JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post / Pacific Media Watch): A human rights activist said it would be somewhat ironic if workers were to vote for a presidential candidate with a military background, given the historic bitterness between workers and the Indonesian Military (TNI) in the past.
"Workers and the military have never enjoyed a good relationship,"mImparsial executive director Poengky Indarti said on Friday as quoted by tribunnews.com.
She made the statement following a declaration of support by Confederation of Indonesian Workers Union (KSPI) president Said Iqbal for the Gerindra Party's presidential hopeful, Prabowo Subianto.
Besides their antagonistic history, Poengky went on, the road ahead would be bumpy for the workers, as anyone with a military background tended to be authoritarian, meaning it would be highly unlikely that dialogue would be favored if there was ever a conflict of interest.
She then cited an example of how the military handled mass rallies staged by workers in Sidoarjo in 1993, when the workers were taken to the Sidoarjo Military Command (Kodam) and forced to resign.
"In that instance, the workers were forced to resign from their companies [by the military], having been accused of holding illegal meetings and preventing other workers from going to work," Poengky said.
One of the workers leading figures, Marsinah, was kidnapped and tortured to death for her role in the rallies. Her body was found on May 8, 1993, after she had been reported missing three days earlier.
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