'No outside influence to TNI reshuffle'

A document called Bulak Rantai, which refers to the meeting place of senior Army officers, has circulated ahead of a rumored major military reshuffle speculating the replacement of some prominent officers. Military observer Lt. Gen. (ret) Hasnan Habib gives his views on the dissemination of the document.

Question: Do you believe that the document was issued by military men and civilian officials who attended meetings hosted by the chief of Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah at his Bulak Rantai residence?

Hasnan: I'm inclined to disbelieve it because any document on the minutes of a military meeting must be treated as very secret, while Agus is too intelligent to be that sloppy in allowing such a document to be read by the public.

Q: Who do you think issued the document which was read out at a recent hearing of TNI officers with the House of Representatives?

H: Surely, it is impossible for Agus to have done it. He would have been cornered by his colleagues if he had prepared the document which indicated his ambitions.

It might have been issued by outsiders, probably military retirees, who want to play Agus against former Kostrad chief Lt. Gen. Djadja Suparman, or who do not want TNI to lift its policy on the dual (military-sociopolitical) function. We know that Agus is one of the advocates of military reform, while some military retirees, who consider the dual function policy as the seed of TNI, have expressed their concern over the plan to abolish the policy.

Q: Do you believe that the plan to lift the dual function policy is supported by TNI officers?

H: I have a feeling that most of TNI's senior officers have approved the plan and are committed to it. A strong indication for that is the report from TNI chief Adm. Widodo A.S. to President Abdurrahman Wahid which outlined that military leaders agreed in their meeting in April on the abolition of the dual function policy. However, Widodo did not spell out a time frame for it or the steps for abolishing the policy.

Q: Do you see military officers unified in a way to eliminate the military's dual function practices?

H: They are divided into different groups.

One group wants the military to end all of its sociopolitical practices. According to this group, any military personnel who are still occupying nonmilitary positions, therefore, must quit TNI through early retirement or else they must leave their positions.

Another group wants the military to shun day-to-day political practices, including the representation of its personnel to the House of Representatives (DPR), but to sustain its representatives at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which is not involved in political activities.

Another group wants TNI to shun not only political practices but also business activities. Political activities, according to this group, have diverted the military's attention, while business ethics are contradictory to military ethics.

There is another group of officers who want the military to shun political practices without having to lift rulings on the dual function. The rulings should not be lifted to allow the country to reintroduce the military's dual function whenever it is considered necessary.

All in all, I can say that most TNI officers want military personnel to improve professionalism. But this will be a long process that will take some 10 years. All parties, therefore, must be patient because the military personnel, on one hand, have to adapt to reform policies; while civilian officials must reform by improving their administrative capability, avoiding corrupt, collusive and nepotistic (KKN) practices and ending their habit of looking for political support from the military -- like the involvement of four active military personnel in the Cabinet.

Q: Do you think that the dissemination of copies of the Bulak Rantai document will not influence the planned tour of duty?

H: No. I believe that the planned tours of duty will be based on standard procedures for the promotion and rotation of officers. Some senior officers will be promoted to new positions, while others will begin retirement. The promotion will be enjoyed by those officers who have improved their leadership capabilities and political reliability.

Q: Some say the rumored plans of tours of duty have been influenced by outsiders, including civilian officials ...

H: Some outsiders may try to influence such plans by feeding information to the personnel officer. But if all members of the TNI council for high-ranking promotions and duty rotations (Wanjakti) participate in the council's meeting, usually led by TNI's chief, decisions cannot be based merely on that information because all the participants will use professional considerations in their arguments.

Wanjakti's decision, however, can be influenced only by a written instruction from the President -- like what happened with the government under former president Soeharto. But I don't think President Abdurrahman Wahid would write such an instruction.

Q: Do you think that the rumored major shake-up will help TNI improve its consolidation?

H: That is a must. If it shows that it does not improve consolidation, the council will lose its credibility. (Rikza Abdullah)