House Speaker Wahono urges ABRI to retain unifying role
House Speaker Wahono urges ABRI to retain unifying role
JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces should retain its unifying role when political tension is heightening, Speaker of the House of Representatives Wahono said on Wednesday.
Wahono praised the Armed Forces (ABRI) for keeping its distance from primordial interest groups to safeguard its honor, as exemplified by Gen. Sudirman, one of Indonesia's Armed Forces founding fathers.
ABRI has time and again proven its ability to unify the people torn apart by sectarian interests that led the nation to the brink of disintegration, he said.
Wahono, a former lieutenant general and a one-time chief of the ruling political grouping Golkar, made the remarks when closing the current House hearing period.
He recalled the political role that ABRI played in restoring order after the first election in 1955, the heyday of Indonesia's multi-party system, resulted in political chaos.
"We believe that ABRI will be able learn from the past lesson and not fall into a trap," he said.
The House speaker's comment comes at a time when ABRI is under heavy fire after Army Chief Gen. Hartono said that "every ABRI member" is a Golkar cadre.
Although Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, ABRI's chief of sociopolitical affairs, has tried to assure the public that Hartono was airing his personal view, criticism did not stop.
Critics charged that ABRI is siding with Golkar to win the 1997 election when the dominant political organization will compete with the United Development Party and Indonesian Democratic Party.
ABRI, Wahono said, should remind the people that the nation is in danger of disintegration if they are divided into groups concerned with their own interests.
He expressed concern about the uncertainty in the efforts to release 11 people, including six Europeans, held hostage by separatist rebels in Irian Jaya since Jan. 8.
But, he said, he appreciated the ABRI troops who refrain from using force to free the hostages.
"We appreciate ABRI for maintaining its persuasive approach. We hope that a more coordinated effort will succeed," he said. (pan)