'Armed Forces should not stick to the past'<\/p>\n
Recent reports on the socio-political roles of the Armed
\nForces by the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) have drawn a
\nwide response. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, senior researcher at the
\ninstitute and also at the Center for Information and Development
\nStudies, examines the background to these reports.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): When President Soeharto requested the National
\nInstitute of Sciences (LIPI), through its chairman, carry out
\nresearch on ways to improve the general election and the
\nsociopolitical role of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) in
\nearly 1995, many eyebrows were raised. Since this involved the
\nhighest power in the land, as is usual in this country,
\nspeculations regarding the meaning of these requests abounded.
\nQuestions were asked about why the President felt it necessary to
\ncommission the study, and whether the choice of LIPI, a national
\nresearch institute founded and funded by the state, was
\nsignificant.<\/p>\n
Those who tend to look on the bright side regarded the
\nassignment as an indication of the government's, particularly the
\nPresident's, growing sensitivity to the increasingly vocal
\ncriticism being leveled at the way general elections have been
\nconducted, which unabashedly favored Golkar, and at the dominant
\nsociopolitical role of the Armed Forces.<\/p>\n
The choice of LIPI was regarded as only natural, since one of
\nthe tasks of the institute is to conduct policy studies for the
\ngovernment. Although LIPI is a government institution, meaning
\nits researchers are civil servants and members of Golkar, the
\ninstitute is generally perceived to be relatively independent and
\nneutral. The President's instruction to LIPI to study the general
\nelection process and the sociopolitical role of the Armed Forces,
\nand to come up with suggestions for improvement, was seen by some
\nto be a genuine desire to find answers to a number of fundamental
\nquestions that face the Indonesian state and society.<\/p>\n
The more cynical observers, however, dismissed the President's
\nrequest to LIPI as nothing more than a formalistic response to
\nthe growing demands for the reform of the general election
\nprocess and the reduction of the military's involvement in
\npolitics. Given LIPI's status, many critics doubted the
\ninstitute's ability to carry out a thorough and an unbiased
\nstudy. In fact, quite a few were suspicious that LIPI's reports
\ncould be used to legitimize the present order further and thus
\ndeflect criticism of the government.<\/p>\n
Given the importance of the issues being discussed, LIPI was
\nclearly confronted with a dilemma, resulting in sometimes heated
\ndebate among its officials and researchers. It was quite clear
\nthat the questions being asked were not mere academic exercises,
\nbut could have far-reaching consequences, including for LIPI
\nitself. LIPI was caught between the desire to project itself as a
\ncredible and professional research institution whose findings
\ncould be relied upon by all parties, and the reality of it being
\na state-funded institution. There were also heated debates about
\nwhat to do with the reports once they were completed. Were the
\nreports to be considered confidential for use of only the
\nPresident or should they be made public knowledge, since the
\npublic was entitled to know and debate on the matters?<\/p>\n
It was finally agreed that despite the potentially sensitive
\nissues being studied, LIPI could not afford to compromise its
\nintegrity and its long-standing reputation. As the national
\nresearch institution, LIPI's responsibility is not only to the
\ngovernment, but to the nation as a whole. Nonetheless, because
\nthe first studies on general elections and the sociopolitical
\nrole of the Armed Forces were commissioned by the President, the
\nreports were given only to the President through Minister\/State
\nSecretary Moerdiono. These reports were submitted to the
\nPresident in early 1996. The public, including those who had
\nacted as resource persons, were not given copies of these
\nreports.<\/p>\n
The researchers involved in both studies, however, felt that
\nthe issues are too important to be left there. Further studies,
\nbased on extensive fieldwork, were clearly needed and the
\nfindings made public so they could be discussed and debated, and
\ncontribute toward the country's political development.<\/p>\n
Therefore, based on their own initiatives the researchers at
\nLIPI have taken the research projects beyond what the President
\ninitially requested. The plan is to carry out these studies over
\na number of years, covering as wide an area and as diverse a
\nsector as possible, so that one may obtain a more complete
\npicture and a deeper understanding of the real situation.<\/p>\n
The report on ABRI that was released recently is the first
\nstudy to come out from this series, which will hopefully continue
\nto be funded by the government.<\/p>\n
The first report on ABRI has generated a lot of interest, with
\nmany observers agreeing with the findings and the recommendations
\non the future of ABRI's sociopolitical role. There has also been
\na lot of hostile reaction to and criticism of the report,
\nparticularly from military ranks.<\/p>\n
These debates and disagreements are clearly very healthy and
\nwill help the researchers to improve their final report. The
\nreport focuses on the ways ABRI's sociopolitical role has been
\nimplemented and how people in various parts of Indonesia feel and
\nperceive the reality of such a role in their respective areas in
\nthe past 30 years.<\/p>\n
What the report makes clear is that historical justification
\nregarding ABRI's sociopolitical role is no longer sufficient.
\nSticking to arguments about the past, and refusing to face the
\nproblems of today, will clearly make it difficult for us to move
\ntoward a better tomorrow.<\/p>\n
It is hoped that LIPI's efforts will not be like a cry in the
\nwilderness, to be ignored and forgotten.<\/p>\n
Political role -- Page 4<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/armed-forces-should-not-stick-to-the-past-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }