Sjafrie urges people to shun street rallies

Sjafrie urges people to shun street rallies

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie
Sjamsoeddin urged Jakartans, especially workers, yesterday not to
participate in street rallies.

Sjafrie made the statement in response to reports that certain
parties have tried to encourage workers to go on strike and
participate in street rallies to advance the personal interests
of the organizers.

Muchtar Pakpahan, the chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous
Labor Union (SBSI), is rumored to have said that he would lead a
massive worker rally to demand that the People's Consultative
Assembly hold an extraordinary plenary session.

Pakpahan reportedly announced in a meeting with the union's
branch in Medan, North Sumatra, on June 4 that he would mobilize
workers nationwide on June 15 unless the demand was met.

Sjafrie argued that the public should avoid participating in
rallies to help prevent riots.

He also said there was no reason to stage rallies since all
internal problems between workers and their employers could be
settled through a tripartite institution that included the
workers themselves, management representatives and the labor
union.

"I remind workers not to be easily coaxed into participating
in street rallies. It doesn't make sense and it's no longer
popular because people nowadays have to work for food. People
don't need political movements," he said at a ceremony where
military officers were selling food at low prices to the needy at
Kota Bambu subdistrict in West Jakarta.

He said strikes would only hurt the workers' communities. "If
workers go on strike, they will not get salaries. Communities
will later suffer financial losses, setting them up to be easily
exploited by other parties," he said.

Over the past few weeks, many workers throughout the greater
Jakarta area have gone on strike and staged rallies with demands
ranging from the appointment of new directors, better salaries
and the elimination of collusion, corruption and nepotism.

Such rallies have prompted some people to brace themselves
against a possible new wave of riots.

Local banks have seen an influx of customers wishing to
store valuables in safety deposit boxes.

Sjafrie said he had deployed a number of squads at certain
public places in a bid to step up security in the city.

He also reiterated that the Armed Forces would take stern
action against any threats to national unity. (ivy)