Military makes no special plans over heightened political tension
Military makes no special plans over heightened political tension
JAKARTA (JP): The city military command did not take special
precautions over the continuing tension between President
Abdurrahman Wahid and Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs
and Security Gen. Wiranto, an official said on Wednesday.
"The Jakarta Military Command did not deploy troops at some
vital installations in the capital following deteriorating
relations between the President and the Coordinating Minister,"
Jakarta military spokesman, Lt. Col. Djazairi Nachrowi, told
reporters.
Nachrowi had just returned from a ceremony celebrating the
50th anniversary of the Army's Cavalry Corps in Cijantung, East
Jakarta.
He dismissed allegations that some troops, armed with machine
guns, had been deployed at several public places, including toll
gates.
"People should pay careful attention, so not to be confused
when troops are just waiting for buses at toll gates and not
patrolling surrounding areas," he said.
"Indeed, some Jakarta military command's territorial officers
could be seen at certain companies here, but it was their duty to
maintain security and order in those areas," he added.
Nachrowi also said that it was the city police's task to
maintain security and order in the city.
Tension between the President and the Coordinating Minister
started early last month when the local press quoted a statement
by the chairman of the Japan-Indonesia Parliament Friendship
League, Taku Yamasaki, which was published in some Japanese
media, including Kyodo news agency, as saying that he would
remove several ministers, including Wiranto, from the cabinet.
After first challenging the validity of the press report,
President Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, later confirmed
on Jan. 27 that Wiranto and the other three active military
officers serving in the Cabinet would retire on March 31.
The president then said last week that Wiranto should resign
as Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security,
following allegations of his involvement in the East Timor
violence following the August 1999 balloting there.
The tension further increased on Monday as the president
precipitated another showdown with former Indonesia Military
(TNI) chief Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung.
The president said Feisal, who became coordinating minister
for political and security affairs in 1997, once ordered Wiranto,
who was then chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command, to
eliminate him and now Vice-President Megawati Soekarnoputri, in
that year.
Feisal has strongly denied the accusation. But, the statement
has created tension in the city as local media have reported that
several former high ranking military officers attended a meeting
on Tuesday, to discuss the president's statements.
Nachrowi conceded that the Jakarta military command have
emphasized daily activities in the barracks but only to increase
the soldiers' basic combat capability.
"The exercises have not been prepared to create a coup or a
contingency situation in the city.
The Jakarta military command is only trying to fulfill the
people's demand to maintain professionalism among the troops," he
said. (asa)