A TNI of a different color

A TNI of a different color

From Pelita

It is said that in the past the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), through its military branch, was able to infiltrate the Indonesian Military (TNI). This communist infiltration gave the TNI's path a red color. Similarly, when Golkar dominated the New Order government, TNI was strongly influenced by the yellow color. These changes of color throughout TNI's history indicate, in a way, that TNI belongs to the people. In other words, TNI's color was a reflection of the people's condition.

However, when seen from another angle, the colors depicted a force with an ideological nuance or significance, and were thus primitive in nature. When the people are engaged in conflicts as we are witnessing now, the TNI's color loses popularity, which gives rise to polemics.

During the New Order era, the dominant Golkar's supporters were happy to see high-ranking military officers wearing yellow jackets. On the other hand, those who did not support Golkar were neither happy nor did they feel that they were the owners of TNI. Even worse, they felt the TNI was their enemy.

The question now is what color should TNI adopt? Can it choose its own color and adopt its own political identity? If so, TNI could then be regarded as a neutral force. But when conflicts between the ruling government and the opposition arise, which side does the TNI defend? The situation will become increasingly difficult if TNI's policies differ from those of the conflicting parties. So the involvement of TNI with conflicting parties must be avoided. Only then can we say that TNI belongs to all the people. There is no yellow TNI, no green TNI and no red TNI.

One argument is that TNI's policy is the state's or government's policy. Does this mean that TNI's policy is the policy of the ruling party? If so, is this not a paradox? The answer is "no". Because the rationale is that every nation must have a government. And the government comes into being through a process called a general election. Like it or not, a general election produces a winner and a loser.

All people are ready to see the TNI follow the policies of the winning political party. However, the people do not want to see the TNI play a part in the general election and help one party win or lose the elections, because this would be seen as the TNI taking sides. That the TNI should follow the policy of the ruling party is sensible enough because every government must be backed by a strong military. In this context, TNI members who sit in the People's Consultative Assembly should give their votes to all parties proportionally. Or is it otherwise?

ANDI SURYA

Jakarta