Civilian govt should oversee TNI, Police: Analyst

Civilian govt should oversee TNI, Police: Analyst

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Instead of placing them under the president, the Indonesian
Military (TNI) and the National Police should be put under
separate ministries to avoid being used by the incumbent
president to defend his or her regime, an analyst says.

Military analyst Salim Said told a seminar here on Wednesday
that the military should be put under the defense ministry while
the police under a domestic security ministry which could be set
up later.

"There is also a need to establish a national security council
tasked to give the president input on security issues," he told a
seminar on the role of the military and police in national
security here on Wednesday.

Currently, the National Police are directly responsible to the
president, raising fears that the incumbent president would use
the police force to maintain his or her power.

The TNI, on the other hand, is very much left to its own
devices, with its chief commander enjoying a position equal to a
ministerial post.

Both the TNI and police chiefs attend Cabinet meetings, which
mostly discuss government policy, not defense issues.

Also speaking in the seminar organized by the Constitutional
Commission were TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, and
secretary-general of the National Resilience Council (Wantannas)
Budi Santoso.

Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar was also invited but did not
attend. He was represented by Police Staff College (PTIK)
Governor Insp. Gen. Farouk Muhammad.

In his keynote speech, the People's Consultative Assembly
Speaker Amien Rais said that the Constitution must stipulate the
separation between the military and the police.

"The Constitution must ensure that the military and the police
are subordinate to the civilian government," Amien said.

Salim emphasized that placing the military and police under
the president was not in line with reform ideals.

Gen. Endriartono, meanwhile, acknowledged that activities of
the military in defending national unity could be misused to
defend a regime.

"Consequently, the policy to defend national or territorial
integrity often contradicts efforts to protect citizens," he said
without elaborating.

Endriartono added that the separation of the military and the
police as set out in Article 30 of the amended Constitution had
caused new problems.

He also suggested that the government set up a new state
agency to help the incumbent president in handling national
security affairs.

The seminar organized by the Constitutional Commission was
part of the commission's programs in synchronizing constitutional
amendments, which analysts have said reflect short-term political
interests.

The commission is expected to have reported its final work to
the Assembly on May 6, however it had finished only six articles
three weeks ahead of the deadline.