Military urged to relinquish political role
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Military (TNI), which celebrated its 54th anniversary on Tuesday, is facing mounting demands to return to its main task of defense and security and speed up internal reform to repair its badly tarnished image.
Nurcholish Madjid, a Muslim intellectual, urged the military to gradually phase out its role in politics and focus its attention on developing it as a more professional, credible and modern defense force.
"The military should use the reform era as a momentum to reform itself and concentrate on its main function," Nurcholish commented after attending the anniversary ceremony at TNI Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Tuesday.
He said he was glad to notice that the military was repositioning itself and had started withdrawing from politics.
The ceremony, attended by high-ranking military officers, ministers and foreign diplomats, was led by President B.J. Habibie.
Separately, thousands of students and human rights activists took to the streets in several major cities on Tuesday demanding the abolishment of TNI's role in politics.
Nurcholish said the military's gradual retreat from the national political stage would create a more conducive environment for the growth of a true democracy and a civil society in the future.
"Obviously, retired servicemen should be allowed to hold nonmilitary positions," he added.
Amien Rais, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) chairman, concurred that by getting rid of politics, TNI would be better able to enhance its professionalism and maintain its neutrality as well.
"TNI's badly damaged image has a lot to do with the poor implementation of its dual function and partiality to a certain political party and the ruler in the past," he said.
Amien appreciated the military's neutrality in the June general election and suggested it take the same stance in the presidential election on Oct. 20.
Habibie stressed the important role of the military in maintaining stability and security, which is required for overall development.
"It is now urgent for TNI to remove any doubts (from all sides) about its commitment to the nation and its determination to function as a professional, effective, efficient and modern defense force," Habibie said.
He called on TNI to reposition itself and readjust its role.
The President said TNI's neutrality in the June general election showed that the military, with its new paradigm, made a fundamental change in a short time.
Habibie warned that the nation's unity was now at stake and the reform era had given rise to differences leading to acts of violence.
"TNI is facing a dilemma since it is demanded to comply with human rights in carrying out its defense and security tasks under a severe lack of modern hardware and limited human resources," Habibie said.
Habibie regretted that differences in opinions often led to conflicts and violence which were contradictory to a democratic civil society.
"Therefore, I ask the military to prevent conflicts and violence. We are confident that violence will never solve problems but, on the contrary, will create new problems," he added.
Salim Said, a military analyst, called on the military to correct all the mistakes it did in the past, suggesting that in the future TNI should be under civilian rule in accordance with the 1945 Constitution.
"The military should be under civilian rule," Salim said, citing Article 10 of the Constitution which stipulates that the President is the supreme commander of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
United States Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, who visited Jakarta last week, also urged TNI to return to its main function in defense and security and to position itself under civilian rule. (rms/33/prb)