Wiranto runs new security council

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie established early last month the Council for Enforcement of Security and Law aimed at accelerating the government's reform programs, Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung disclosed on Tuesday.

The nonstructural body is chaired by the President himself, but for daily operations he has appointed Minister of Defense/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto the chairman of a smaller executive committee, Akbar said.

"To ensure the success of the reform agenda and to overcome various crises occurring in society, in the realms of social affairs, the economy, politics, law, and defense and security, there is a need to carry out quick, integrated and coordinated measures," the President said in his decree, No. 191, dated Nov. 9.

"The council... is assigned to control and coordinate efforts to resolve crises threatening national stability," the decree says.

Akbar did not give a clear answer when asked why the announcement was made one month after the council was established. "I am making this announcement as a response to numerous questions asked of me," he said after meeting with Habibie at Merdeka Palace.

Akbar, also Golkar chairman, said the council did not have a line of command with other government agencies or ministries.

"Its position will not overlap with existing bodies," he insisted.

The 34-strong council comprises 23 cabinet members; National Police chief Lt. Gen. Roesmanhadi; the head of the State Intelligence Coordinating Board (Bakin), Lt. Gen. (ret) Zaini Azhar Maulani; the Secretary of Development Operations (Sesdalopbang), Lt. Gen. (ret) Sintong Panjaitan; National Commission on Human Rights Chairman Marzuki Darusman and the leaders of five religious councils.

Habibie appointed Akbar's assistant Jimly Asshiddiqie and Development Inspector General Fuadi Rasyid as the secretary and deputy secretary of the council respectively.

"Personally I do not have any objection to the appointment, but I have to get the full support of other commission members," said Marzuki Darusman, the newly elected head of the human rights commission.

Wiranto is also the chairman of the Agency for the Coordination of Support for the Development of National Stability (Bakorstanas), which is often likened to an internal security agency.

Wiranto is assisted on the new body by Minister of Justice Muladi as his deputy. The head of the coordination center for crisis control at the Ministry of Defense and Security, Lt. Gen. Arie J. Kumaat, is acting as Wiranto's secretary.

The executive committee consists of Wiranto, 10 cabinet members, Roesmanhadi, Maulani, and Sintong.

The cabinet members include Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid, Minister of Trade and Industry Rahardi Ramelan, Minister of Information Lt. Gen. Muhammad Yunus and Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib.

"The executive board reports its activities to the chairman of council," Habibie said in his decree.

"It is a nonstructural institution and its task is to boost a sense of security among people," Marzuki told The Jakarta Post after a telephone conversation with Akbar on Tuesday evening.

According to Marzuki, Habibie, unlike his predecessor Soeharto, is very accessible to other people and their input.

Marzuki said the President often makes instant decisions after a brief meeting with a few people.

The council will become an institution to formulate government decisions, Marzuki said.

"There is a very strong impression that the President's policies very much depend on whom he last meets," Marzuki said.

Outspoken human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis feared the new body -- especially since it is chaired by an Army general -- would herald the return to a repressive approach akin to that adopted by Soeharto's New Order regime.

"I can imagine this council will be responsible for more on security and order affairs, and it can revive the security approach (which was) the ideology of the New Order," Todung said, emphasizing that he had yet to learn the details of the new policy.

The council is to hold its first meeting at the end of this month. (prb)