Soldiers warned to be vigilant against provocation

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)