ABRI repositioning itself: Susilo

BANDUNG (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI), in developing a new paradigm for its position in society, will no longer be a tool of the government, according to ABRI Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Speaking in the West Java capital on Wednesday during an Army seminar on ABRI's role in the 21st century, Susilo said the military needed to review its relationship with its supreme commander -- the president -- and the ruling Golkar political grouping.

He acknowledged the relationship between ABRI and its supreme commander had remained clouded because it was not clearly defined in the 1945 Constitution.

"In the future, the structural relationship between ABRI and the supreme commander must be regulated clearly. It should also be clear when a president should function as the head of state, or the head of government, or ABRI supreme commander."

The general said ABRI had also realized that its close relationship with the Golkar and the bureaucracy would no longer be relevant. He said the military, as part of the state, would maintain the same distance with political parties and the bureaucracy.

"I think the most appropriate path ABRI should take is already clear: ABRI will keep an appropriate distance with all political parties."

Asked to comment on the action of several retired generals who recently joined the Megawati Soekarnoputri-led Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), he said they were entitled to make the choice.

"ABRI respects the retired generals' decision to joining the political party, and hopes it will give 'positive values' to the nation."

Susilo said ABRI would not impose itself in either the House of Representatives or the People's Consultative Assembly, saying all matters should be handled in accordance with the law.

"ABRI in principle does not want to be a firefighter (summoned to the scene after a problem flares) and it complies with the existing laws."

He justified the military presence in the MPR, saying it displayed its sense of responsibility for the nation's future as stipulated in the 1982 national defense law.

Its involvement in the House, he added, was aimed at controlling the executive and its implementation of the Guidelines of State Policies (GBHN) devised by the MPR.

Meanwhile, military observer Salim Said called on ABRI to return to its initial role as purely an armed forces (TNI) entity which excluded the police force.

Salim said ABRI could use its upcoming Oct. 5 anniversary as the momentum to declare its return to its initial mission as the nation's "war force".

Gen. (ret) Awaloedin Djamin, former chief of the National Police, concurred, saying the separation should be made as soon as possible.

"We are waiting for ABRI's commitment to announce the separation; its implementation can follow later on," he said.

Salim and Awaloedin said the position of ABRI as a "war force" was regulated in the Constitution while that of the National Police was defined in Law No 28, issued last year.

"Both will have their own anniversary," Said said.

But Susilo claimed it was not necessary to hastily separate the two forces. He said it was more important that ABRI was responsive to the idea.

"This seminar is an academic forum in which no decisions can be made. In-depth studies are still needed," he said. (43/rms)