'Dwifungsi' seen blocking role of civilian politicians

The Armed Forces (ABRI) marks its 53rd anniversary on Monday amidst growing public demands for it to end, or curtail its sociopolitical role. As part of this year's anniversary, the military organized a seminar to discuss the appropriate role it should play into the next century, and invited both critics and defenders of ABRI's Dwifungsi (dual function) concept to give their views. In these three articles, Lela E. Madjiah of the Jakarta Post presents her report on the polemics and the historical background of the Dwifungsi.

BANDUNG (JP): After "Down with Soeharto!", "Reform or death!" and similar battle-cries for change, many Indonesians are now shouting "Enough with Dwifungsi!" "ABRI, return to barracks!" "ABRI, stay out of politics!"

These slogans are being shouted with such fervor that the military leadership has wasted no time in addressing the issue by organizing a three-day seminar on ABRI's role in the 21st century.

The seminar at ABRI's Joint Staff and Command College became a lively "theater of war" for opponents and proponents of Dwifungsi, each offering their lines of argument that were equally justifiable, depending on where one stood. It is also interesting to note that the seminar, aimed at generating inputs to redefine, reposition and reactualize ABRI's role in the next century, dealt more with ABRI's sociopolitical role, or Dwifungsi. Nearly all speakers and participants raised the issue about whether Dwifungsi should remain, pushing ABRI's defense and security role to the sidelines. This is understandable, for it is ABRI's sociopolitical role that is under public scrutiny, with many demanding its end, although there were also those who defended its existence.

Some of the strongest opposition to Dwifungsi came from Y.B. Mangunwidjaja, who said Dwifungsi as preached by the New Order government should be abandoned.

"Dwifungsi is the New Order's version of Japanese fascism, that was why I never approved of the New Order from the very beginning," Mangunwidjaja, affectionately called Romo Mangun, told The Jakarta Post in an interview at the seminar. Romo Mangun, who attended the seminar as a participant, submitted a paper explaining his opposition to Dwifungsi.

According to Romo Mangun, to understand the New Order, one needs to have an insight into the history of Japan. "Both Soeharto and Nasution were proponents of the values of the Japanese samurai."

Gen. (ret.) A.H. Nasution was the initiator of ABRI's sociopolitical role, who suggested that the army was not just a civilian tool like in Western countries, nor a military regime which dominated state power. Rather, the army saw itself as one of the many forces in society, the force for the struggle of the people which worked together with other forces.

Nasution's concept was outlined in his famous Middle Way speech delivered on Nov. 12, 1958, marking the beginning of Dwifungsi. Then, military officers had already occupied positions that had traditionally been occupied by civilians and Nasution was simply seeking to justify the trend.

Romo Mangun was uncompromising in his demand for complete removal of Dwifungsi, saying civilian supremacy over the military and true democracy could only be achieved if ABRI stayed out of politics and remained above all groups instead of siding with those in power.

"One step towards returning civilian supremacy is the appointment of a civilian to head the ministry of defense and security," said Romo Mangun.

Speaker Riswandha Imawan meanwhile, said the people had never questioned ABRI's defense and security role.

"It is ABRI's sociopolitical role that is being questioned, which, under Soeharto, was performed excessively. ABRI served more than just two functions and had become a multi-functional institution," said Riswandha, who teaches political science at the Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.

He compared ABRI and its multi-functional role, with the U.S. Air Force One.

"The (presidential) aircraft is as highly sophisticated as it is vulnerable to attack," he said, adding that as ABRI insisted on being everywhere, on dealing with every problem, it had become weak.

Riswandha said the problem was due to a serious distortion of the doctrine. "Dwifungsi was placed alongside the 1945 Constitution and the Pancasila state ideology and has therefore become a sacred concept that cannot be changed unless God Himself wills it so," said Riswandha.

Meanwhile, Riswandha said eliminating Dwifungsi would not solve Indonesia's political problems and warned that demands that ABRI completely abandon its sociopolitical role might endanger national unity.

"A more moderate demand is for ABRI to minimize its sociopolitical role while optimizing its defense and security role," he argued.

"ABRI should serve as protector of efforts to empower the people and to encourage the people to express their aspirations. This can be done through the demilitarization of the civilian bureaucracy by dissolving such institutions as the directorate general of sociopolitical affairs at the Ministry of Home Affairs. In the future, all members of the Parliament will be elected through general elections and ABRI will only be represented at the People's Consultative Assembly, not at the People's Representative Body (Parliament)," he said.

Challenges

Bilveer Singh, a professor at the Department of Political Science, at the National University of Singapore, said Dwifungsi remained relevant in the new post-Cold War setting amidst rapid political and economic development in Indonesia.

"ABRI has always viewed itself as having originated from the people and hence, it has a responsibility and commitment to them. Due to this, it also claimed that it had as much right to determine the course of society as other forces," said Prof. Singh.

According to Singh, there is a series of contributory factors which have given ABRI a sense of entitlement as far as its sociopolitical role is concerned, including, the fact that as freedom fighters, they played a critical role in bringing about the country's independence.

"There is also the perception that it has been ABRI, through its sociopolitical role, which has guided the country's political direction thus far and that this should continue, especially as guardians of the country's ideology, Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution" he added.

An important factor that contributed to ABRI's dominant role in the country's sociopolitical life was the weaknesses and failures of civilian politicians and their political parties to provide leadership in tackling the main challenges facing the country, even when the country was on the brink of dismemberment or where civilian politics almost dismembered the country, said Singh.

However, Singh stressed that ABRI needed to brace itself for a number of challenges that would determine the fate of its sociopolitical role in the future. He called for a purification of the meaning and implementation of Dwifungsi, with ABRI being involved only in the MPR and DPR and not in day to day politics. ABRI should also distance itself from the Functional Group (Golkar) and reduce its non-military role.

"The need for ABRI to reduce its role is all the more important in the face of rising civilian political talents and organizations which are in a better position to shoulder responsibilities of national politics, especially in the era of globalization, where 'civilians in power' and democratization rather than military-domination is the accepted norm and rule," said Singh.

Portugal

Speaker R. Eep Saepulloh Fatah pointed out that after Soeharto's resignation, ABRI has emerged as the only real political power.

"In spite of a barrage of ABRI flaying due to its past mistakes that stemmed from its security approach, ABRI remains a solid institution that holds an important bargaining position amidst current instability and uncertainty," said Saepulloh.

Given its strong position, Saepulloh urged ABRI to remain committed to democratization efforts by adopting the model offered by the military in Portugal.

"Following the 1974 coup, the Portuguese military emerged as an agent of change that was tolerant towards efforts to reformulate state power and reinstitutionalize the state that in the end sidelined the role and position of the military. At the same time, the military was successful in consolidating itself amidst the wave of changes that enjoyed its support; the military was relatively successful in managing its internal transition," said Saepulloh.

Within the spirit of reform and democratization, ABRI was expected to allow and support the current "transplacement" process, thus enabling all external and internal pro-democracy forces to work together for change, he said.

"ABRI should therefore abandon its Dwifungsi doctrine and concentrate on improving its professionalism as pro-democracy state apparatus, not a government tool," said Saepulloh.

Readiness

Despite his opposition to ABRI's Dwifungsi, Romo Mangun voiced concern over the civilians' readiness to change.

"While ABRI is already starting to reform itself, civilians are still busy fighting for power and influence. This is worrying me, for how can there be civilian supremacy over the armed forces as dictated by the principles of a democratic and just state when civilians are still having problems becoming a real force and in doing their best for the country and people?" he asked.

Romo Mangun said the mushrooming of political parties, whose number has reached around 90, was an indication that civilians were not yet prepared for reform. There were also groups with vested-interests and individuals or groups that strongly reflected the issues of SARA, the Indonesian acronym for ethnicity, religion, race and inter-grouping.

He blamed the civilians' unpreparedness on the New Order government, which had for the past 32 years created a floating mass, banned people from talking or being involved in politics, except during the brief election campaign period every five years.

"It is up to the people, the younger generation in particular, to take up the challenge and to keep up with ABRI," said Romo Mangun.

In the meantime, Romo Mangun called on ABRI to remain sincere in its pledge to remain the people's army, to support efforts for democratization and to empower the people, creating civilian supremacy over the military.

"This is a period of transition, and when the time comes, ABRI should step aside. We should not repeat the mistake of the New Order government, which prevented civilians from becoming good politicians or capable leaders, thus justifying the military's supremacy over civilians," he said.