A graceful exit

A graceful exit

The Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police will
formally bow out of legislative politics beginning in 2004. This
crucial commitment was made on very discreet terms during the
Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which
ended on Sunday. So discreet and subtle was the move that it
escaped the attention of most people, even the media, who were
more concerned about the overall constitutional amendment
process.

It was not until the facts were spelled out by MPR Speaker
Amien Rais when he closed the session that news of the military's
departure from legislative politics really began to sink in. Even
so, many people remain skeptical about whether this is really
going to happen.

Prior to this development, the consensus based on a 1999
decree was that the TNI and the National Police would forfeit
their seats in the House of Representatives by 2004, but would
retain their nonelected seats in the MPR until at least 2009.
None of the MPR political factions, at least until Sunday, had
ever mentioned anything about moving forward by five years the
schedule of the military's departure.

Can it really be true that the military, which has been part
and parcel of the ruling regime and which has enjoyed
proportionally larger than deserved political representation for
more than four decades, will leave the political arena just like
that? This seems totally out of character for the TNI, which
still has tremendous political clout, to give up its political
privileges without putting up much of a fight.

Admittedly, the military's departure from the nation's formal
political structures was more a consequence of the amendment of
the 1945 Constitution instituted by the MPR last week, rather
than a conscious effort to push the armed forces out of politics.
This probably explains the little publicity and fuss surrounding
the issue. Earlier, there had been plans to insert a transitional
clause in the 1945 Constitution which would accommodate the TNI's
presence in the MPR until 2009. But this was quietly dropped.

The spirit of the constitutional amendment process was that
beginning in 2004 all political representatives must be elected,
whether they sit in the House of Representatives, the lower-level
regional legislative councils or the newly established Regional
Representatives Council. After the 2004 elections, there will be
no more automatic seats allocated to nonelected representatives.
This rule affects the TNI/National Police, as well as the
interest groups that has a faction of their own in the MPR.

But while the interest groups put up a big fight to stay on in
the MPR, the TNI/National Police faction did not so much as lift
a finger as the MPR discussed amending this part of the
Constitution.

One can only speculate about the way in which the TNI is
bowing out of politics. Perhaps, it would have been a futile
exercise for the TNI to have put up a fight when it was clear
that the majority opinion was for the military to end its
political privileges. Perhaps, this was a sign of the genuine
desire on the part of the TNI to reform itself.

Whatever the real reason behind the TNI's planned departure,
if the military really leaves the political arena in 2004 it will
truly be a graceful exit, because the military will have acted in
the best interests of the nation.

But even if TNI is no longer represented in the formal
political structures, we should not completely rule it out of
politics. TNI still is and will continue to be the most
disciplined and organized political entity in the country for
many years to come. And the TNI is bound to use this clout in
securing its interests.

The coming years will show whether the TNI really can forsake
its own narrow political interests and subordinate itself to
civilian rule. We know for certain that politically, our good old
TNI never dies, but let's hope that it does fade away.

Even if it is not represented in the legislature, the TNI will
still be able to exert its influence over the MPR, probably even
more effectively than when it was part of the body. Even after
its departure in 2004, it will be some time before the TNI fully
recognizes or accepts civilian supremacy and civilian rule. In
short, it will take time and much more effort before we see TNI
become a fully non-politicized professional force.

The government, including the MPR, can and must help in making
both the TNI and the National Police more professional.

We must allocate a decent budget for our defense forces,
certainly a larger sum than we are providing them today. That,
however, will require an equally great effort on the part of the
TNI and the National Police to end their reliance on nonstate
funds that are not subject to proper auditing; particularly funds
from military-controlled businesses and foundations.

It is still some two years before the military and police
formally quit the political arena. But we would be giving them
both a proper send-off in 2004 if we can ensure that our TNI and
National Police are accorded respectable budgets by then.