Indonesian Military Rejects Idea to Impose Military LawIndonesian Military rejected the idea of imposing a martial law in the country, the Army Chief of Staff Endriartono Sutarto told reporters in Padalarang near Bandung, capital of West Java, on Monday.He said the military had advised the president not to pursue a course of action that would be against the aspirations of the Indonesian people. "We suggest that he (the president) does not do that," Sutarto was quoted by the Antara News Agency as saying. Sutarto had reminded the president that it would worsen the already-deteriorating situation. In an interview with the U.S.-based magazine Newsweek recently, Wahid admitted that he recently urged the military to impose martial law if members of parliament and himself remain deadlocked in trying to end the political turmoil. "I asked them (the military to impose martial law) and they said no. I said, OK, then we have to find a political solution," Wahid was quoted by the Indonesian Observer Monday as saying. Indonesian House of Representatives voted to issue the second memorandum to Wahid on April 30. The president would have one month to respond to the second memorandum in order to avoid impeachment process set by the People's Consultative Assembly's special session. Wahid mentioned a few days ago that he will not respond directly to the House's second memorandum, thus triggering tension between the president and the parliament. |
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