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Prabowo silent on Wiranto's statement
The Gerindra Partyâspresidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has chosen not to respond to the recentstatement from former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen
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T
he Gerindra Party'spresidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has chosen not to respond to the recentstatement from former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. (ret.) Wiranto,who was his commanding officer during the tumultuous events of 1998.
Wiranto ' who was a member of the Officers Ethics Council (DKP) in 1998 ' on Thursday revealed that Prabowo was involved in the student activist abductions, and that he had done so of his own initiative. Wiranto said that it was these actions resulted in the DKP dismissing Prabowo from the military.
'There is no need to respond [to that],' Prabowo said on Friday. 'Let the public be their own judge.'
Prabowo added that he was not worried that his electability rating would drop in the wake Wiranto's statement.
'Let the public answer on July 9,' he said, referring to day voters go to the polls.
Accusations of rights violations, abuses and misconduct have dogged the presidential candidate for weeks. The issue gained traction during the first presidential debate, when Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) vice presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla raised the issue of human rights.
A perturbed Prabowo responded by saying that as a former soldier he did his duty, and 'aside from that, it was up to the judgment of my superiors'. (dic)
