Military has evidence of plot to topple President

BANDUNG(JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) claimed Saturday it had evidence of a plot aimed at foiling the general election and toppling the President.

Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, ABRI's sociopolitical affairs chief, said conspirators had infiltrated the election campaign to cause chaos whenever they had the chance.

People with vested political interests easily switched allegiance to different political parties, he said.

"As election day nears, their actual mission is becoming apparent. In East Java and Jakarta, people attending a PPP (United Development Party) campaign were found carrying a PDI (Indonesian Democratic Party) flag with the communist symbol of a hammer and sickle.

"A few days ago, Hamzah Haz (PPP deputy chief) and I found a man attending a campaign carrying a banner with an inscription 'Power to the people'," he told journalists.

Syarwan declined to name names.

Last week, PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum was outraged by anonymous leaflets which alleged he had conspired with ousted PDI leader Megawati Soekarnoputri to topple Soeharto.

Ismail told a press conference that the leaflets were slanderous and aimed at destroying his and PPP's reputation. He said he had asked that the incident be investigated.

The leaflets, which feature Ismail's and Megawati's pictures, contain a seven-point demand: the replacement of President Soeharto, abolition of political laws, an end to ABRI's dual function doctrine (dwi fungsi), PDI and PPP representation in the cabinet, lower retail prices, an end to corruption and monopoly, and investigation into the President's and other senior officials' children's wealth.

Syarwan said the circulation of such leaflets had been anticipated by the authorities since news about a PPP-Megawati alliance became an issue last week.

"The leaflets were made by people who do not want to see the election succeed," he said.

According to Syarwan, the authorities started an investigation into the printing of the leaflets by questioning the "small fish", people who distributed them.

In the next phase, the investigation will be directed at finding out who masterminded it, he added. "We will not name names until we have sufficient evidence."

Ismail had also denied that there was an alliance with Megawati, and said his party was not seeking drastic reform through a coup.

He said he had never met Megawati in connection with the alleged political coaliition, and that the PPP had never intended to join a movement pushing for a drastic change of government. "We want democratic and constitutional change in the government, instead," he said.

Accusation and counter-accusation had lately become the highlight of the campaign. PPP had for instance accused Golkar and some regional bureaucrats of poll rigging attempt, a charge which was immediately rejected by senior officials including Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M.

Syarwan had at one stage even criticized Ismail for bringing the accusation to the press rather than reporting it to the General Elections Institute first. Ismail countered again saying he had already submitted a report to the Institute.

More recently, PPP also accused a Ministry of Information official of ordering staff living in West Java to apply for temporary identity cards in Jakarta. With the Jakarta identity card, employees would be able to vote twice.

Tonny Soekaton, the official, dismissed the allegation and called it slander. However, he had stated he would not sue the PPP; he had, instead, reported the case to the Election Supervision Committee.

Jakarta governor Soerjadi Soedirdja, whose name was mentioned in the PPP's accusation, also denied the allegation. The instruction, in the form of an inter-office circular, was meant to encourage the ministry's employees to cast their votes near their office, he said. (ahy)