Vocal army legislator sacked from the House

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)