158: The 2002 ABRI National Leadership Meeting Part I
17th February 2002:
The dresscode that night was batik as ABRI’s most high-ranked and senior officers as well active along with their wives gathered at the Cipanas Presidential Palace. The ABRI National Leadership Meeting was not due to start until tomorrow but the welcome dinner was held that night with the food preparation personally overseen by First Lady Tuti Setiawati.
President Try Sutrisno took to the microphone and delivered an impromptu speech to welcome his guests.
“I would like all of us here to contemplate the opportunity that our nation has at the moment. We have survived the Asian Financial Crisis and weathered the international downturn last year where other nations have struggled. And where other nations have had some of their progress wiped out, the progress which we have made, especially over the last 30 years, is still largely intact. Where others are rebuilding, we have the opportunity to build upon pas progress. I hope that our nation will realize this and I hope that ABRI, above all, will realize this.”
18th February 2002:
The ABRI National Leadership Meeting began this morning at the Cipanas Presidential Palace, the officers having gone back to their hotels and inns around Cipanas and then gathering again in the morning. Flanked by Minister of Defense and Security Wismoyo Arismunandar and Commander of ABRI Wiranto, the President hit the gong to declare the ABRI National Leadership officially open.
After that the President went to the Cipanas Presidential Palace to work with State Secretary Edi Sudrajat explaining that the President would just like to be in the midst of his officers as they discuss matters important for ABRI.
The first issue discussed was sensitive enough that it became the first item on the National Leadership agenda: ABRI’s commercial interests.
The agenda had called for a discussion about the possibility of ABRI’s “possible relinquishing” of commercial interests. The immediate reaction of a majority of those present, holding commands over the nation’s largest military units, was to call for ABRI Headquarters to bear in mind the welfare of the soldiers and that whatever commercial activities undertaken was for the interest of the soldiers.
The Functional Assistant at ABRI Headquarters Saurip Kadi took a strong stance saying that with the government’s defense spending on the increase, eventually there is no reason for ABRI to hold on or to have commercial interests. Furthermore, Saurip argued, the less time ABRI personnel and units spent on commercial interests, the more it could improve its professional capability. There were mutterings in the room that Saurip had “not commanded field units in far too long” and that he had spent “ too much time with Agus Wirahadikusumah”.
There were more mutterings in the room against this idea. It was ABRI Chief of General Staff Djaja Suparman who said that while he agrees defense spending is on the increase, until this has reached the optimum level, some toleration must be shown to ventures designed to supplement the budget and increase the welfare of the soldiers.
What got a lot of attention were the comments of the Inspector General of ABRI Ryamizard Ryacudu. Ryamizard said that he was all in favor of improving the welfare of the soldiers and that if these commercial interests were the way to that then so be it. The muttering and grumbling stopped, the President’s son-in-law seemed to have understood that the various command units needed to supplement the official budget by engaging in commercial activities. But Ryamizard was not finished.
“I think the choice for ABRI is not between letting go of commercial interests or not letting go of commercial interests, I think the choice is between letting go of commercial interests or becoming more accountable and transparent”, Ryamizard continued “Accountable means money coming out, money coming in, which money goes in whose pockets for what purpose and for what reason must be accounted. Transparent means every commercial venture whether by military foundations, military cooperatives or whatever that’s related to the military, all of this must be declared and known by ABRI Headquarters and must be subject to both internal and external auditing.
If the purpose of the commercial interests is for the welfare of the soldiers, then accountability and transparency should be no problem.”
---
The President had lunch with Wismoyo Arismunandar and Wiranto, the latter two talking about the discussions that were taking place that morning. The President chuckled to himself hearing his son-in-law proposing a couple of difficult choices for the officer corps.
“Long term, if your plans for defense are any indication, Mr. President, the businesses would have to go” said Wiranto “There will come a time where there’s simply no reason for it.”
“In the meanwhile, if we get them to move on accountability and transparency, that would already be a big deal”, said Wismoyo.
---
The next item on the agenda, coming after lunch was ABRI’s political stance on various issues of which two notable issues were discussed.
The Extreme Right:
Chairman of BP-7 Agus Widjojo, attending the meeting because he is still an active officer, said that events in recent years and most recently the events of New York City, Washington DC, and Chicago show that the Extreme Right is a clear and present danger both inside and outside of Indonesia. Agus said that the nation’s awareness of the Extreme Left is something that is difficult to improve upon, but that awareness of the Extreme Right should also be built. He called on ABRI to be at the forefront of this campaign against the Extreme Right, ending his speech by saying that those who want to replace Pancasila with Sharia Law are just as bad as those who want to replace Pancasila with communism.
PKPI/PPP Coalition:
Deputy Army Chief of Staff Prijanto acting as a spokesperson to the regional military commanders said that in the aftermath of the PKPI/PPP coalition, the question is how to approach this coalition. ABRI Headquarters stated that ABRI members in the DPR and the DPRDs are in cooperation with the PKPI and the PPP but does cooperation with the two parties also mean a coalition with them since all three will be voting the same way?
The Leader of ABRI in the DPR Fachrul Rozi took up the question. He explained that first of all ABRI members in the DPR and the DPRDs have no obligation to the PKPI/PPP Coalition. It may be the case that ABRI supported Golkar in the past a result of President Soeharto’s urging in 1980 that ABRI “take sides” but Golkar no longer exists so the state of affairs where ABRI supported Golkar is finished. At the present, Fachrul concluded, there’s no automatic coalition between ABRI and the PKPI and the PPP unless the President has specifically instructed it or ordered it.
ABRI Chief of the Socio-Political Affairs Staff Djamari Chaniago said that for the moment, the President and the Commander of ABRI’s orders are for ABRI to formulate a stance that ABRI can get behind and support.
A lot of brainstorming followed. The breakthrough was made by Vice Chairman of the DPR Hari Sabarno who argued that the starting point should not be whether or not ABRI should get in a coalition, the starting point should be that the President is the constitutional Supreme Commander of ABRI. If ABRI supported the PKPI it would be because this reflected the President’s political inclinations of believing in a coalition between the PKPI/PPP.
The meeting agreed with this but then the question remained: coalition or no coalition?
The Commander of the Central Java Regional Military Command Tri Tamtomo favored a coalition saying that in Central Java it’s a battlefield between the PKPI/PPP Coalition and the PKPB in the Central Java DPRD and that’s before taking the PNI into the equation. A coalition will help in governing “arrangements” between ABRI and the PKPI/PPP Coalition.
Having kept silent for most of the day, Governor of Lemhanas Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke up saying that it was enough for ABRI to support the PKPI/PPP Coalition based on the fact that this was the President’s political inclination. When asked why, Yudhoyono became hesitant to give an answer. In the room, there were more officers who were in favor of merely supporting rather than getting into a coalition with the PKPI and the PPP but all were hesitant to give a clear answer.
It finally fell to Saurip Kadi to speak out again, telling the meeting why it was enough for ABRI to support the PKPI/PPP Coalition rather than be a part of it.
Silence descended on the meeting and the talks became deadlocked. The meeting finally resolved that the matter of whether to support or join the PKPI/PPP should be left to the President.
---
When the officers had gone home to their hotels at night, Wiranto visited the President at the Cipanas Presidential Palace. The President and Edi listened intently as Wiranto reported about the discussions regarding ABRI’s political stance on various issues including whether or not ABRI should join the PKPI/PPP Coalition.
“And why did Saurip say that it’s best for ABRI to simply support the PKPI and the PPP rather than join with them in a coalition?” asked the President.
“Two reasons, Mr. President”, replied Wiranto “First, if we enter into a coalition with the PKPI and the PPP, this would be contradictory to the consensus of the officer corps which was that ABRI should stay neutral at the 2002 Elections. How can ABRI be neutral when we’re in coalition with not one, but two of the participants in the election?”
The President nodded and then waited an inordinate amount of time for Wiranto to continue.
“You said there was a second reason, General”, replied Edi impatiently.
“The second reason is because it would be awkward with your successor if we were still in coalition with the two political parties supporting you in the event that…” and Wiranto paused “In the event that the presidency changes hands at the 2003 MPR General Session.”
“I see”, said the President.
“There is also the argument that in the event of the presidency changing hands, we have to simply shift our support from the PKPI and the PPP to the PKPB…” said Wiranto before Edi cut him off.
“You were talking about the possibility of the President…” began Edi angrily.
“Calm down, Mr. State Secretary”, said the President before he turned to Wiranto “That’ll be all for today, we have a big day tomorrow.”
Wiranto stood up and saluted the President before turning around to leave. When Wiranto left, the President turned to Edi.
“You too, it’s another long day tomorrow”, the President said.
That night from his pavilion at the Cipanas Presidential Palace, Edi called Minister of Home Affairs Harsudiono Hartas who was in Jakarta. Edi told what happened and Harsudiono laughed at it.
“They’re talking about the possibility of Try losing and you’re laughing, that’s great, real grea” said Edi.
“Saurip was one of my staff members back when I was ABRI Chief of the Socio-Political Affairs Staff so he might’ve picked up something from me as far as speaking bluntly is concerned”, apologized Harsudiono “But as far as what those officers were discussing, we have to play fair…Try has to play fair.”
“How so?” asked Edi.
“History shows that the night Soeharto died and Try became president, the first ABRI officer to declare his support for Try and start asking units to support him was Wiranto and we can’t take that away from him”, said Harsudiono “Feisal was the Commander of ABRI at the time, Prabowo was the Commander of Kopassus at the time, they seemed more concerned about what this meant for the people they want to support as president rather than declaring their support for Try.”
“You think Try owes him something?”, argued Edi “Come on, the moment Soeharto died, it’s his duty to support Try because constitutionally Try’s his Supreme Commander now.”
“That’s exactly it, Edi”, replied Harsudiono “But what he did was impressive considering that this was the time ABRI was so submissive to Soeharto’s will that the Army Chief of Staff at that time walked around wearing a Golkar jacket saying that all members of ABRI were cadres of Golkar.”
Edi thought about it for a while.
“What’s Try’s relationship with Wiranto like?” asked Harsudiono.
“Very business-like, not personally close”, replied Edi “Aside from the fact that they’ve both been Commander of the Jakarta Regional Military Command, that they’ve both been President Soeharto’s aide-de-camps, they have no personal bonds. But their relationship works out pretty well.”
“You know why that is?” asked Harsudiono “It’s because regardless of how Wiranto feels about Try, what’s important for him is the institution of the presidency rather than the person occupying it. Otherwise, it’s very likely that he would have done something other than support Try the night Soeharto died.”
“Okay, how does this relate to your point earlier that we have to play fair?” asked Edi.
“Playing fair means this”, began Harsudiono “If we expected ABRI to support Try when the presidency passed to him and if we expect ABRI to continue supporting Try throughout his term on the basis of the office he holds, then we can’t hate it when ABRI is realizing that it might have to support someone else if Try loses the presidency because he would no longer be their constitutional supreme commander. It means ABRI is following Wiranto’s lead and is thinking about institutions rather than personalities.”
---
First day of the ABRI National Leadership Meeting is completed, no dismantling of Dual Function but tinkering around with ABRI’s commercial interests is on the agenda and the realization that ABRI’s starting to think in terms of institutions rather than personalities dawns on Try’s inner circle.
ITTL Wiranto supporting Try when Soeharto dies because Try's the rightful president is based on OTL Wiranto's choice to support Habibie when Soeharto resigned in 1998; not really close beforehand but the support is given because Try in ITTL and Habibie in OTL were Soeharto's constitutional successors.
The dresscode that night was batik as ABRI’s most high-ranked and senior officers as well active along with their wives gathered at the Cipanas Presidential Palace. The ABRI National Leadership Meeting was not due to start until tomorrow but the welcome dinner was held that night with the food preparation personally overseen by First Lady Tuti Setiawati.
President Try Sutrisno took to the microphone and delivered an impromptu speech to welcome his guests.
“I would like all of us here to contemplate the opportunity that our nation has at the moment. We have survived the Asian Financial Crisis and weathered the international downturn last year where other nations have struggled. And where other nations have had some of their progress wiped out, the progress which we have made, especially over the last 30 years, is still largely intact. Where others are rebuilding, we have the opportunity to build upon pas progress. I hope that our nation will realize this and I hope that ABRI, above all, will realize this.”
18th February 2002:
The ABRI National Leadership Meeting began this morning at the Cipanas Presidential Palace, the officers having gone back to their hotels and inns around Cipanas and then gathering again in the morning. Flanked by Minister of Defense and Security Wismoyo Arismunandar and Commander of ABRI Wiranto, the President hit the gong to declare the ABRI National Leadership officially open.
After that the President went to the Cipanas Presidential Palace to work with State Secretary Edi Sudrajat explaining that the President would just like to be in the midst of his officers as they discuss matters important for ABRI.
The first issue discussed was sensitive enough that it became the first item on the National Leadership agenda: ABRI’s commercial interests.
The agenda had called for a discussion about the possibility of ABRI’s “possible relinquishing” of commercial interests. The immediate reaction of a majority of those present, holding commands over the nation’s largest military units, was to call for ABRI Headquarters to bear in mind the welfare of the soldiers and that whatever commercial activities undertaken was for the interest of the soldiers.
The Functional Assistant at ABRI Headquarters Saurip Kadi took a strong stance saying that with the government’s defense spending on the increase, eventually there is no reason for ABRI to hold on or to have commercial interests. Furthermore, Saurip argued, the less time ABRI personnel and units spent on commercial interests, the more it could improve its professional capability. There were mutterings in the room that Saurip had “not commanded field units in far too long” and that he had spent “ too much time with Agus Wirahadikusumah”.
There were more mutterings in the room against this idea. It was ABRI Chief of General Staff Djaja Suparman who said that while he agrees defense spending is on the increase, until this has reached the optimum level, some toleration must be shown to ventures designed to supplement the budget and increase the welfare of the soldiers.
What got a lot of attention were the comments of the Inspector General of ABRI Ryamizard Ryacudu. Ryamizard said that he was all in favor of improving the welfare of the soldiers and that if these commercial interests were the way to that then so be it. The muttering and grumbling stopped, the President’s son-in-law seemed to have understood that the various command units needed to supplement the official budget by engaging in commercial activities. But Ryamizard was not finished.
“I think the choice for ABRI is not between letting go of commercial interests or not letting go of commercial interests, I think the choice is between letting go of commercial interests or becoming more accountable and transparent”, Ryamizard continued “Accountable means money coming out, money coming in, which money goes in whose pockets for what purpose and for what reason must be accounted. Transparent means every commercial venture whether by military foundations, military cooperatives or whatever that’s related to the military, all of this must be declared and known by ABRI Headquarters and must be subject to both internal and external auditing.
If the purpose of the commercial interests is for the welfare of the soldiers, then accountability and transparency should be no problem.”
---
The President had lunch with Wismoyo Arismunandar and Wiranto, the latter two talking about the discussions that were taking place that morning. The President chuckled to himself hearing his son-in-law proposing a couple of difficult choices for the officer corps.
“Long term, if your plans for defense are any indication, Mr. President, the businesses would have to go” said Wiranto “There will come a time where there’s simply no reason for it.”
“In the meanwhile, if we get them to move on accountability and transparency, that would already be a big deal”, said Wismoyo.
---
The next item on the agenda, coming after lunch was ABRI’s political stance on various issues of which two notable issues were discussed.
The Extreme Right:
Chairman of BP-7 Agus Widjojo, attending the meeting because he is still an active officer, said that events in recent years and most recently the events of New York City, Washington DC, and Chicago show that the Extreme Right is a clear and present danger both inside and outside of Indonesia. Agus said that the nation’s awareness of the Extreme Left is something that is difficult to improve upon, but that awareness of the Extreme Right should also be built. He called on ABRI to be at the forefront of this campaign against the Extreme Right, ending his speech by saying that those who want to replace Pancasila with Sharia Law are just as bad as those who want to replace Pancasila with communism.
PKPI/PPP Coalition:
Deputy Army Chief of Staff Prijanto acting as a spokesperson to the regional military commanders said that in the aftermath of the PKPI/PPP coalition, the question is how to approach this coalition. ABRI Headquarters stated that ABRI members in the DPR and the DPRDs are in cooperation with the PKPI and the PPP but does cooperation with the two parties also mean a coalition with them since all three will be voting the same way?
The Leader of ABRI in the DPR Fachrul Rozi took up the question. He explained that first of all ABRI members in the DPR and the DPRDs have no obligation to the PKPI/PPP Coalition. It may be the case that ABRI supported Golkar in the past a result of President Soeharto’s urging in 1980 that ABRI “take sides” but Golkar no longer exists so the state of affairs where ABRI supported Golkar is finished. At the present, Fachrul concluded, there’s no automatic coalition between ABRI and the PKPI and the PPP unless the President has specifically instructed it or ordered it.
ABRI Chief of the Socio-Political Affairs Staff Djamari Chaniago said that for the moment, the President and the Commander of ABRI’s orders are for ABRI to formulate a stance that ABRI can get behind and support.
A lot of brainstorming followed. The breakthrough was made by Vice Chairman of the DPR Hari Sabarno who argued that the starting point should not be whether or not ABRI should get in a coalition, the starting point should be that the President is the constitutional Supreme Commander of ABRI. If ABRI supported the PKPI it would be because this reflected the President’s political inclinations of believing in a coalition between the PKPI/PPP.
The meeting agreed with this but then the question remained: coalition or no coalition?
The Commander of the Central Java Regional Military Command Tri Tamtomo favored a coalition saying that in Central Java it’s a battlefield between the PKPI/PPP Coalition and the PKPB in the Central Java DPRD and that’s before taking the PNI into the equation. A coalition will help in governing “arrangements” between ABRI and the PKPI/PPP Coalition.
Having kept silent for most of the day, Governor of Lemhanas Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke up saying that it was enough for ABRI to support the PKPI/PPP Coalition based on the fact that this was the President’s political inclination. When asked why, Yudhoyono became hesitant to give an answer. In the room, there were more officers who were in favor of merely supporting rather than getting into a coalition with the PKPI and the PPP but all were hesitant to give a clear answer.
It finally fell to Saurip Kadi to speak out again, telling the meeting why it was enough for ABRI to support the PKPI/PPP Coalition rather than be a part of it.
Silence descended on the meeting and the talks became deadlocked. The meeting finally resolved that the matter of whether to support or join the PKPI/PPP should be left to the President.
---
When the officers had gone home to their hotels at night, Wiranto visited the President at the Cipanas Presidential Palace. The President and Edi listened intently as Wiranto reported about the discussions regarding ABRI’s political stance on various issues including whether or not ABRI should join the PKPI/PPP Coalition.
“And why did Saurip say that it’s best for ABRI to simply support the PKPI and the PPP rather than join with them in a coalition?” asked the President.
“Two reasons, Mr. President”, replied Wiranto “First, if we enter into a coalition with the PKPI and the PPP, this would be contradictory to the consensus of the officer corps which was that ABRI should stay neutral at the 2002 Elections. How can ABRI be neutral when we’re in coalition with not one, but two of the participants in the election?”
The President nodded and then waited an inordinate amount of time for Wiranto to continue.
“You said there was a second reason, General”, replied Edi impatiently.
“The second reason is because it would be awkward with your successor if we were still in coalition with the two political parties supporting you in the event that…” and Wiranto paused “In the event that the presidency changes hands at the 2003 MPR General Session.”
“I see”, said the President.
“There is also the argument that in the event of the presidency changing hands, we have to simply shift our support from the PKPI and the PPP to the PKPB…” said Wiranto before Edi cut him off.
“You were talking about the possibility of the President…” began Edi angrily.
“Calm down, Mr. State Secretary”, said the President before he turned to Wiranto “That’ll be all for today, we have a big day tomorrow.”
Wiranto stood up and saluted the President before turning around to leave. When Wiranto left, the President turned to Edi.
“You too, it’s another long day tomorrow”, the President said.
That night from his pavilion at the Cipanas Presidential Palace, Edi called Minister of Home Affairs Harsudiono Hartas who was in Jakarta. Edi told what happened and Harsudiono laughed at it.
“They’re talking about the possibility of Try losing and you’re laughing, that’s great, real grea” said Edi.
“Saurip was one of my staff members back when I was ABRI Chief of the Socio-Political Affairs Staff so he might’ve picked up something from me as far as speaking bluntly is concerned”, apologized Harsudiono “But as far as what those officers were discussing, we have to play fair…Try has to play fair.”
“How so?” asked Edi.
“History shows that the night Soeharto died and Try became president, the first ABRI officer to declare his support for Try and start asking units to support him was Wiranto and we can’t take that away from him”, said Harsudiono “Feisal was the Commander of ABRI at the time, Prabowo was the Commander of Kopassus at the time, they seemed more concerned about what this meant for the people they want to support as president rather than declaring their support for Try.”
“You think Try owes him something?”, argued Edi “Come on, the moment Soeharto died, it’s his duty to support Try because constitutionally Try’s his Supreme Commander now.”
“That’s exactly it, Edi”, replied Harsudiono “But what he did was impressive considering that this was the time ABRI was so submissive to Soeharto’s will that the Army Chief of Staff at that time walked around wearing a Golkar jacket saying that all members of ABRI were cadres of Golkar.”
Edi thought about it for a while.
“What’s Try’s relationship with Wiranto like?” asked Harsudiono.
“Very business-like, not personally close”, replied Edi “Aside from the fact that they’ve both been Commander of the Jakarta Regional Military Command, that they’ve both been President Soeharto’s aide-de-camps, they have no personal bonds. But their relationship works out pretty well.”
“You know why that is?” asked Harsudiono “It’s because regardless of how Wiranto feels about Try, what’s important for him is the institution of the presidency rather than the person occupying it. Otherwise, it’s very likely that he would have done something other than support Try the night Soeharto died.”
“Okay, how does this relate to your point earlier that we have to play fair?” asked Edi.
“Playing fair means this”, began Harsudiono “If we expected ABRI to support Try when the presidency passed to him and if we expect ABRI to continue supporting Try throughout his term on the basis of the office he holds, then we can’t hate it when ABRI is realizing that it might have to support someone else if Try loses the presidency because he would no longer be their constitutional supreme commander. It means ABRI is following Wiranto’s lead and is thinking about institutions rather than personalities.”
---
First day of the ABRI National Leadership Meeting is completed, no dismantling of Dual Function but tinkering around with ABRI’s commercial interests is on the agenda and the realization that ABRI’s starting to think in terms of institutions rather than personalities dawns on Try’s inner circle.
ITTL Wiranto supporting Try when Soeharto dies because Try's the rightful president is based on OTL Wiranto's choice to support Habibie when Soeharto resigned in 1998; not really close beforehand but the support is given because Try in ITTL and Habibie in OTL were Soeharto's constitutional successors.
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