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Indonesian Govt Forms Crisis Controlling Agency
The Indonesian government Sunday formed a crisis controlling agency which will be responsible for analyzing all problems related to security and political affairs in the country, a government minister said.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri will jointly lead the agency. The agency, whose name remained undisclosed, will start operating on Monday, January 29.
"This is an agency, which directly falls under the president and serves to help analyze actual security conditions," Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.
Comprising several ministers and senior officials, the agency has the main job of providing the president with various options for decisions in response to certain security conditions.
"The agency does not have any line of command at all. It was formed to prevent the president from making hasty decisions," Susilo was quoted by the Jakarta Post Monday as saying.
The minister added that the agency is neither an independent nor an ad hoc body.
The new agency will be placed at the coordinating ministry of political, social and security affairs office with Susilo as the caretaker.
The agency would not have the powers of the former "Kopkamtib" (the Command for the Restoration of Security and Public Order), Susilo said.
The Kopkamtib was created by former president Soeharto and enabled the military to monitor, arrest and detain anyone perceived to be against his regime.
Susilo further said the new agency is basically a special facility with ministers and some other high-ranking officials dealing with political and security affairs as its members.
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