Permadi plans call on military chief
Permadi plans call on military chief
JAKARTA (JP): Psychic Permadi plans a preemptive call on the Central Java military chief to explain his prediction, on audio cassettes, on this year's political upheaval. The cassettes have been mass recorded and sold in the province.
Permadi, who chairs the Association of Indonesian Psychics, said he had an inkling that the military chief would summon him to his headquarters and demand an explanation on the cassettes which have caused a commotion in Central Java's capital, Semarang.
"I don't know when I'll make the visit, but I hope to go before they summon me. So far, they have not called and read me the riot act," Permadi told The Jakarta Post by phone.
Central Java military chief Lt. Gen. Soeyono, who was recently installed as the Armed Force's new Chief of General Affairs, told the media on Tuesday that he had received reports about cassettes with messages "dangerous to social order and security" as they contained "propaganda and agitation".
The cassette, Soeyono said, contained a recording of an interview in which the psychic predicted the change of leadership in the country, the role of the military in the country and other major events which might take place this year.
In his recorded interview, Permadi predicted, among other things, that Megawati Soekarnoputri, the eldest daughter of the late president Sukarno now leading the Indonesian Democratic Party, could become the next president.
"I think Pak Soeyono... is acting unwisely. His announcement about the cassettes will simply make people more curious and they will want them even more. It is not a very tactical move," he said.
Permadi said Soeyono should have instead quietly called and questioned him.
He explained that the interview was made with a private radio station in Yogyakarta about a year ago and was broadcasted for a whole month.
"If its true that (Soeyono) has only learnt about it now...I really pity our poor intelligence system," he said.
Permadi insisted that his predictions did not cause social unrest because they were his way of expressing his opinions.
"People like my cassette... because it is a reflection of their own conscience," he said.
Permadi claimed he knew nothing of the recordings, which were made by the radio station, or the copies -- which could be made by anyone. Each cassette is sold at Rp 10,000 (US$5). (pwn)