Positive side of controversial TNI territorial structure

ID Nugroho and Nethy Dharma Somba, Surabaya/Jayapura

Over the last few years, the road in Benjeng district, Gresik regency, has changed markedly. The entire road has now been paved, so it is no longer muddy in the rainy season and dusty in the dry season.

"This is the fruit of the Indonesian Armed Force's (ABRI) Village Entrance program executed by the Brawijaya military command," said Rachmad, a resident in the district, adding that the better road had helped the economy in the district.

The Brawijaya military command oversees East Java province.

In the program, which began several years ago, the personnel of ABRI, now known as the Indonesian military (TNI), not only paved the road, but they also built an entrance gate to the district. "They worked hand-in-hand with the local residents," said Rachmad.

Similarly, the Indonesian military has also contributed to the life of Indonesian people living in far away Papua province.

Besides monitoring the border with neighboring Papua New Guinea, some of the 1,800 TNI personnel along the border also have other tasks. Some of the soldiers -- who come from various military commands nationwide -- are tasked with providing health services for local residents living along the border and teaching children.

Lt. Col. Damar T. Santoso, the chief of Tamalate battalion overseeing Keerom regency in Papua, said that his soldiers were deployed in 23 outposts across the regency, seven of which can only be reached by plane.

"In those remote posts, which are beyond the reach of local government services, our personnel teach or provide medical services to locals," said Damar. Out of 450 personnel in the battalion, 32 have the responsibility of helping local residents.

Those East Java and Papua examples are merely two among many examples of how the presence of the TNI throughout the country -- all the way down to the hamlet level, under its territorial command structure -- can intervene positively in the lives of local villagers.

Such stories are rarely mentioned, amid strong demands by prodemocracy activists to relegate the territorial function to the dustbin of history. The activists argue that such a pervasive presence by the military undermines democracy.

Some students admitted, however, that the territorial function -- with its provincial military commands, the regency military commands and the district military commands -- could be very useful for people, but it was prone to abuse. There are numerous examples of some blatant abuse.

During the Soeharto era, military intelligence agents at the district military headquarters often spied on meetings held among students, which could often end up in their arrest, and thus undermined the freedoms of expression and association. It was also an open secret that the military men often colluded with local businessmen against their workers, and often intimidated the workers during a dispute or strike.

Students grouped under the Democratic National Student League (LMND) in Surabaya, said that the territorial function could also lead to abuse by the TNI personnel in politics. "The tentacles of those TNI bureaucrats in the regions could be mobilized to support a political party, an institution that is supposed to be neutral," said Siswanto, a spokesperson for LMND.

"I am amazed. How could this new party (Democratic Party) garner so many votes in East Java," said Siswanto, who suspected that the TNI played a role in supporting that party, which was cofounded by Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

In this light, prodemocracy activists are now working on the House of Representatives (DPR) to get legislators to scrap the TNI's territorial function. A bill is currently being deliberated upon by the lameduck legislators of the DPR on that very subject.

The spokesman for the Brawijaya military command, Lt. Col. Bambang Sulistyono, defended the territorial command structure, saying that it could make the TNI "closer" to people and therefore better able to repel attacks from the foreign armies.

"If the TNI is close to people, that can be a powerful force. If there is an enemy attacking the country, the TNI will easily unite the people to defeat them," he argued.

Bambang added: "Have no fear that the TNI will manipulate the territorial function for our own benefit. The recent instruction from the chief commander of the TNI is very clear: The TNI is not allowed to get involved in politics."