Command and control

Command and control

The president is the supreme commander of the Indonesian armed
forces. The 1945 Constitution -- both in its amended and original
forms -- clearly stipulates such. Even top military brass would
not argue with the president's official distinction as commander
in chief. But the current degree of actual control the president
has over this most strategic of state institutions is ambiguous.

Past Indonesian leaders, from Sukarno to Megawati
Soekarnoputri, under the prevailing political system of the time,
from parliamentary democracy, authoritarianism to direct
presidential elections, have had to come to terms with the
military in their own way.

Either by prostration or compromise, no president has survived
without the "blessing" of the military. It was not public
opinion, but rather the military that has determined the
political turning points of the nation.

Even during the initial phases of the current era of
democratic resurgence, the military was a defining actor in the
fate of post-Soeharto administrations. Either by conscious
omission or as a sustaining ally, its role was crucial in
terminating and perpetuating at least two administrations.

As the nation attempts to nudge its institutions toward
egalitarian and accountable norms, it has to be said that the
Indonesian Military (TNI) has consistently maintained its
exclusiveness. As other state institutions succumb, in varying
degrees, to demands for reform, the TNI has continued to
jealously guard against external initiatives to transform its
institutionalized habits.

After seven years of reformasi, changes within the TNI have
only begun to scratch the surface. It is true that the TNI has
not prevented the progress of democratic reform. But neither has
it been at the forefront in implementing reform.

Hence, suspicion remains of the TNI's true intentions. This
suspicion also indicates that despite the democratic elections,
there is doubt that the defined commander in chief (the
president) has absolute command and control over the TNI.

The election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono brought about an
intriguing paradox: the nation is now looking to a retired
military general to "impose" important reforms on the TNI.

One question that has yet to be answered in Susilo's 100-plus
days in power is how he perceives and intends to pursue the
relationship with the institution that taught him everything he
knows. Will he seek to make the military a bedfellow, like his
predecessor? Or will he seek to "tame the beast", as Abdurrahman
Wahid unsuccessfully attempted?

One advantage Susilo has over his two predecessors is that
being directly elected, he has more legitimacy and a stronger
mandate than any leader since the first president, Sukarno.

The impending appointment of the new TNI chief is an important
gauge of how Susilo will pursue the relationship with the
institution. While TNI Headquarters will submit a list of
preferred candidates to replace the departing Gen. Endriartono
Sutarto, the President, as the commander in chief, has the right
to appoint whoever he feels comfortable with and sees fit to
serve as TNI chief.

The President should seriously consider returning to the
tradition of rotating the position of TNI chief between the Army,
Navy and Air Force. With the last two TNI chiefs being from the
Navy and the Army, the appointment of a Navy man as TNI chief
would be a logical option. Such a bold decision would help
address imbalances within the military resulting from the Army's
domination of influence, and potentially tip the political
balance in the TNI in the President's favor.

The House of Representatives also has a key role to play in
consenting to the President's choice of TNI chief. It is an
opportunity for the House to show it is a truly independent body.

We have no specific preference as to who should become the
next TNI chief. The four leading candidates, however, have not
shown much enthusiasm for our desired goal of civilian supremacy
and public accountability over the TNI.

Gen. Ryamizard Riyacudu, Lt. Gen. Djoko Santoso, Air Marshall
Djoko Suyanto and Adm. Slamet Soebijanto remain to varying
degrees trapped in the conservative mind-set that persists in
setting the TNI apart from other public institutions because of
its perceived role as the guardian of the state.

We can only suggest that the best candidate is not one whose
chest glitters with medals, but rather a soldier whose loyalty
resides with the elected president and the nation, and not the
institution of the TNI.

The future of our democracy rests in the depth and sincerity
of the social, political and economic reforms we are now
undertaking. The potency of these reforms depends on the degree
to which the TNI is willing to cede to civilian supremacy.