Polman, W Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - National Democrat organization chairman Surya Paloh said the question of allowing Indonesian servicemen to vote in the 2014 general elections was not an urgent matter.
There were other problems of more urgent nature to solve than giving National Defense Forces (TNI) members the right to vote, Paloh said here Wednesday.
"There is as yet no urgency to discuss the idea of restoring the military's and police's voting right for the 2014 general elections because there are still a lot of other problems faced by the nation that need priority and are crucial and important to be discussed for their solutions," he told newsmen after installing the executive board of Nasdem's West Sulawesi chapter.
The event was also attended by the organization's advisory board chairman, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and secterary general Syamsul Mu'arif.
Paloh said there were other problems faced by the nation that had to be immediately tackled such as poverty and ignorance that had degraded the nation.
"Let us not talk yet about whether the TNI needs to participate in politics or not because it is not the problem that has made the nation backward but it is poverty and ignorance that has made the nation's status downgraded before the eyes of other nations, that has to be solved," he said.
Moreover, it was not impossible that the TNI was still reluctant to play a political role as they had never talked about it so far, he said.
He said "the nation's respect must be restored. All fundamental problems faced by the nation must be settled. The ideal of the founding fathers must be realized, namely creating a just and prosperous society." (H-YH/a014)
