Military chief guarantees no fresh unrest
BANDUNG (JP): Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung guaranteed yesterday that every region in Indonesia was safe and fresh outbreaks of mob violence were unlikely.
"ABRI is ready to safeguard every region. People have no reason to worry about possible unrest in their areas," Feisal said.
The media has exposed recent unrest in several areas so dramatically that it creates the impression chaos is looming large everywhere, he said.
Feisal was in Bandung to open a regular course on sociopolitical issues for Armed Forces members.
The latest major unrest has been in West Kalimantan. The Dayak-Madura ethnic conflict has claimed scores of lives and caused untold damaged to property.
Between October and January, religious and anti-Chinese riots broke out in the Java towns of Situbondo, Tasikmalaya and Rengasdengklok. Rioters targeted mainly Christian and Chinese property. At least ten people were killed; churches, Buddhist temples, shops, houses and police posts were torched or damaged.
Feisal called on the media not to dramatize events so as not to incite people into committing more violence.
When opening the course, the general alleged that some groups who did not believe in the state ideology Pancasila were out to undermine the government.
Some government opponents twist historical facts about the 1965 abortive coup and others formed organizations such as the Democratic People's Party (PRD), the Indonesian People's Council (MARI) and the Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI) to play politics outside the government-recognized system, Feisal said.
They exploit discrepancies in government development programs and blow up the issue of socioeconomic disparity.
"They demand the five political laws be overhauled without considering the real situation of the Indonesian people," he said.
Key PRD activists, including its chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko, are on trial for subversion; they have been accused of sowing hatred against the government and ABRI.
PUDI, led by controversial politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas, is not recognized by the government. In its latest move, the "party" has drafted a document to replace the 1945 Constitution.
And MARI, which groups senior political activists, lawyers and human rights campaigners is demanding lower prices and greater democracy.
Feisal said that on the economic front, government critics charge that the authorities have failed to implement Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, which guarantees that natural resources are controlled by the state for the maximum benefit of the people. (ahy/pan)