Military's latest move a bid to fool the clock?

Military's latest move a bid to fool the clock?

Imanuddin Razak, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta,
iman@thejakartapost.com

Army chief of staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu fired a lethal shot
on Feb. 20 when he addressed a media conference, suggesting that
the military's security role be reinstated due to the threats of
separatism and other security disturbances in the country.

His statement came as a surprise, as the issue involved the
national military (TNI), but was stated by the chief of the Army,
only one of the three forces that constitute TNI.

The statement also contradicted a 2000 decree issued by the
People's Consultative Assembly, the country's highest legislative
body, which limits the military to a merely defensive role.

While the public had yet to recover from the first shock, the
press got hold of the draft military bill, which included clauses
that would give the Army a leading role in the military and the
military chief authority to deploy military personnel in an
emergency without the president's approval.

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a member of the joint team preparing the
draft and a researcher at the National Institute of Sciences
(LIPI), warned against a powerful Army and a possible abuse of
power by a TNI commander if the controversial issues were not
reviewed by the House of Representatives.

The first chapter of the bill stipulates that the current
military doctrine and operational strategy be based on its
territorial function, which the TNI had abused to keep its grip
on politics during the 32-year regime of the New Order.

Just last year on Aug. 11 the Assembly's annual session closed
with an "outstanding and historic" recommendation that the
military and the police quit their "granted" seats in the
legislature beginning 2004. Servicemen who enjoyed allocated
seats in the legislature without contesting in the elections for
the last three decades, will be granted suffrage and will be
required to leave the service should they choose to enter the
political arena.

Should the House endorse the proposed chapter on the Army's
role, the results of last year's annual Assembly session will
become meaningless, as the revival of TNI's territorial function
might also lead to the revival of its presence in both the House
and the Assembly.

Although it has not yet become the unified stance of TNI,
there has been growing concerns at its headquarters in Cilangkap
of the need to reinstate its seats in both the House and the
Assembly. This is because, politically, the TNI would need such
seats as a legal entry point to become involved, and even play a
significant role, in the decision making-processes at the
legislative bodies.

TNI's fight to win back the above seats is interesting in the
context of next year's general elections.

Although the next elections will still apply the proportional
system, in which voters will vote for political parties and not
for individuals as in the district system, the fact that several
retired military officers have been tipped as potential
candidates by some political parties for the 2004 elections, has
provided many voting options to the public.

Retired generals like former TNI chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto,
former commandant-general of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus)
Gen. (ret) Agum Gumelar, and incumbent Coordinating Minister for
Political Affairs and Security Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono are among the candidates proposed by several political
parties, including the second largest Golkar Party.

The nomination of candidates with military backgrounds was
likely a response to expressions from some people of a wish to
return to the "better times" experienced under the "repressive"
regime of Soeharto, also a retired general.

The failure of Soeharto's three civilian successors including
the incumbent president Megawati Soekarnoputri to comply with the
reform agenda, including the eradication of corruption, has added
color to the situation, and may even narrow down the available
menu of potential candidates.

The argument for establishing a constitutional basis to arm
TNI with the authority to unilaterally mobilize troops in a state
of emergency, has some grounds according to the military
perspective -- the country is perceived to face not only the
internal threat of separatism, but also external threats to its
security.

Some top military officers have argued that TNI had always
faced a difficult position each time it has had to deal with any
security threats. Ever since human rights became more of an issue
here, they have said troops have become haunted by the
requirement that human rights should be a consideration in any
actions undertaken.

Televised scenes of generals facing court trials over alleged
rights abuses may have incited more doubts among troops of how
they should act. The officers cite such an excuse as one reason
for their sluggishness in responding to security threats.

The proposed controversial chapter in the military bill was
also likely inspired by the move by U.S. President George W.
Bush, who proposed a strategy to protect America from terrorism
last year. This strategy included a proposal for a greater role
of the U.S. military in domestic security, following the Sept.
11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York, and its ensuing
global campaign against terrorism.

While TNI has formally declared its commitment to reform,
meaning that they would now adopt a non-political role, there is
also an unwritten but widely accepted agreement among military
elements that it would do all it could to maintain the unitary
state of the Republic of Indonesia. It has been internally
accepted that TNI could take the initiative in measures necessary
to prevent the country from disintegrating.

This was probably the reason why Ikrar signaled that such an
overriding authority of the TNI chief to be able to make a
unilateral decision on military deployment could lead to the
deployment of troops to unseat a ruling president.

Again, a question should be addressed to the House and
Assembly legislators as to whether they have the "arsenals" to
trace and deal with the trappings of the bill, if it is forwarded
to the House.

Otherwise, their failure to address this issue will only
confirm the importance of having a district system in the
elections after 2004 -- because the current proportional system
would again prove to net legislators who are faithful to the
political parties they represent, and not to their constituents.