
Abdurrahman, who is facing mounting pressures to resign or risk impeachment, criticized senior TNI officers on Monday for speaking to the public about state matters without going through the proper channels.
The presidential rebuke was apparently aimed in particular at Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Indroko Sastrowiryono, both of whom have openly stated their objection to the state of emergency proposal.
The President also met separately with Lt. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, the chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), later on Tuesday, according to a reliable source.
Ryamizard on Sunday assembled his forces in Jakarta for a show of force and to pledge their allegiance to the people should there be any conflict with the government.
Rumors meanwhile continued on Tuesday about the President's plan to replace Gen. Endriartono and Gen. Ryamizard, reportedly because of their uncooperative stance.
The President and his aides have repeatedly denied rumors of an impending reshuffle. They also denied talks of the state of emergency plan even as some of his aides confirmed that such a discussion had taken place.
According to the widely discussed scenario, the President would impose a state of emergency that would allow him to dissolve the House of Representatives before May 30, the day when the legislature is expected to call for a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly to start the impeachment process.
Widodo issued a statement on Tuesday morning defending other TNI generals for opposing the plan to issue a state of emergency.
"All the statements by TNI chiefs recently published by the mass media reflect our position, particularly in relation to our recommendation not to issue the presidential decree, which we submitted to the President in January," Widodo said, in another startling public disclosure that the state of emergency plan had been mooted as far back as four months ago.
The dekrit (decree) is the popular term used for the plan because this was the legal instrument which President Sukarno used in 1959 when he imposed a state of emergency, dissolved parliament and restored the 1945 Constitution, before launching his controversial "Guided Democracy".
Widodo said he had met with President Abdurrahman on Saturday night to verify some of the rumors about impending changes in the Army leadership.
They were all unsubstantiated, according to the statement, which was read by TNI chief of territorial affairs Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo.
He appealed to the public to stop the rumors of an impending reshuffle, which he said had the potential to make TNI members restive.
Widodo nevertheless stressed that there were procedures to follow for a President to replace the top leadership of the military, which is a presidential prerogative.
"If people in this country want to have a professional military, then they must to keep us away from any political influence from outside (the TNI)," Widodo said.
The TNI chief also called on the nation's political leaders to find a compromise that will resolve the current national leadership crisis.
In Bandung, Air Force chief of staff Marshall Hanafie Asnan took a more conciliatory note on the issue, saying that the imposition of a state of emergency was merely "an idea for a discourse" mooted by the President and not a real proposal.
"Since it was a discourse, everybody has the right to voice their opinion," Hanafie said.
"The Air Force, however, would refrain from commenting on it because this is within the political domain," he said. (02/25)