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BIN spies on groups posing threat to poll
Jakarta Post - February 25, 2014
BIN chief Lt. Gen. (ret.) Marciano Norman said on Monday that the agency had been gathering information on potential threats that could disrupt the upcoming election, including campaigns and intimidation initiated by radical groups.
"Existing threats [to the election] have come from certain fringe groups such as radicals, terrorists and separatists," Marciano told reporters after a five-hour closed door meeting with lawmakers from the House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense, foreign affairs and information.
Marciano said that BIN had particularly singled out groups that were discouraging voting in the 2014 general election.
"Groups discouraging voting can be seen in elections all over the world, not only in Indonesia. But I hope in this democratic era that these sorts of acts stop. We must eliminate [efforts] to decrease the number of voters in the elections," Marciano said.
Marciano further called on elections organizers, including the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Election Supervisory Committee (Bawaslu) to carry out their duties well so that these groups would not be able to drive undecided voters away from the polling stations.
Marciano also warned political parties to guard against sinister plots designed by their rivals to weaken one another. He called on political parties to secure their lines of communication and provide extra protection for their candidates.
The BIN chief said that he was aware of the accusation that officials from his agency were allegedly involved in spying operations against a number of politicians, including Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. Marciano maintained, however, that BIN was innocent.
"I declare that BIN is and will forever be neutral in safeguarding the elections. We have never been involved in wiretapping or in carrying out operations to terrorize political leaders, including Pak Jokowi," said Marciano, adding that BIN would punish officials who were partisan during the election.
The Commission I Monday hearing also endorsed BIN as the coordinator for all intelligence operations conducted by state institutions, including in the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police and the Attorney General's Office, to secure the 2014 general election.
Commission I deputy chairman Tubagus Hasanuddin expected that with the endorsement, all intelligence operations could be better managed.
"Differences [among agencies] can be settled if there is a single coordinator. This will also be very helpful,particularly because we are approaching the elections," said Tubagus, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) leader Insp. Gen. (ret.) Ansyaad Mbai said earlier that the BNPT would step up its efforts to deal with potential terror threats that were expected to escalate in the run-up to the April legislative election.
"The main enemy of terrorism is democracy. And we are about to celebrate democracy in two months," Ansyaad said. He said the agency had improved its mechanism to deal with potential threats.
"We are definitely improving measures to prevent threats during the elections," he said, emphasizing that the BNPT was closely monitoring suspected individuals.
Meanwhile, lawmaker Susaningtyas Kertopati of the Hanura Party urged BIN as well as all antiterrorism agencies to carefully and comprehensively analyze intelligence gathered regarding groups deemed to be potential threats so that it would not discriminate against subscribers of certain religions.
"Be careful when associating radical or terror groups with certain faiths because doing so could cause more problems. BIN must comprehensively examine all collected information regarding the groups," Susaningtyas said.
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