BIN Warns of Vulnerabilities Before Election

Jakarta (Antara) - The chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) has warned about potential vulnerabilities that can affect implementation of the presidential election on July 9. "There is a growing fear about the possibility of horizontal conflicts occurring, involving supporters of presidential and vice presidential candidates," Marciano Norman said in a statement here on Monday. He also talked about the spread of rumors and "opinion wars" as well as smear campaigns on social media. He said there were also radical ideological groups that had expressed their rejection of democracy as a political system. "They have strongly expressed their rejection of the implementation of the presidential election and had threatened to conduct violent actions and terrorism acts to abort it," he added. He said the intelligence agency has taken necessary anticipatory measures to respond to various developments that can potentially disrupt the election. Marciano Norman said BIN had coordinated on various intelligence measures with other security authorities, including the TNI (military) and the police force as well as state civilian apparatus, to ensure a fair, just and peaceful election. "The intelligence measures are certainly conducted professionally, objectively, impartially and in an accountable manner," he added. He said the BIN leadership and intelligence agencies will remain professional and neutral with regard to the election. (*) Reporting by Budi Setiawanto