Phase military out of civil service: General

Phase military out of civil service: General

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) should start phasing
its officers out of professional positions in the bureaucracy, a
respected military man says.

Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo said on Saturday the
proficiency of civilians is growing in many fields and that the
time is ripe for the military to stop posting its men in the
civil service, with the exception of positions in defense and
security institutions.

"The profession of military and police officers, basically, is
in the security and defense sectors," he said.

"Limiting the number of officers in professional civil service
positions will control unemployment among professional
civilians," he said.

He warned that unemployment is one of the most vulnerable
spots in the national development program. "The more civil
positions occupied by ABRI members, the more dangerous
unemployment becomes."

He drew a distinction, however, when it came to political
positions in the administration and legislature, such as
governors' posts and seats in the House of Representatives and
the People's Consultative Assembly, which he said must remain
open to whoever qualifies.

Sayidiman, who is a former governor of Lemhanas, the military
think-tank, and former ambassador to Japan, was speaking in a
seminar on the role of ABRI in politics.

The other speakers in the discussion held by the Association
of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) were political analysts
Dr. Deliar Noer, Dr. Amir Santoso and Dr. Din Syamsudin, as well
as Lt. Gen. (ret.) Achmad Tirtosudiro, who chairs ICMI's Jakarta
office, and Brig. Gen. (ret.) Roekmini Koesoemoastoeti, a former
legislator.

Sayidiman made his call while explaining his view of the dual
role doctrine (Dwifungsi) which he felt has been badly
misinterpreted. The concept, which enables the military to play a
role in both defense and politics, has been widely criticized as
proof of the pervasive interference of the military in the
government.

Equal standing

Sayidiman said both military and civilians have equal standing
in the nation's politics and are so harmoniously related that
either party can contribute to the other's development.

The stance of the Armed Forces is that "the responsibility of
the military is not limited to defense matters only".

"The military is also responsible to help create a just and
prosperous community," he said.

The roots of the dual function policy go back as far as the
revolutionary years when the government of the fledgling nation
was defeated by Dutch colonial forces, and the military refused
to surrender, he said.

The military was also instrumental in crushing the 1965 coup
attempt by the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), he
said.

Among critics of ABRI's dual function is respected Indonesia
watcher, Harold Crouch of the Australian National University, who
has said that most ABRI officers want to maintain the military's
dominant direct role in the government by clinging to the
doctrine.

The military's role in politics and defense, once too
sensitive an issue to discuss in public, has recently come under
intense scrutiny in some seminars.

A growing awareness within military circles that they should
reduce their role in politics because more civilians are able to
fill positions in the bureaucracy has also surfaced.

At least two retired generals have previously made calls for
the phasing out of the military's role in the bureaucracy. They
are former home minister Rudini and Soemitro, the former chief of
the command for the restoration of security and order.

The seminar was opened by Brig. Gen. (ret.) Muhammad Syarif,
who represented Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
Security Soesilo Soedarman.

In a statement delivered by Syarif, Soesilo put forward a
number of reasons for the existence of the military in the
political infrastructure, as well as superstructure. Among them
was the history of the military, which is intertwined with the
history of civilians and the nation's independence.

"Not one person among the Indonesian people should reject the
dual function doctrine, because it's the very manifestation of
the military's surrender to the people," Soesilo said. (swe)