TNI and political parties<\/p>\n
Lately the Indonesian Military (TNI) has come under the
\nspotlight again, with articles appearing in several dailies about
\nits role. Most comments have been negative, some positive and
\nothers neutral. The many articles about TNI indicate that TNI is
\nstill considered important and a force to be reckoned with.<\/p>\n
The TNI could become a strong ally or a powerful enemy of
\npolitical organizations. Civilians don't know what to do with
\nTNI. What they know is that TNI must not enter the political
\narena again, because that would take away or minimize their
\nchances of dominating the political arena.<\/p>\n
An American professor, Lev, clearly warned Indonesians not to
\nlet the TNI play politics again, because it has guns. What a
\nstrange way of thinking!<\/p>\n
Media Indonesia of Nov. 15, 2000 published an article from the
\nInstitute of National Sciences (LIPI), which has conducted
\nresearch on the relation between TNI and political parties.
\nSurprisingly the conclusion was that many political parties want
\nto be close to TNI. So far the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan) has the closest relation with TNI. It
\ncould be noted that PDI Perjuangan has the biggest number of
\nretired generals as members.<\/p>\n
The parties most critical of TNI, according to LIPI, are
\nmembers of the \"axis force\", consisting mostly of Islamic
\nparties. This is easy to understand because during the New Order
\nera they suffered most from government policy.<\/p>\n
The TNI has admitted it made mistakes, but it is unfair to
\nblame all the mistakes and violations on TNI. There is a saying
\nof \"The man behind the gun\". The TNI is only a gun and the man
\nbehind the gun is of course the past government, or the New
\nOrder.<\/p>\n
The New Order era is now over and the reform era has stepped
\nin, and with it new visions and concepts have taken over the
\npolitical, economic and legal fields. So there is a new man
\nbehind the gun and the gun can only do what the new man wants the
\ngun to do.<\/p>\n
But one thing puzzles me concerning the attitude of civilians.
\nTNI has withdrawn from the political arena. When civilians had
\nthe chance to get rid of TNI, strategic positions in the new
\nCabinet were filled with military people, e.g. the minister of
\nhome affairs, minister of transportation and telecommunications
\nand minister of industry and trade. For me this is nothing but a
\nconfession of the weakness on the part of the civilians.<\/p>\n
I sincerely hope that one day the political leaders will stop
\nthinking of their own parties' benefit, and start to think of the
\nfate of our nation as a whole. There is no need to be suspicious
\nof TNI, because TNI, in its dedication to the country and nation,
\nwill only do what is best for the nation.<\/p>\n
SOEGIH ARTO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tni-and-political-parties-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }