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)