Nasution urges ABRI to return to people's fold

Nasution urges ABRI to return to people's fold

JAKARTA (JP): Respected former military commander Gen. (ret)
Abdul Haris Nasution greeted the 51st anniversary of the Armed
Forces by urging it to "return" to the people.

"The Armed Forces (ABRI) has to return to its original
doctrine, namely that it belongs to the nation," he told
reporters here yesterday.

The Armed Forces, he said, was once the people's liberation
army. But the role of it has been shifting for some time so that
now it is the "soldiers that control the people".

The Armed Forces, he said, should stand behind the people.
"What's good for people, should also be good for ABRI," he said.

Armed Forces Day falls tomorrow. It will be commemorated in a
ceremony at the Senayan eastern parking lot here.

Quoting the principles to guide the Armed Forces which were
taught by the country's first Armed Forces chief Gen. Soedirman,
Nasution said the Armed Forces should always side with the
people.

Nasution expressed deep concern over some people's impression
that the Armed Forces had become "exclusive" and alienated from
the people, despite its historical roots that it is from the
people and that it belongs to the people.

He said this impression may have been caused by individuals in
the Armed Forces who were fighting for their own vested
interests.

Speaking at his home, Nasution noted some of the changed roles
that the Armed Forces was playing. The fact that the Armed Forces
had entered the social and political arena and backed a "certain"
group would cast a bad light on its identity, he said.

Military officials have stated several times recently that
members of the Armed Forces should "channel" their political
aspirations through the ruling Golkar.

The political role of the Armed Forces is set out in Law No.
20/1982, which stipulates that it must work together with all
sociopolitical forces to ensure national development.

For the Armed Forces to side with any one of the political
parties is tantamount to a "father" taking sides with a favorite
"son", he said.

"Whatever the reasons may be, this stance does not befit a
good and wise father, much less if it originates from a vested
interest," he said.

Nasution reminded the Armed Forces that it still ruled the New
Order government, and that it had the major task of ensuring that
the New Order's ideals were preserved. It should also ensure that
the violations and mistakes once committed by the Old Order do
not recur, he said.

It is also obliged to maintain a pure implementation of the
1945 Constitution, he said.

"The Armed Forces main task is to avoid repeating the
violations and mistakes of the Old Order. This task is no-less
significant than its previous task of fighting for the country's
independence," he said.

Nasution also called on the Armed Forces to use recent local
and foreign criticism for introspection.

He said the Armed Forces, because of its position in the New
Order era, was expected to help give Indonesians an ideal life,
materially, spiritually and politically.

When asked how to bridge the attitude gap between retired
military officials and those who were in active service, Nasution
replied that it greatly depended on the current military leaders.

Retired officers, he said, "can only provide information and
share opinions... The fate of this nation is in the hands of the
current military leaders," he said. (imn)