Senior military figure warns of political adventurers

Senior military figure warns of political adventurers

JAKARTA (JP): The most senior living military figure, Gen.
(ret) Abdul Haris Nasution, called yesterday for the nation to be
careful of political adventurers cashing in on the monetary
crisis.

Nasution, who turns 80 this year, said these political
adventurers often appeared as if they were saviors of the nation
in time of crisis.

"I suggest that people maintain their vigilance against the
adventurers' hidden agenda," he told reporters after Friday
prayers at the Cut Meutiah mosque in Central Jakarta yesterday.

Nasution, a former Army chief, said that the adventurers'
political maneuvers should not be considered unusual.

"Yet, people have often been provoked by their maneuvers," he
said.

Nasution, also a former chief of the Provisional People's
Consultative Assembly, recalled the early months of 1996, when
the political adventurers "betrayed" their close friends to
achieve their own ends.

"Often, they acted and spoke as if they were struggling to
bail the country out of a crisis," he said, "In fact, they
struggled for the interests of their only group," he said.

Speaking about certain retired military generals critical of
the government, Nasution said they dared criticize the government
because they were not in the system anymore.

"They criticize the government not because they are concerned
with the nation's wellbeing but because they are not in the power
circle anymore," he said.

Nasution, however, did not suggest any names to support his
allegation.

Former Armed Forces Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs, Lt. Gen.
(ret) Bambang Triantoro, known for his critical stand on some
government policies, said he supported Nasution's statement.

"I agree with pak Nasution that there are some people who
always fish in the murky water," he told The Jakarta Post
yesterday.

Like Nasution, Bambang also declined to name names. "It's a
difficult question to answer," he said.

He, however, dismissed the allegation that there were many
political adventurers, including retired military generals, in
the country at present.

"There are wealthy retired government and military officials,
who keep their mouths shut although they realize that injustices
and poverty are everywhere."

"However, we cannot generalize that all politicians and
retired military generals are adventurers," he said.

He said there were also politicians and retired officials,
whose avenues of struggle were completely and purely motivated by
a desire to improve the country.

"There are some politicians and retired military officers, who
voice their criticism of the existing social and political
injustices with complete sincerity," said Bambang, who is now
chairman of the National Brotherhood Foundation, an organization
of outspoken government critics. (imn)