Military threatens to get tougher

Military threatens to get tougher

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) warned yesterday that it
would not hesitate to use force in quelling future disturbances
similar to those which rocked Jakarta over the weekend.

ABRI Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid
said troopers had a standing order not to open fire when dealing
with the rioters last weekend. However, he hinted that the order
could be withdrawn if the violence persists.

"Don't try us again," Syarwan said during a meeting at the
Ministry of Information that gathered editors from all the
newspapers and broadcasting companies.

Separately, Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso, the chief of the Jakarta
Regional Military Command, said he would order his soldiers to
shoot on sight at the first sign of things getting out of
control.

"The order to shoot on the spot will be given if they
(troublemakers) renew their efforts to disrupt peace and order at
the expense of the general interest of the public.

"We have our limit of tolerance," he was quoted by Antara as
saying. Every security forces member in the field is now carrying
firearms in anticipation of spreading violence, he added.

Syarwan said the unrest was the work of the Democratic
People's Party (PRD), riding on the back of the leadership
conflict within the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

"This is no longer a question of the conflict between Soerjadi
and Megawati (Soekarnoputri)," he said of the two bickering PDI
leaders.

"This is an uprising," he said, adding that some of the PRD
members were trained in the Philippines.

The PRD, founded in 1994, has been blamed for many anti-
government protests and labor strikes in the past year.

Police yesterday raided the PRD headquarters in the Tebet
district in South Jakarta only to find it empty.

President Soeharto on Monday said that PRD is "synonymous"
with PKI, the Indonesian Communist Party banned in 1966 after it
was blamed for staging a coup a year earlier.

Asked about the strength of the PRD, Syarwan said it was still
too small to stage an uprising. "It is a thorn in the flesh and
we have to get rid of it. If it is allowed to continue, it will
stage a coup d'etat."

He said the 200 or so people held for questioning after the
riots were "small worms" and the authorities are going after the
masterminds, or the "intellectual" figures, behind the flare-up.

He cited Budiman Sudjatmiko, the PRD chairman, as one of the
figures the authorities are looking for.

Budiman in an interview with Gatra magazine last week stressed
that the PRD's ideology is "people's social democracy". If the
authorities see similarities with the PKI, he said, that is only
because the PRD follows a conventional party structure and not
because it is a copycat of the PKI.

Syarwan said an order had been issued to all regional military
commands to stop the activities of the PRD.

In Surabaya, the military has closed down the PRD office and
declared its activities in the East Java province illegal.

Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said yesterday that
he had asked for President Soeharto's permission to question
Megawati and Soerjadi in connection with the violence.

Both Megawati and Soerjadi enjoy privileges in their
capacities as members of the House of Representatives. Any
questioning by the police must have the consent of the President.

Pressure is mounting from some politicians and organizations
to pin the blame for the unrest on Megawati because she allowed
the free-speech forum sessions to take place at the PDI
headquarters when it was under her control.

The forum had been used by Megawati's supporters and activists
to attack the government. The riot followed the forced takeover
of the headquarters by Soerjadi's supporters on Saturday morning.

Hamami said police have formally issued arrest warrants for
120 people with charges ranging from rebellion and arson to
destruction of property. Police were still questioning 120 others
yesterday.

Another body was found yesterday inside Bank Kesawan, one of
several office buildings razed in Saturday's rampage. Workers
found an ID card with the name of Suganda Siahaan of Pematang
Siantar, North Sumatra, on the badly charred body.

The military said two people were killed in Saturday's riots:
one a security guard who jumped from the seventh floor of a bank
building on fire, the other a protester who died of a heart
attack. Police declined to comment on the finding of a third
body.

The weekend flare-up was also the main topic at the monthly
cabinet meeting to review the security situation in the country.

Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security
Soesilo Soedarman said after the meeting that the PRD and similar
organizations are clearly opposed to the New Order.

"We appeal to everyone for restraint and to not be influenced
by irresponsible rumors that try to discredit the New Order," he
said. (emb/mds/bsr)

Comment -- Page 2

Losses -- Page 3