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.