Agus defends military, police involvement in politics
Fitri Wulandari and Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesia Military/National Police faction in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) admitted on Tuesday that the military and police were still involved in politics but defended the move being based on good grounds.
"It's true that the statement by TNI chief Gen. Endriartono on the amendments was part of the TNI's political activities," Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo, deputy chairman of the TNI/Police faction, told Antara after meeting with executives of the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) at the Assembly building.
Agus was responding to questions regarding the military and police's commitment to abandoning politics. Suspicions remain high that the military and police are actually reluctant to withdraw from the country's politics, especially after TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto proposed that the nation return to the original 1945 Constitution if deliberations on the latest round of amendments became deadlocked.
Endriartono made the statement at a press conference on July 30.
Endriartono's statement has triggered fears that the TNI will never really leave the political stage. Such fears were reinforced on Monday when Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung defended the presence of the military and police in the Assembly. Akbar said he wanted the TNI/Police faction to remain in the MPR until 2009, instead of 2004 as was earlier agreed.
Agus, a former territorial affairs assistant to the TNI chief, maintained that Endriartono's statement was a natural consequence of the military and police's presence in the MPR.
However, Agus claimed that the military and police had no intention whatsoever of becoming involved in day-to-day politics.
Agus contradicted an earlier statement by faction chairman Maj. Gen. Slamet Supriyadi, who said on Monday that the military and police were prepared to abandon politics.
"We have wholeheartedly decided to leave the Assembly. We ask for your support and blessing in doing so," Slamet said on Monday.
Slamet on Tuesday urged a review of MPR Decree No. VII, which stipulates that the TNI's seats will be available until 2009.
According to Agus, the military and police presence in the House of Representatives and the MPR was part of the democratic process and the result of a political consensus at the time when it was instituted.
"Basically, we never intended to engage in day-to-day politics, but it happened due to the political situation that gave a place for the TNI (in the House and Assembly)," he said.
Agus' acknowledgement of the military's current political activities has also lent credence to suspicions that the TNI/Police faction was involved in the move to block the amendment of several crucial articles of the Constitution, particularly regarding direct presidential elections and the continued existence of the TNI/Police faction.
The TNI's stance on the fourth phase of the constitutional amendment process as revealed by Endriartono's statement also accords with the conservative stance of quite a large number of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle faction members who are adamantly against the process.
If the fourth batch of amendments is endorsed, the TNI/Police must vacate its 38 assigned seats in the Assembly in 2004.
The TNI's role on the political stage has a long history. On Oct. 17, 1952, the Army intervened in national politics and demanded that President Sukarno dissolve the provisional assembly.
On July 5, 1959, then Army chief Gen. A.H. Nasution forced President Sukarno to issue a decree reinstating the 1945 Constitution.
The decree nullified all the constitutional amendments effected by a constituent assembly. In fact, the assembly was the result of the country's first democratic election of 1955.
General Nasution then formulated the TNI's political role, which later became known as the TNI's Dual Function (Dwifungsi). The dual function was maintained and became even more firmly entrenched during the new order regime of President Soeharto.
In 1999, the MPR reduced the TNI's representation in the Assembly from 155 seats to 38 seats, but maintained its 75 seats in the House.
Many people also believe that the TNI's political interests are being taken care of by retired officers who have joined the civilian political parties.