Military's support for Golkar questioned

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces should reduce its support for Golkar, the ruling political organization, to help improve the democratization process in the country, a former senior Army general said yesterday.

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Soebiyakto, the former governor of the Institute for National Resilience, warned that Indonesia faces the risk of being isolated by the world unless it moves along the path of democracy like the rest of the world.

"Because it is unaware and sluggish when anticipating change, (Indonesia) may become a pariah in the international arena of politics and economics," Soebiyakto told a seminar on the link between general elections and human rights.

"There's no other option but for ABRI to submit to the demands for democratization," he said, adding that the military should be neutral and not support any of the three political groupings.

The Indonesian military has had first hand experience in being shunned by the United States, he recalled. "When the United States shunned us, the rest of the world followed suit," he said.

He was referring to Washington's decision two years ago to revoke military training programs in Indonesia, citing the country's poor human rights record.

The discussion, on general elections and human rights, was held by the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information. Two other speakers were Marzuki Darusman, a former Golkar legislator who is now a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, and Wimar Witoelar, host of the Perspektif talk show on private television station SCTV.

With the next general election only two years away, there has been a renewed debate about how far the military should support Golkar. Many political analysts believe that ABRI should keep its distance from the ruling political group.

Soebiyakto, who is now executive chairman of the Institute for Strategic Studies of Indonesia, presented three "scenarios" of ABRI's future position in relation to Golkar.

The first is for ABRI to maintain its full support for Golkar, the second, for ABRI to withdraw its support completely, and the third for ABRI to find a balance between the first two positions.

The first scenario maintains the status quo and leaves the country unresponsive to changes which could cost Indonesia politically and economically, he said.

The second scenario is very dynamic and requires ABRI to encourage the development of new, young civilian leaders with initiative and integrity, he said.

This option will also enable ABRI to maintain its claim as the "revolutionary power in support of changes".

"With recognition of ABRI as a reform power, it will be difficult for the world to accuse our military of unfairness in national politics," Soebiyakto argued, adding however that this option would be very difficult to achieve.

"It's more logical for ABRI to choose the third scenario. Changes will occur in a manner which is more controllable, and won't disturb the stability of security that has been achieved," Soebiyakto said.

The final scenario will require ABRI to maintain its support of Golkar albeit in a more cautious manner so that it does not create the impression that it is doing so at the expense of the interests of other political groups, he said.

Soebiyakto said the younger generation ABRI officers are more aware of the need for democratization.

Those young officers, he added, will lead the drive to gradually lessen the military support for Golkar.

Marzuki Darusman examined the "dual function" of ABRI, in politics as well as in defense, which he said has transformed the military into a political entity.

In consequence, ABRI has had to support a particular political group in order for its personnel to voice their political aspirations. In reality, history has determined that ABRI must support only Golkar, he said

The establishment of the 1987 Law on ABRI Personnel, however, has lessened the political support of ABRI for Golkar, he said.

It is now time for Golkar to examine what kind of "superiority" it has over the other groupings without the support of ABRI or the Civil Servant Corps, Marzuki said. (swe)