Half-hearted reform in TNI
Half-hearted reform in TNI
From Jurnal Indonesia
The larger part of the community is of the opinion that the Indonesian Military (TNI) has been half-hearted in undertaking its reform, which it kicked off in October 1998. This opinion is based on the fact that the military is yet to be pulled out of the political arena. Many military personnel are still occupying important positions which are actually reserved for civilians. Also, the military doctrine is yet to be significantly changed, particularly when it is concerned with the role of the TNI in the security sector, and the TNI itself is yet to change in terms of organizational structure.
Amid the internal reform drive that the TNI has been undertaking, it is not fair to continue condemning the TNI as a mere tool of the New Order Regime without clearly considering the nation's history starting from Aug. 17, 1945, when Indonesia's independence was proclaimed. On the other hand, the then prevailing assumption that only the military could integrate the nation and that, therefore, the military always had to be in the forefront in all aspects of life was certainly out of place.
In my opinion, in order to restore TNI's image and identity, everyone must know that all over the world the military politics encompasses human resources, the military doctrine, the military organization and the weaponry system.
So if TNI's image and identity are to be restored, these four basic elements must also be transformed. Of these four elements, the weaponry system will be very much dependent on the budget that a country can allocate. One hypothesis states that the bigger the budget is, the more modern the weapons will be.
In the context of the reform drive now being undertaken by the TNI, serious attention must be paid to the elements of human resources, military doctrine and military organization. If these three elements are not reformed, it is only natural for the community to say that the TNI is half-hearted in its new paradigm.
RONALD SIAHAAN
Jakarta