Place TNI under Ministry: Experts<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Analysts have told a House Commission deliberating a new bill on
\nthe Indonesian Military (TNI) to place the Indonesian Military
\n(TNI) under the control of the Ministry of Defense in order to
\navoid overlapping in policy-making.<\/p>\n
Currently, the TNI is directly subordinate to the president,
\nwith the TNI chief treated as being akin to a Cabinet minister,
\nand therefore entitled to attend Cabinet meetings and meetings
\nheld by the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political and
\nSecurity Affairs.<\/p>\n
According to the analysts, this arrangement had created
\noverlapping in policy-making between TNI headquarters and the
\nMinistry of Defense.<\/p>\n
The drafting of the TNI bill provided an obvious example if
\nthis. The Ministry of Defense had previously prepared a TNI bill
\nand submitted it to the state secretary. Apparently not
\nsatisfied, TNI headquarters went ahead and drafted its own bill.<\/p>\n
\"As long as the TNI is not made subordinate to the Ministry of
\nDefense, there will always be overlapping in the policy-making
\nprocess as regards military issues. This impinges on the TNI's
\nprofessionalism,\" Ikrar Nusa Bakti of the Indonesian Institute of
\nSciences (LIPI) told the House of Representatives' Commission I
\non Monday, the first day of hearings on the controversial new TNI
\nbill.<\/p>\n
Also attending the meeting were Indria Samego of the
\nIndonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Kusnanto Anggoro and J.
\nKristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies
\n(CSIS), and Yahya Muhaimin from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in
\nYogyakarta.<\/p>\n
The bill, which has aroused widespread opposition from the
\npublic, maintains the military's territorial role, which former
\nstrongman Soeharto used to keep a lid on political life.<\/p>\n
It also allows serving military personnel to accept civilian
\nposts without having to resign from the forces, a common
\nphenomena during Soeharto's 32 years of authoritarian rule.<\/p>\n
The House has pledged to endorse the bill by the end of
\nSeptember.<\/p>\n
Kusnanto, meanwhile, said that the bill should clearly state
\nthat the TNI is a defense instrument that must submit to civilian
\nauthority.<\/p>\n
\"The TNI bill still has fundamental problems in its overall
\nconception. It needs more discussion as it is hard to see how it
\nwill be capable of promoting professionalism among TNI
\npersonnel,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indria, meanwhile, proposed that the position of TNI chief be
\nscrapped and that the president be given the power to appoint a
\nJoint Chief of Staff in time of war only.<\/p>\n
\"The abolition of the post of TNI chief would encourage the
\nArmy, Navy, and Air Force to develop as professional forces,\"
\nIndria said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Kristiadi criticized the bill for ignoring the
\nwelfare of soldiers as it contained not a single article about
\nsoldiers' pay and housing.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/place-tni-under-ministry-experts-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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