Civilian govt should oversee TNI, Police: Analyst<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Instead of placing them under the president, the Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) and the National Police should be put under
\nseparate ministries to avoid being used by the incumbent
\npresident to defend his or her regime, an analyst says.<\/p>\n
Military analyst Salim Said told a seminar here on Wednesday
\nthat the military should be put under the defense ministry while
\nthe police under a domestic security ministry which could be set
\nup later.<\/p>\n
\"There is also a need to establish a national security council
\ntasked to give the president input on security issues,\" he told a
\nseminar on the role of the military and police in national
\nsecurity here on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Currently, the National Police are directly responsible to the
\npresident, raising fears that the incumbent president would use
\nthe police force to maintain his or her power.<\/p>\n
The TNI, on the other hand, is very much left to its own
\ndevices, with its chief commander enjoying a position equal to a
\nministerial post.<\/p>\n
Both the TNI and police chiefs attend Cabinet meetings, which
\nmostly discuss government policy, not defense issues.<\/p>\n
Also speaking in the seminar organized by the Constitutional
\nCommission were TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, and
\nsecretary-general of the National Resilience Council (Wantannas)
\nBudi Santoso.<\/p>\n
Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar was also invited but did not
\nattend. He was represented by Police Staff College (PTIK)
\nGovernor Insp. Gen. Farouk Muhammad.<\/p>\n
In his keynote speech, the People's Consultative Assembly
\nSpeaker Amien Rais said that the Constitution must stipulate the
\nseparation between the military and the police.<\/p>\n
\"The Constitution must ensure that the military and the police
\nare subordinate to the civilian government,\" Amien said.<\/p>\n
Salim emphasized that placing the military and police under
\nthe president was not in line with reform ideals.<\/p>\n
Gen. Endriartono, meanwhile, acknowledged that activities of
\nthe military in defending national unity could be misused to
\ndefend a regime.<\/p>\n
\"Consequently, the policy to defend national or territorial
\nintegrity often contradicts efforts to protect citizens,\" he said
\nwithout elaborating.<\/p>\n
Endriartono added that the separation of the military and the
\npolice as set out in Article 30 of the amended Constitution had
\ncaused new problems.<\/p>\n
He also suggested that the government set up a new state
\nagency to help the incumbent president in handling national
\nsecurity affairs.<\/p>\n
The seminar organized by the Constitutional Commission was
\npart of the commission's programs in synchronizing constitutional
\namendments, which analysts have said reflect short-term political
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
The commission is expected to have reported its final work to
\nthe Assembly on May 6, however it had finished only six articles
\nthree weeks ahead of the deadline.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/civilian-govt-should-oversee-tni-police-analyst-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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