'Military's territorial role no longer relevant'

'Military's territorial role no longer relevant'

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The territorial function the Indonesian Military (TNI) has
adopted for the past four decades is no longer relevant and
should be immediately phased out, a seminar concluded.

Andi Wijayanto from the University of Indonesia and Kusnanto
Anggoro from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies
said the territorial function violated the reform spirit because
it ignored the principles of democracy.

"Democracy requires civilian control over the military.
However, under the territorial system the military has the
comprehensive ability to impinge on the duties carried out by
civilians," Andi told participants of a seminar titled
Territorial Command and Indonesian Defense Policy in the Future.

The one-day seminar was sponsored by the Research Institute
for Democracy and Peace.

The territorial function materialized in the form of regional
military commands across the archipelago, which fall under the
auspices of the Army.

Indonesia has 13 military commands, including the newly
reinstated one in Aceh, with more than 150,000 personnel.

Each military command has an organizational structure similar
to that of a civilian government, spanning from the provincial to
the village level.

Observers have called the military territorial commands "a
shadow government". The system enabled former president
Soeharto's New Order regime to curb any potential challenges,
including from prodemocracy activists, and to exert wide-ranging
control over every aspect of life.

Andi said the system had numerous ill effects, including
abductions and torture committed by territorial arms of the
military.

The fall of Soeharto's New Order regime and the resulting
reform movement ignited nationwide resistance to the military's
territorial function.

Kusnanto said the territorial system suggested that threats to
Indonesia came not only from foreign parties, but also from
people inside the country.

"In practice, paranoia spread through the military and as a
result they perceived protests and other social dynamics as real
threats that had to be dealt with completely," he told
participants.

In order to put an end to the negative effects of the
military's extensive involvement in social and political affairs,
the territorial system must be phased out, Kusnanto said.

He said the end of the Cold War meant that the possibility of
invasion by a foreign country in the foreseeable future was
virtually nil.

"Also, the modern warfare does not require permanent
occupation by other countries, since this would be politically
expensive and unpopular," he said.

Kusnanto said other parties would need to participate in the
gradual elimination of the territorial system.

He also said changes were needed in how decisions regarding
the nation's defense policy were made, a process currently
dominated by the Indonesian Military.

"It is timely that all parties be involved in the making of
defense policy, in order that the implementation of the policy
will not violate human rights and democracy," he said.