Indonesian military strides forward again in politics

Irman G. Lanti The Straits Times Asia News Network Singapore

As the general elections approach in Indonesia, political parties are busy fielding candidates deemed to be attractive to the public. Among the most popular are retired officers from the Indonesian military, the Tentara Negara Indonesia (TNI).

That popularity stems from the fact that, despite six years of Reformasi, there is still hardly any economic progress, corruption remains rampant, and civilian politicians are constantly bickering.

Indonesians are tired, and among many, there is an increasing longing and nostalgia for the stability and prosperity of the old order -- the so-called New Order under then president Soeharto.

TNI generals are today's emblem of that old order.

Realizing the sway in the public mood, political parties compete in courting them.

From the perspective of the TNI officers, involvement in politics would be nothing new, even if the setting is now completely different.

In the years immediately following independence in 1945, the military was engaged in years of contention with civilian politicians for supremacy. Only when Gen. Soeharto came to power in the mid-1960s and introduced the doctrine of dwifungsi did the military rise to the pre-eminence it held for 30 years.

That doctrine, which means "dual function", gave the TNI a seat at the right hand of the president in virtually all facets of national economic and political life.

Then came the ousting of Soeharto in 1998, and an end to the TNI's direct involvement in politics.

But while the TNI has adapted to the new environment, it has not hidden its disappointment with the lack of progress in Indonesia thus far.

Two things are of particular concern to it:

First is the possibility of Indonesia breaking up. Separatist movements in Aceh and Papua aside, ethnic and religious conflicts in many parts of the archipelago endanger the fragile balance of the plural nation.

The other worry is the old contention between Islam and Pancasila (the state ideology). As a nationalist organization, the TNI is deeply concerned by this divisive issue.

It is important to note that the TNI is one of the most modern organizations in the country. And it is capable of learning and adapting to new situations.

Realizing that reassertion of control through the use of force would not only be too costly but also quite unacceptable in the globalised world, the TNI seems to have been aware that it should be able to play within the new rules of the game.

It is from this perspective that the phenomenon of retired TNI officers' involvement in civilian politics can be understood.

One of the unique characteristics of the TNI lies in the loyalty of its officer corps to the oath, known as the Sapta Marga. The loyalty to the cause is deemed to be life-long. So for TNI officers, retirement from active service does not mean a cessation of belief in the sanctity of a unitary, plural Indonesia.

So, even though the official party line of the current TNI leadership sounds like a hands-off approach towards the political activities of its retired members, saying that it is due to their own personal volition, the effect of such activities might be much more pronounced.

Furthermore, the fact that the retired officers have become involved in all of the major and high-profile parties, regardless of their different ideologies and political outlooks, might indicate a strategy to gain access to the political process from all possible corners.

If this assertion is true, then the involvement of retired officers in politics might have a positive impact.

Indonesian politics since Reformasi has been highly divisive. Like in the 1950s, political parties are divided along aliran (roughly translated as "streams of political thinking") lines. Differences can at times seem unbridgeable.

Retired TNI officers joining these parties could attempt to influence their platforms so as to moderate positions and eventually facilitate bargaining. In a way, Indonesian politics could be de-aliranised.

But, on the other hand, the TNI is not a perfect organization. There are ideological divisions within, as there always have been.

The most significant was during the final decade of the New Order, when the TNI was divided between the so-called "green" and "red-white" factions.

The former referred to officers deemed close to ICMI and other Islamic organizations, and the latter to the nationalist cause.

While not completely erased, that division largely dissipated after Reformasi.

Today's participation of retired TNI officers in partisan politics could therefore also carry the danger of re- aliranisation of the military. These retired officers could try to influence their former colleagues in the active officer corps and thus create divisiveness in the force.

In such a scenario, the involvement of retired officers in politics would not only be adverse for the TNI but also quite dangerous for the whole country.

Only time will tell which of these two scenarios will prevail.

The writer is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies.