Seeds of trouble still exist in regions: Soeharto

Seeds of trouble still exist in regions: Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto urged the military yesterday to coordinate efforts to defuse potential troubles in the region with civilian administrators and local community leaders.

"Although at the national level we have made major progress, at the local level there are still seeds of security disturbance that require close cooperation between the local Armed Forces (ABRI) commands, the civil administrations and community leaders," Soeharto said in opening a seminar at the State Palace.

The seminar is looking at the functional relationship between the ABRI command, the local government and public leaders, both in times of peace and war. It is being held by the association of alumni of the National Resilience Institute, an agency of the Ministry of Defense and Security which organizes courses on national defense.

Soeharto did not elaborate on which potential security disturbances in the region he had in mind, but said that such relations should take into account the conditions and character of each region.

Local military commanders play a powerful if not pivotal role in the affairs of the region they are posted to. Political analysts said in many communities, people prefer to turn to local military chiefs, rather than civil leaders, to help defuse conflicts and problems.

Soeharto, himself a former Army officer, said local military chiefs must take a backseat role and allow local administrators and community leaders handle the sees of upheavals "without lowering their guards or allowing security problems to arise."

He also warned ABRI, government and community leaders that while they have a duty to defuse trouble before it erupts, they must not kill people's initiative and creativity.

Soeharto said that a society which is in transition like Indonesia's is always prone to upheavals rooted in economic, sociocultural, politics and criminal problems.

Containing these upheavals cannot be done by any group of leaders alone, he said, stressing the need for greater integration in the way the three groups of leaders work.

He said the three groups must avoid misunderstanding or tensions, especially in times of emergency and in handling security disruptions. (emb)