Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The National Intelligence Agency (BIN) has called on the public to stay vigilant ahead of the 2014 legislative and presidential elections as it forecasts that social violence will likely escalate.
"Violence will continue to escalate approaching the elections and clashes are going to get worse," BIN chief Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday after a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I overseeing defense, foreign affairs and information.
"I ask the public to be alert to things that will get worse. Be aware of horizontal clashes. Refuse to be played off against one another by certain groups," he added.
A recent finding by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) showed that the government's slow response to every conflict in the country had contributed to the weakening of state authority, a condition that had gradually led people to turn to violence to achieve their ends.
Marciano cited terrorism, separatist movements and social distrust as the main threats to the unity of Indonesia.
"Terrorism is still there even though it appears absent. We must stay alert to this threat as it will have a huge impact once it emerges," he said. "We must also keep an eye on separatists in order to uphold the NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia]. The growing social distrust has put the country's unity at stake," he added.
According to Marciano, social injustices and poor law enforcement have triggered the threats, particularly the growing social distrust that, if neglected, could tear society into pieces.
"All stakeholders, including governmental officials, must thoroughly question themselves. Social distrust does not grow without reason. All related stakeholders should seriously resolve recent problems, particularly conflicts over land and mining areas, as well as those involving labor," he said.
Massive strikes by angry workers over wage issues in Bekasi and Tangerang regencies – home to multinational companies' production bases – last month prompted many factories to shut down and workers to blockade toll roads in protest.
Marciano said social distrust had driven people to adopt severe methods of fighting for their rights, such as organizing rallies, some of which, according to BIN, have broken the law.
"We understand that some people are fearing for their rights but they should obey the rules. We found that some of the rallies took place without permits," he said, adding that BIN had seen the signs of such rallies beforehand, and had kept a close watch on them. He refused to elaborate on this.
Commission I chairman Mahfudz Siddiq called on the government to pay attention to the escalating horizontal conflicts. "Poor law enforcement has forced the people to act violently to fight for what they think is right. Violence is escalating because people are disappointed by the legislative body, the government, as well as the judicial system, which they feel has failed to accommodate their needs."
Mahfudz said the House had recommended that law enforcers not merely approach these problems from a "national security point of view". "BIN must not wait long to communicate its findings to relevant institutions... For this reason, we strongly urge BIN to work to find the core cause of the recent clashes."
Fellow lawmaker Evita Nursanty said that horizontal conflicts would not have escalated had BIN been watching the signs more carefully. "The escalating number of conflicts among the people has shown us that BIN has missed something. I think BIN should be ready to improve its performance," she said.