On loyalty of the military

Our present President is the first to be elected democratically and according to existing laws. In my opinion, he is the country's first legal President and should remain in office as long as the Constitution stipulates.

The President is very confident that the Indonesian people are solidly behind him and that he has nothing to fear politically, so from that point of view he is looking forward to beginning the reconstruction of our devastated Indonesia, which have suffered a lot as a consequence of more than 30 years of misrule.

But I have a feeling (and I hope that I am completely wrong) that our President does not trust the Indonesian Military, especially the Army. Why, I don't know. So far the Army has never shown any indication of trying to disturb the legal government of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Rumors of an intended coup are circulating. Generals are supposed to have organized a secret meeting in Lao Tse, if I am not wrong. However, the President has never denied these rumors and defended the loyalty of the Army. Recently, the President proclaimed an emergency situation, which caught the community off balance. Then the President announced some military commanders were preparing to curtail his power, but he was not worried because the people were solidly behind him.

I wonder about the source of these rumors, especially those concerning the disloyalty of the Army, and what the aim of all these rumors are. The President has shaken up the Army and begun to curtail its power.

The military spokesman, an Army general, was replaced by an Air Force man, which would be a normal move if these rumors did not exist. The Indonesian Military chief, again an Army general, was replaced by a Navy man,which again is very normal if not for the circulating rumors. We see steps taken to curtail the power of the Army, and we read and hear news about plans being prepared by the Army to do things which never even entered the minds of the Army's leadership.

The Army is loyal to the state and will stay loyal. This was expressed by the deputy military chief, Gen. Fachrul Rozi. With this statement and the President's knowledge that the people are solidly behind him, Abdurrahman has nothing to fear. So why then did the President announce that 16 regional military commanders were planning a coup? The President (although it is his right to say) should not make public this information, rather keeping it to himself.

Slowly we are beginning to know our President inside out and we should not worry too much about his statements, because behind these statements he has his own motives. His followers claim that Abdurrahman is a brilliant tactician, and is a master in confusing his opponents. We must support him wholeheartedly and give him the chance to change our community and make Indonesia strong and prosperous.

SOEGIH ARTO

Jakarta