Military resort commands revamped

JAKARTA (JP): Acting on the Armed Forces' (ABRI) pledge for a structural reorganization of its sociopolitical division, one of the city's two military resort commands on Tuesday disbanded all of its sociopolitical units and staff.

Under the reorganization scheme, the command and its three suboffices -- the East Jakarta, South Jakarta and Bekasi military district offices -- will be no longer allowed, for instance, to take part in the development of any political parties or monitoring of people's political activities.

A ceremony held to mark the disbanding at Wijayakarta military resort command headquarters in East Jakarta was led by Col. George Toisutta and attended by some 80 staff members.

Another military resort command that oversees military district offices in West Jakarta is soon to follow suit.

In his speech, George said ABRI had to adjust to "future challenges".

"ABRI must be able to listen to other parties' arguments, who air people's aspirations, instead of forcing ABRI's will on them," the 45-year-old commander said.

"ABRI must also dare to admit to its past mistakes," George said without elaborating.

Three military district chiefs reported to George, saying that their respective offices had started the reorganization process in February and had finalized it on Sunday.

George, however, did not disclose the number of local sociopolitical staff members who had been moved to other divisions.

According to him, the disbanding process was a follow-up of the new paradigm concept launched by ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto last August.

On Aug. 21 last year, Wiranto pledged that ABRI would take a backseat in the country's political affairs and work to support a civilian leadership.

However, he said that ABRI still had a role to play in ensuring the safety of the nation and its development programs.

Wiranto's statement came amid revelations which damaged the Armed Force's image. An investigation, for example, revealed that the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) was responsible for the abduction of nine political activists.

After toppling Soeharto in May last year, protesting students also intensified their demands that ABRI drop its sociopolitical role. (01)