Prabowo on list of rising stars shot down in their prime

Prabowo on list of rising stars shot down in their prime

By Lela E. Madjiah

This is the second of two articles exploring the history of
Indonesia's fallen officers.

JAKARTA (JP): During the Soeharto era, many fine military
officers were removed from their positions for opposing
Soeharto's policies.

The men who first helped Soeharto rise to power and were
dubbed the three kingmakers by Michael R.J. Vatikiotis in his
book Indonesian Politics Under Suharto -- Lt. Gen. Sarwo Edhie
Wibowo, the Special Forces officer who commanded the military
operations which secured the capital in September and October
1965, Maj. Gen. H.R. Dharsono, a former Siliwangi military
commander who helped crush the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI)
rebellion, and Maj. Gen. Kemal Idris, who commanded the Special
Forces in 1965 -- later became ardent opponents of Soeharto and
were eased out of the military.

The most dramatic fate of the three kingmakers befell H.R.
Dharsono, who was jailed in 1985 after being found guilty of
attempting to undermine the government and inciting unrest by
helping to draft a white paper on the Sept. 12, 1984, Tanjung
Priok riot. Dharsono, who died in June 1996, was recently
rehabilitated by President B.J. Habibie, a gesture that opened
new insight into the heart of the matter: He was a victim of
another of Soeharto's schemes.

Gen. Soemitro had to resign from his post as commander of the
Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order
(Kopkamtib) following the 1974 Malari affair, which Soemitro
claimed was orchestrated by his rival Gen. Ali Murtopo, a close
confidant of Soeharto.

Nasution, a survivor during the Sukarno administration, was
also edged to the sidelines before he was finally blacklisted,
along with other senior officers like Marine Lt. Gen. Ali
Sadikin, a former Jakarta governor, for signing the famous 1980
Petisi 50 (Petition of 50). The petition questioned a Soeharto
speech, which the 50 signatories charged was Soeharto's effort to
use the Pancasila state ideology as his personal shield and to
force ABRI to take his side rather than to stand above all.

Gen. M. Yusuf, the ABRI chief from 1978 to 1983, a popular and
well-loved general and considered to be the perfect candidate for
the next president of Indonesia, simply disappeared from the
scene following his term in the military leadership. He was
appointed by Soeharto to head the largely ceremonial Supreme
Advisory Council in an apparent attempt to eliminate one
potential rival for the presidency.

One of the most painful losses occurred after the Nov. 12,
1991, "Dili incident", when Indonesian troops fired on a crowd of
3,500 mourners in the capital of East Timor. ABRI had to
"sacrifice" Maj. Gen. Sintong Pandjaitan, commander of the
Udayana Regional Military Command, who was held responsible for
the tragedy. Along with Pandjaitan, ABRI also removed Brig. Gen.
R.W. Warouw, field commander in East Timor. Both were recalled to
the Army Headquarters.

Many believed Pandjaitan's dismissal was a setup to remove him
from competition for the highest position in the Army.
Pandjaitan, a fine soldier and a former commander of the Special
Forces, was considered to be the best candidate for the job.
However, Gen. Wismoyo Arismunandar, Soeharto's brother-in-law,
also had his eyes on the position. Wismoyo eventually got the
job, although Pandjaitan was promoted to Honorary Lieutenant
General on April 4 this year, a move many interpreted as
Soeharto's way of rehabilitating his name.

The list of officers forced to leave their military career
before their due time is actually longer -- some were simply
victims of a power struggle or were caught in an unfortunate
political situation that was not all their making. This is where
the difference lies between them and Prabowo.

From a prominent family with a controversial background -- his
father, economic guru and former Cabinet minister under Soeharto
Soemitro Djojohadikusumo had joined the PRRI rebellion and later
went into exile -- Prabowo caused a lot of resentment among his
peers. His marriage to Soeharto's second daughter, Siti Hediyati,
served his military career well. Although he was considered
highly intelligent and an able soldier, many attributed his fast
rise up the military ladder to his connection with the first
family.

Prabowo is as controversial as his father. "Depending on whom
you ask, General Prabowo is either the fall guy for misdeeds
committed by the Suharto government and the military, or he is a
power-hungry fanatic who misjudged the forces he might have been
up against if he chose to take on his father-in-law ... " Cindy
Shiner wrote in her article, The Enigma of Suharto's Son-in-law
in the Washington Post Service.

Most people in the military would describe Prabowo as
ambitious; he never bothered to hide his dream of becoming
president. A hot-tempered character, Prabowo would not hesitate
to tread in places otherwise considered taboo by his peers, as
long as it served his purpose. Nothing, some would say, was off-
limits to Prabowo. The last straw was his confession to charges
of complicity in the kidnapping of political activists. In the
eyes of many, Prabowo had become nothing more than a rogue
general.

It is small wonder the general reaction was mixed when Gen.
Wiranto announced his decision to discharge Prabowo from the
military. Members of the military are aware that the case should
end with Prabowo otherwise there is every possibility that more
men in uniform will be dragged down, something ABRI cannot afford
at this stage. In the words of Marzuki Darusman, deputy chairman
of the National Commission on Human Rights, it is only fair to
say Prabowo was not the only one involved.

"I think there's more to it than just Prabowo," said Darusman.
"I'd say he's a keeper of secrets, and he might be predisposed to
reveal a few if forced to."

People reacted differently. Prabowo's dismissal was far from
satisfactory. They want him tried and for justice to be served.
As it is, ABRI is suffering from a credibility crisis and is
struggling to win back the people's trust in order to regain its
prominent role in the running of the country. "The military is
under pressure to investigate its alleged abuses, and blaming
someone so closely identified with Mr. Suharto as General Prabowo
helps make it seem that a break has been made with the past,"
wrote Shiner.

Only Prabowo's trial and the unmasking of what really happened
will return public trust in the military institution. In the
meantime, Indonesians may ask, "When will the military ever learn
not to repeat the same mistake?"