Gus Dur summons TNI chief
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)