TNI to continue focusing on internal security<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In contrast to the defense concept earlier outlined in a
\ndecree of the People's Consultative Assembly on defense, the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) will likely stick to its previous
\npolicy of maintaining internal security instead of focusing on
\ndefending the country from possible external threats.<\/p>\n
And as a consequence, the TNI is expecting the government to
\nincrease the defense budget by about 10 percent in 2003 on the
\ngrounds that maintaining domestic security requires high-
\ncapabilities on the part of the military, as well as the National
\nPolice\", an official said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Director General of Defense Strategy at the Ministry of
\nDefense, Maj. Gen. Sudrajat, said TNI headquarters was of the
\nopinion that in the near future Indonesia would not face any
\nexternal security threats from foreign countries, while at home,
\n\"it faces serious domestic threats, including terrorism, illegal
\nmigrants and piracy.\"<\/p>\n
Should the government, along with the House of
\nRepresentatives, approve the proposal, the TNI will get a defense
\nbudget of over Rp 10 trillion (US$1.1 billion) next year,
\ncompared to Rp 9.4 trillion this year.<\/p>\n
Following the separation of the TNI and the National Police in
\n2000, the Assembly issued Decree No. VII\/2000, mandating the TNI
\nto act as a defense force and assigning domestic security
\nresponsibilities to the police.<\/p>\n
Many have claimed that the military, particularly the Army,
\nwould only abuse its power, as happened under the New Order
\nregime, should they be put in charge of civilian issues.<\/p>\n
Sudrajat, however, asked the public not to be afraid that the
\nincrease in the budget -- which would actually be used to
\npurchase military hardware -- would pave the way for other human
\nrights violations, saying that \"the situation is different now
\nwith the public being capable of controlling the TNI and
\ndemanding more transparency.\"<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia has the lowest defense budget among the Southeast
\nAsian states, where each country pays an average of two percent
\nof its GDP for defense. The TNI only gets some one percent of
\nGDP,\" Sudrajat told The Jakarta Post by phone.<\/p>\n
The government has come under fire for its decision to raise
\nthe defense budget by 18 percent this year from Rp 7.4 trillion
\nin 2001.<\/p>\n
At the time, legislators said that Indonesia did not need
\npowerful armed forces due to sustained peace in Southeast Asia.
\nThey also asked the government to double the budget for security
\nand the police, and to make the police more professional in
\ncarrying out their duties.<\/p>\n
The government, however, only allocated some Rp 5 trillion to
\nthe security budget in 2002.<\/p>\n
Sudrajat revealed that the government had turned its eyes to
\nother countries -- China, Russia and the Eastern European
\ncountries -- as suppliers for its weaponry and military
\nequipment, considering that the TNI had gotten itself into
\ntrouble by relying on one country, the United States, along with
\nits allies, for military supplies.<\/p>\n
\"Once the political ties became disrupted, then we experienced
\nproblems with all of our military hardware,\" Sudrajat said,
\nreferring to the military embargo imposed in 1999 by the U.S
\nCongress following the post-ballot gross human rights violations
\nin East Timor, which were blamed on the TNI.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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