Vocal army legislator sacked from the House

JAKARTA (JP): Outspoken army legislator Maj. Gen. Theo Syafei has received his marching orders from the House of Representatives.

Theo was notified of his dismissal last week, but it has just been made public.

A fellow legislator, Rear Marshall Tjokong Tarigan, said yesterday the dismissal came as a surprise but should be considered a normal practice in the Armed Forces.

It was the prerogative of the Armed Forces chief to replace an officer in the House of Representatives.

"I had a feeling that he (Theo) would be removed from the House (but not until) after the general election on May 29," Tarigan said without elaborating.

Tarigan said the Armed Forces chief could recall military legislators anytime.

"Legislators usually retire due to their retirement age, another organizational commitment or faults they have made," he said.

Maj. Gen. Theo is 54. Retirement age for generals is 56.

Armed Forces personnel do not vote but have has 100 seats in the House since 1987. These will drop to 75 after the election.

Chief of the military faction at the House of Representatives Lt. Gen. Suparman Achmad confirmed that Theo would be replaced by the chief of the Armed Forces mental development agency, Brig. Gen. Abdullah Hadi, Media Indonesia reported yesterday.

Suparman dismissed speculation that Theo had been sacked for saying at a seminar in Surabaya recently that it was acceptable to boycott the election.

"His dismissal was planned long before he delivered his speech in Surabaya," Suparman said.

Theo is expected to leave the House early next month. The latest officer sacked from the House was Maj. Gen. (ret) Sembiring Meliala, in 1993.

Former Udayana military commander Theo said at the Surabaya seminar that not voting in the election was "a valid option" so long as it did not involve encouraging others.

He also said that responsible citizens should go to the polling booths on May 29. But "... nobody knows which picture you have punched. You may punch all of the pictures or leave them blank."

He said that although voting was not mandatory, it would be better if people did. "Don't just abandon the polls because you don't find (any parties) you like.

"If you do this, I'm afraid your ballot paper will be taken and used by your district head," Theo said.

The Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP), the dominant Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) will contest the election.

Theo reportedly criticized the government's national car policy at the seminar, which also featured Bambang W. Soeharto of the National Commission on Human Rights, Sembiring Meliala and sociologist Hotman Siahaan. (nur/amd)