Retired officers in Cabinet: Assets or liabilities?

Retired officers in Cabinet: Assets or liabilities?

Imanuddin Razak, The Jakarta Post

A quick glance at the "United Indonesia Cabinet" indicates
that the newly established Cabinet is a relatively non-
controversial one as it caters to the interests of most factions
in the country's political community as well as the major social
organizations.

However, the fact that a few posts are held by ministers who
do not appear to be well-suited for the posts based on their
educational background and previous positions could be an
unfavorable factor for the success of the Cabinet or President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in performing the tasks as mandated by
the people.

In addition to the questionable placement of some ministers,
attention should also be focused on Cabinet ministers who have a
military background.

Why? Because the President himself is a retired Army general
and has served most of his career as a military officer before
retiring from military service to become a minister in
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's Cabinet in October 1999.

Why? Because the ministers with the military background hold
key positions in the Cabinet -- namely in the security sector.

The current Cabinet has a total of five ministers with a
military or police background. Megawati Soekarnoputri's
administration had three ministers with a military background. It
is also more than the number in Gus Dur's Cabinet, which also had
three.

Many people have taken note of the larger number of ministers
with a military or police background in the current Cabinet and
believe it reveals an increased bargaining position by the
security forces.

Adm. (ret) Widodo Adi Sucipto, a 1968 graduate of the Naval
Academy, who served as the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief under
Gus Dur, is the coordinating minister for political, legal and
security affairs; Lt. Gen. (ret) M. Ma'ruf, a 1962 National
Military Academy graduate who once served as Indonesian Armed
Forces (ABRI) chief of sociopolitical affairs, is the Minister of
Home Affairs.

Meanwhile Lt. Gen. (ret) Sudi Silalahi, a 1972 graduate of the
National Military Academy, who once served as an assistant to
Susilo when the latter was the TNI chief of territorial affairs
and secretary to Susilo when the latter was the coordinating
minister for political and security affairs under Megawati, is
the Cabinet secretary.

The other two are Vice Adm. (ret) Freddy Numberi, a 1971
graduate of the Naval Academy, who served as state minister of
administrative reforms under Gus Dur, is now the Minister of
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and little known police Brig. Gen.
(ret) Taufik Effendi, who holds the position of State Minister of
Administrative Reforms.

It has always been debatable whether a retired military or
police officer is considered a civilian or military man. But, it
is difficult to believe that a retired military or police officer
has no emotional links nor organizational loyalty to their
previous institutions.

Their (Susilo's and the ministers') military or police
background will likely put them in the same boat in terms of the
way they perceive and approach threats against security and order
in the country.

On one hand, by sharing the similar backgrounds and
experience, it will be easier for the new government to agree on
how to deal with security matters.

But, on the other hand, their built-in military approach could
mean a tendency to dismiss the "civilian approach" of a
democratic decision-making policy.

It is true that in certain emergency situations, immediate and
"bold" actions are needed to immediately tackle problems. But
"such emergency situations" should not become a habit for the
government to the point that they neglect the democratic
principles of decision-making.

The government of Susilo-Jusuf Kalla should not forget that
they carry the mandate of the people who have directly voted for
them. They also must comply with the guidelines set up by the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), whose members have also
been elected directly by the people.

Failure to comply with the Assembly's guidelines will become a
problem for the government as it may have to deal with the 678-
strong assembly.

The fact that the five ministers with military and police
backgrounds retired earlier than Susilo could be a "weakening
factor" for the President in gaining control of the Cabinet. It
has an open secret that seniority in rank remains, although they
have retired from military service.

Another factor that could lead to weakness, besides seniority,
is that Susilo has never been in control of the military as the
only true leadership post he had in the TNI was as the TNI's
chief of territorial affairs. Unlike the TNI chief or the TNI
chief of general affairs, who has direct command and control of
troops, the TNI chief of territorial affairs deals with social
and political issues, but not military operations.

A lesson that Susilo had experienced himself was when Gus Dur
had to replace him with Agum Gumelar as coordinating minister for
political and security affairs as Susilo was considered unable to
meet "Gus Dur's expectations" in dealing with security affairs.
Agum was appointed because he was believed to have strong
influence on the TNI headquarters due to his previous positions,
especially the fact that he was once the commander of the Army's
Special Forces (Kopassus).

Despite all the above conditions, we, as members of this
nation, hope ministers with military background will make the
maximum use of their experience and expertise on security matters
to help establish security and order, and make this a conducive
climate for bringing in foreign investment and bringing back
domestic investors, who have been parking their money abroad ever
since the economic crises.

Otherwise, the country will never recover economically and we
will be relegated to spectator status in this period of tight
global competition, no matter how good the government programs
are.