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)