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All this has led to speculation that Indonesia is about to become the seventh Eastern nation in recent months to have a general take power. But will he? In a speech to military cadets last month, Nasution said: "The army will take the middle way. Military leaders, as individuals, can participate actively by contributing their services . . . on the highest levels, as in the financial, economic and other fields. The army is a part of the community, and at the same time a part of the state, even an instrument of the state that could be employed by the state leadership to achieve the people's ideals."
Throughout this maneuvering, President Sukarno, a manipulator of impressive skill, has remained affable and, for him, remarkably silent. He neither interferes with Nasution's moves nor publicly backs them, and therefore can take credit if things go well and avoid blame if they fail. As for 40-year-old General Nasution, an enigmatic soldier, he remains a man who has never, by word or gesture, shown sign of wishing to overthrow Sukarno. If the army's "middle way" works, there would be no need to.