Legislators bog TNI reform: Ikrar

Legislators bog TNI reform: Ikrar

President Megawati Soekarnoputri, whose rise enjoyed the
support of, among others, the Indonesian Military (TNI), gave a
special message on the military's 56th anniversary on Oct. 5,
urging it to abandon its social and political role and focus only
on its professional role as the country's instrument of defense.

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a researcher at the National Institute of
Sciences' (LIPI) Center for Political Studies, also a member of
the Ministry of Defense's Working Group for the Drafting of the
Defense Law, talked to The Jakarta Post contributor Rikza
Abdullah about the issue:

Question: Is there anything new in Megawati's call for the
military to quit its political role, whereas the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR), through its Decree No. 7/2000, has
instructed the TNI to leave the House of Representatives (DPR) in
2004 and the MPR in 2009?

Answer: There is nothing new because the TNI, since June 1998,
has formulated 14 steps for it to end its social and political
role. But Megawati apparently wants to reassure that she will not
personally use the military's support to sustain her power
because there have been rumors saying that the TNI, after the
fall of Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid) from the presidency in
August, would have a major role in political practices under the
leadership of Megawati.

The head of state also wants the TNI to implement its plan to
leave its political role consistently, so that it can carry out
its main tasks of defending the country's sovereignty,
safeguarding its territorial integration and protecting the
security of its people.

But Megawati's call for the TNI to abandon its political role
should be supported by other politicians. Indonesian politicians
apparently still need the military's support for their political
interests. If we want to uphold civilian supremacy, civilian
politicians should not intervene too much into the internal
affairs of the military.

Has the TNI really taken concrete steps to withdraw from
political practices?

At the end of this month, the Army's command school in
Bandung, in cooperation with LIPI, will hold a workshop to
discuss the possible changes of the TNI's doctrines and
organizational structures (including the much criticized
territorial commands overlapping with local administration and
police).

Such changes cannot be made by the TNI alone because they must
be made in line with existing laws and regulations.

How about the organizational relationship between the military
and the government?

That also needs revision. The fact that the appointment of an
TNI chief, by MPR decree, should be made by the President with
approval from the DPR has given the impression that the military
chief has a stronger position than the minister of defense, whose
appointed is made by the President with no House approval needed.
A revision is necessary to clarify whether the military chief
should be directly responsible to the minister of defense or to
the President.

Are our laws and regulations adequate to support the planned
withdrawal of the military from politics?

They are still far from adequate. We are still formulating and
deliberating a new law on defense, and when it is passed into law
it will then need a dozen more rulings.

Can the drafting of the law and the other rulings be completed
by 2004, when the military is scheduled to leave the DPR?

I'm pessimistic because the Constitution amendment,
particularly the chapter related to military affairs, by the MPR
is very slow. The MPR would have been able to expedite the
amendment if it had allowed the appointment of a special
committee on constitution, which could have provided alternatives
on the formulation of amendments.

Furthermore, our DPR members have very low competence, not
only in formulating a law but also in understanding the draft
already prepared by the government. Even worse, their attendance
at meetings on the defense law is so low that meetings frequently
cannot even meet a quorum ...

How can we expect to have quality laws if our MPR and DPR
members are of that low competence?

That is the consequence of the absence of schooling for
legislative candidates. It's very costly to let the MPR members
amend the Constitution themselves.

If the TNI quits its political role, it will have to improve
its professionalism, which will be very expensive. Will the
public, through the state budget, support its financing?

The public must understand that improving the professionalism
of the TNI will require a lot of money and the government must
have the political will to allocate more funds for military
spending. Military spending is too small because about 60 percent
of the funds allocated by the government annually has to cover
the salaries of TNI personnel. As a result, the military needs to
generate more funds by doing businesses or even by extortion.

What programs should the TNI undertake to improve its
professionalism?

The TNI must make improvements in the methods of its
recruitment of human resources, the quality of its defense system
equipment, the curriculum of its education system and the
financing of its operations.

At the celebration for the commemoration of its 56th
anniversary, the TNI issued a book on the steps of its internal
reform programs and another one on the implementation of its new
paradigms. What is your comment about the books?

They have apparently been issued to show the TNI's commitment
to reform. But the books must have been composed on the basis of
existing laws and regulations. Adjustments will be needed as soon
as the relevant laws are introduced.

Now that the U.S. recent attack against Afghanistan has raised
strong protests by Indonesian demonstrators, will Indonesia's
programs on military reform be affected?

I don't think the U.S. attack on Afghanistan and Indonesians'
protest will affect the bilateral relation between Indonesia and
the United States. The U.S. is also expected to go ahead with its
commitment of assisting Indonesia in its noncombat military
development.