Military vows to foil labor demonstrations

Military vows to foil labor demonstrations

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie
Sjamsoeddin said yesterday that his forces would clamp down hard
on any workers staging street demonstrations.

Although he made no direct reference to the planned march by
the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) tomorrow, Sjafrie
said the military would foil labor protests and strikes that were
politically motivated.

"I have warned them several times already. If they continue, I
will cripple them. Just wait and see," he told reporters.

Sjafrie said that 25,000 military personnel had been deployed
in Jakarta to ensure public safety.

"Anyone who wishes to disrupt security will confront my
troops. I have given them orders to warn the protesters first,
and then cripple them if they have to," he said.

Security in Jakarta has been noticeably strengthened since the
weekend, with armed soldiers guarding government offices and
major intersections.

On Sunday, organizers of a massive labor rally decided to call
off the event off after failing to secure the use of the Salemba
campus from the University of Indonesia administrators.

SBSI chairman Muchtar Pakpahan remained defiant yesterday,
saying that he would go ahead with his plan to mobilize 10,000
workers onto the streets in Jakarta tomorrow to press ahead with
his demands for President B.J. Habibie to resign.

Pakpahan, who Habibie released from prison last month after
being convicted of organizing a riotous labor protest in 1994,
said he had scaled down the size of the crowd from the 100,000
originally planned due to "recent developments".

He promised a "peaceful, orderly and non-violent"
demonstration, which he said was intended to send signals to
Habibie and House Speaker Harmoko to convene an extraordinary
session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) as soon as
possible to hand over power to a transitional government.

Asked about the possibility of violence breaking out, Pakpahan
said: "Experience has shown that if the security forces want a
street demonstration to be peaceful, it will be peaceful."

"I appeal to the military to secure the safety of
demonstrators," he added.

Pakpahan did not disclose the route which the protesters would
take, but said the National Monument (Monas) park and the House
of Representatives building would likely be included in the
itinerary.

Pakpahan underscored the decision of an SBSI working
conference last week to hold protests until Habibie resigns or
holds a national reconciliation meeting.

A national reconciliation gathering, he said, would be
intended to bring peace to the nation. It should involve all
components of the nation; reform leaders, the government,
students, the Armed Forces and other major organizations.

He suggested the inclusion of people who were victims of the
politics of the old New Order of former president Soeharto. In
addition to himself, Pakpahan said these were Sri Bintang
Pamungkas, Budiman Sudjatmiko, Nur Hidayat, Jose Alexandre
"Xanana Gusmao", Ali Sadikin, S.A.E Nababan, Abdurrahman Wahid
and Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Such a meeting would precede an MPR extraordinary session
which would elect a transitional president to organize general
elections by June 1999 at the latest, Pakpahan said.

"If our proposal is ignored, we will continue and escalate our
protests until Prof. Dr. B.J. Habibie resigns from the
presidency. The people will then form a Reform MPR which will
elect a transitional government," Pakpahan said.

"To the people, we apologize if their lives are disrupted (by
our action). Trust us that we're doing this for the sake of the
unity of the republic... and for the welfare and prosperity of
the people," he said. (ivy/aan)