No more compromises

No more compromises

One of the most contentious and divisive issues debated at the
ongoing Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) is the future of the sociopolitical role of the Armed
Forces (ABRI). Questions are being raised in various quarters on
whether this role is defensible and relevant in a democratic
Indonesia. More precisely, the debate focuses on the tradition of
allocating seats in the House of Representatives (DPR) to ABRI
members.

The military's sociopolitical role stems from the "dual
function" doctrine, accorded legitimacy during the heyday of the
New Order regime of Soeharto, himself a former Army general.
Under this doctrine, ABRI was recognized not only as a defense
and security force, but also as a sociopolitical one. Few people
were willing to openly question ABRI's right to play politics.

Most accepted the argument that it was ABRI's historic
entitlement in recognition of its services to the nation, from
the independence struggle to maintenance of national security
through many difficult times in Indonesia's history. The DPR
seats were allocated in exchange for ABRI members waiving their
right to vote in general elections.

With Soeharto out of the picture, it is only natural that the
nation is now striving to dismantle the repressive political
system that the autocratic ruler built. This includes calls to
review ABRI's political role, seen by critics as part and parcel
of the New Order regime. It is widely acknowledged, even by the
current military leadership, that ABRI was used as a tool to prop
up Soeharto for over three decades.

In an attempt to restore its tarnished image, ABRI has agreed
to scale down its sociopolitical role. On Monday, ABRI Commander
Gen. Wiranto announced that he was scrapping the strategic
sociopolitical chief post in ABRI headquarters, and would require
all ABRI personnel to retire from the service if they wished to
serve in nonmilitary posts. ABRI has also agreed to reduce the
number of its 75 representatives in the DPR, but has left it to
the DPR, which is deliberating the new political bills, to
determine the precise number. ABRI's latest position, as stated
by Lt. Gen. Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the chief of its faction
in the MPR, is that the military is now prepared to see a gradual
elimination of its presence in the DPR.

While these are major concessions on ABRI's part, they are not
enough. The strongest objection to ABRI's sociopolitical role is
not solely based on the history of abuse of that role, but more
by the fact that it is inconsistent with the principles of
democracy. ABRI's presence defies the very definition of the DPR,
literally "the council of people's representatives". With its 75
seats factored into the total population, ABRI's 450,000
personnel are grossly overrepresented in the House. Each of the
other seats in the 500-strong legislature represents between
500,000 and 600,000 members of the population. If we apply the
law of proportionality, ABRI should be entitled to one seat at
the most.

This imbalance in political representation will be even more
strongly felt as Indonesia moves to a multiparty political
system, with more than 80 parties vying to contest the 1999
general election. In such a system, every seat will be fiercely
contested.

Many of those who wanted to see a gradual elimination of ABRI
seats in the DPR erroneously argued that it would be more
dangerous to keep ABRI out of the political system than within.
This line of argument not only denigrates ABRI's commitment to
the nation, but underestimates the power of democracy, and of the
concept of people's sovereignty, in preventing autocratic rules.

Given that it was the MPR which had given legitimacy to ABRI's
dual-function in the first place, the current MPR Special Session
would go a long way in helping shape democracy by coming up with
a statement to withdraw that arrangement.

Politics may be the art of compromise, but democratic
principles, such as the politics of representation, are
nonnegotiable. We have compromised on democracy for far too long
by allowing ABRI to dominate the political scene. Now is as good
a time as ever to end the military sociopolitical role once and
for all, and put our nation on the path toward real democracy.