Soldiers warned to be vigilant against provocation

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie on Thursday warned soldiers that provocation directed at them could be aimed at disrupting national unity.

Addressing the graduation of 968 young officers of the Armed Forces Academy's (AKABRI) class of 1998, Habibie noted major changes in the country which were marked by upheaval.

"It's not easy to calm such social upheavals," he acknowledged, calling for patience and for people to exercise self-restraint for the sake of national interests.

"The members of the nation should not put the interest of their groups, or above all individuals, first before the greater interests of the people, he said.

He warned of negative impacts of the reform movement, including indications of groups promoting their own interests at the expense of others.

"If uncontrolled, the new phenomenon (social upheavals), considered as one of the reasons for various demonstrations in many parts of the country, may cause the nation to disintegrate," he said.

Commenting on various demonstrations going on these days, the President called on the nation to respect other people's views.

"We have to be ready to have talks with anybody as the country belongs to the whole nation, not to only certain groups of people," he said. "We cannot force other people to accept our opinions, because the truth belongs to God, not us," he added.

After the graduation ceremony, Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto again defended the planned establishment of a civilian militia to help the police maintain law and order.

He dismissed speculation that the recruitment of Rakyat Terlatih (trained civilians) was politically motivated.

"It's not the wish of ABRI. It's part of the people's responsibility to help maintain law and order," he said.

He argued that the civilian militia was needed to compensate for the small number of police personnel in comparison to the population.

"It is demanded that security officers take consistent and firm action against any law violations... for that we need a sufficient number of officers," he said.

He pointed out how law violations had gone beyond the tolerable limit.

In Yogyakarta, hundreds of students from Muhammadiyah Islamic University and the Forum for Students and People Movement staged a demonstration in front of the provincial legislative council rejecting the planned civilian militia.

"The militia establishment will only pit people against people," said one protester. "The civilian militia will only waste state funds, which could be allocated for other immediate needs of the country," said another.

A similar demonstration against the planned civilian militia was also staged by hundreds of Surabaya students in East Java on Thursday.

They marched down city streets and made stops at the gubernatorial office, the East Java provincial legislative council, the Surabaya municipal legislative council and the East Java Police Headquarters, to express their rejection of the plan.

Also on Thursday, Armed Forces Chief of Territorial Affairs Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said there would not be a problem with former defense minister Gen. (ret) Edi Sudradjat's involvement in the establishment of the Justice and Unity Party (PKP), a new political party established by Golkar dissenters.

"There has been no instruction issued by the Armed Forces Headquarters to veterans to channel their aspirations through certain political parties," he said.

Edi is the chairman of the committee set up to prepare for the official launch of the new party next January. The party's name was announced on Tuesday.

Susilo, however, expects that veterans, many of whom are involved with various political parties, should always give their best to the country and the nation. (imn/44/23/nur)