Weak politicians depend too much on military, NU chief says
Weak politicians depend too much on military, NU chief says
Edith Hartanto and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post,
Lamongan, East Java
Weak-minded politicians have failed to lead the nation by
squabbling among each other, turning to the military for support
and showing apathy toward the current leadership crisis, said the
chairman of the largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
Hasyim Muzadi.
Hasyim said on Friday that politicians failed to consider that
the country's scary political and security conditions was the
consequence of leadership failure in the central government.
"The quality of our politicians in working out solutions for
the nation's problems is so low and their performances are
deplorable. They fight among themselves and fail to lead a
country that is facing a political, social and severe moral
crisis," Hasyim told The Jakarta Post over the phone from the Al-
Hikam Pondok Pesantren in Malang, East Java.
Hasyim made the statements after a meeting with his friend,
former president and NU chairman Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
Abdurrahman reportedly visited him on Friday to discuss the
upcoming NU Congress in Jakarta, and the growing influence the
Indonesian Military (TNI) had over President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's administration.
Hasyim did not confirm this matter, but cited an example of
how the government bowed to the military by its handling of Aceh.
The province has been home to armed separatists fighting for
independence since 1976.
"The Acehnese administration is, as yet, ineffective and it
somehow fails to use its special autonomy status to stabilize
conditions in the province," Hasyim said.
Instead, the people of Aceh may be facing a state of civil
emergency that will lend the military greater authority in the
conflict-torn province.
Thousands were brutally tortured, murdered and kidnapped
during a 10-year military operation to rid separatists of the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh.
The operation was scrapped in 1998, but recent calls for
tougher military action have resurfaced within the government and
the legislature. The TNI has been campaigning for this.
"Politicians continue to turn to the TNI mostly for political
support. This is why the security situation in our country can
never be conducive. The military is the nation's defense tool.
But here, weak politicians allow themselves to be used instead
(by the TNI)," Hasyim said.
At a news conference following the meeting between Hasyim and
Abdurrahman, the latter refused to comment on Megawati's
relationship with the military.
Abdurrahman said he had promised U.S. Deputy Secretary of
Defense and former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia Paul Wolfowitz
not to be in opposition to Megawati's administration. He did not
elaborate on what he meant.
"If I did not support Megawati's administration, would
I really be making statements (about it) then?"
"I know the U.S. is behind Megawati's administration, and the
military as well, but I am not upset about it because the
military is more fractured than the civilians," he said.
On his meeting with Abdurrahman, Hasyim said that they
discussed the NU leadership meeting slated for July 24 to July 28
at the Asrama Haji Pondok Gede in East Jakarta.
The meeting will discuss issues on national disintegration,
the amendment to the 1945 Constitution, the handling of
conflict-ridden areas, education and economic matters.
Rumors following the meeting indicated that Hasyim and
Abdurrahman's discussions centered on TNI's influence over
Megawati, and that this could prove increasingly dangerous to the
country's political and security conditions.
"NU is not ready to become a shield to protect an autocratic
ruler," a close aide of Hasyim told the Post.