"We will use the funds from the government to assist the police," Chief of Staff of the Army General Budiman stated.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Of the Rp100 billion allocated by the Indonesian government to the military for securing the upcoming general elections, around 60-70 percent have been given to the Army (TNI AD).

"We will use the funds from the government to assist the police," Chief of Staff of the Army General Budiman stated at the opening of the Armys leadership meeting at the Army Headquarters, here on Wednesday.

The Armys regional commanders should be able to map potential threats at the sub-district, city and district levels, he added.

A number of intelligent personnel will be deployed to anticipate disturbances. "Their task will not be to scare the people, but instead, to monitor the situation," he added.

The Army will also deploy anti-riot soldiers at every regional level. At the military district command (Kodim) level, it will deploy a platoon consisting of 20 soldiers. At the military resort command (Korem), around 100 to 200 soldiers will be deployed. At the military regional command (Kodam), there will be one battalion unit (or 1 thousand soldiers). And at the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad), three battalion units will be made ready.

In the leadership meeting, the Army Chief of Staff reminded his soldiers to remain neutral during the implementation of the 2014 general elections.

Indonesia will hold legislative elections on April 9, 2014, and presidential elections on July 9 this year.

Meanwhile, President Yudhoyono recently emphasized the importance of securing the general elections this year and in view of that, has called on security authorities not to treat it as a routine task.

"I have to remind both the military (TNI) and the police (Polri) not to treat their tasks as routine jobs. One task may be different from the other in matters of general elections security," he stated while giving directives at a TNI-Polri leadership meeting here on Thursday.

The meeting, themed "Police Ready to Secure 2014 General Elections," was attended by 336 military and police officials in addition to some cabinet ministers.

President Yudhoyono explained that general elections, part of a democratic process, are routinely conducted to elect political leaders in the legislative as well as executive branches.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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