Spotlight on ABRI's roles

JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief Gen. Wiranto warned on Tuesday that certain parties have been exploiting the issue of the military's sociopolitical role to gain popularity.

Wiranto told Antara that ABRI's decision to scale down its political role should not be stretched to cutting its role to the bare minimum.

"Many people have condemned ABRI without giving it a chance to thoroughly explain the various problems in hand. Very often, these people have turned the ABRI issue into a political commodity simply to gain popularity," he was quoted as saying by the news agency.

ABRI's "dual function" doctrine -- in defense and in politics -- became the chief topic of discussions in the corridors of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) building where a Special Session got underway on Tuesday.

Public pressure has mounted, especially from university students, for the MPR to end ABRI's political role and to limit its tasks purely to defense and security affairs.

Of the five MPR factions, however, only the United Development Party (PPP) has openly called for such a ruling.

On Monday, Gen. Wiranto announced the abolition of the powerful post of the sociopolitical chief in ABRI. He also said that any officer working in non-military positions from now on should resign from active service first.

ABRI supported the civil society goal and would reduce its political role in a "proportional" manner, Wiranto said on Tuesday.

He said critics of ABRI's political role often claimed that they were speaking on behalf of the people. "What people do they represent? I have received many statements from people saying that they supported ABRI's sociopolitical role," he said.

He contested critics' claims that ABRI's presence in the House of Representatives (DPR) ran counter to the 1945 Constitution, pointing out that Article 19 stated that the DPR's composition should be regulated by law.

ABRI, which currently has 75 seats in DPR, has proven to be a very democratic force, he said. "Everyone knows that our representatives have often held different opinions in a rational and critical way. Without naming names, the ABRI faction has also had its share of vocal representatives."

Although the PPP faction has welcomed ABRI's gesture of eliminating the sociopolitical chief post from its leadership, it called for more evidence of the military ending its political role.

PPP would press for the Special Session to rule an end to that political role, Secretary General Tosari Wijaya told reporters.

A delegation of students from the "Forum Salemba" met with Golkar MPR representatives on Tuesday to further press their demand for an end to this political role, which it considered an unwarranted privilege for the military.

Delegation spokesman Ari Wibowo said it was grossly unfair that political parties must gather more than 400,000 votes to win a single House seat in an election, while ABRI's 500,000 strong members automatically get 55 seats.

ABRI's political role had also come at the expense of its professionalism, he said.

"ABRI has been so preoccupied with civic jobs, even running lucrative businesses, that it has lost its combat skills. Banyuwangi clearly demonstrates this," he said, referring to the military's failure to end the killing spree in the East Java regency.

Golkar leaders defended ABRI's presence in the lower house, but agreed that the number of its representatives was negotiable.

"Golkar feels that ideally ABRI should retain 25 seats, or 5 percent of the House's total," Akbar said, pointing out that a bill now being debated in the DPR proposed cutting ABRI seats to 55.

Marzuki Darusman, Golkar faction chairman at the MPR, said ABRI's presence in the lower house would have to be reduced gradually and eliminated altogether eventually. He gave no time frame.

Salim Said, a military expert and MPR member for the Golkar faction, warned that it would be "dangerous" to eliminate ABRI seats in DPR without the agreement of the military itself.

Leading ABRI representatives in the MPR said that while the military would try to defend its presence in the House, it would go along with whatever was decided by the Assembly.

"ABRI's dual function is up to the MPR. ABRI will not defend it at all costs because it was the people who asked ABRI to be represented in the House in the first place," Achmad Rustandi, chairman of the ABRI faction in the MPR, said.

Army Chief Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo said in a media conference ABRI would try to defend its seats in the House for security and unity reasons. (rms/amd/imn/prb)