The future of ABRI's dual function

By Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo

JAKARTA (JP): For people who do not know enough about the history of Indonesia and its Armed Forces, it seems rather strange that the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) has a sociopolitical function. For most people, especially from the West, armed forces are supposed to be military organizations without a political role.

In Indonesia, the Armed Forces originated from a levee en masse of the people to build a revolutionary formation immediately after Sukarno and Mohamad Hatta proclaimed independence in 1945. The people wanted to safeguard its newly acquired independent status for which it had been longing very strongly.

The name of the revolutionary formation was Badan Keamanan Rakyat (BKR) (People's Security Body). Beside the BKR, other revolutionary formations were Barisan Banteng, Pesindo and Hizbulla. But most of them were part of, or closely related to, political parties which were established at that time, while the BKR aligned itself totally to the nation's struggle as a whole.

The BKR was, therefore, not established by a government's decree and was not a government agency. It was basically a people's revolutionary formation. That was the reason why the BKR and its members regarded themselves as freedom fighters who were responsible for the achievement of the nation's goals. And not merely as military soldiers.

Later, the government saw the need of having a military organization as part of the establishment and decided to recognize the BKR as the official Indonesian Armed Forces, thus the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (TKR) (People's Security Army) was born. The date was Oct. 5, 1945, which became the Armed Forces' anniversary.

As members of the TKR as a military organization, the officers and soldiers were placing themselves under strict military discipline. However, they still considered themselves freedom fighters responsible for the achievement of the nation's goals.

That could be clearly observed from the attitude of Gen. Sudirman as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, which name changed from TKR to Tentara Republik Indonesia and later to Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI).

Gen. Sudirman never refrained from expressing the TNI's opinion, but also never disobeyed the government's decisions and instructions. The only time Gen. Sudirman disobeyed president Sukarno's orders was in December 1948, when Sukarno, Hatta and other members of the cabinet stayed in Yogyakarta to await the entrance of the Dutch invasion into the city.

Sukarno ordered Sudirman to join the members of the government to stay in town and to be imprisoned by the Dutch troops. But Sudirman refused, although at that time he was very ill. Sudirman was of the opinion that he should be with his troops to fight a guerrilla war against the Dutch invasion.

Sudirman was right, because his presence with the troops strengthened the morale of the people and the TNI who were badly influenced by the capture of almost the entire government.

History has proved that the guerrilla war of the TNI and the people could force the Dutch to recognize the independence of Indonesia and terminate its long-time colonial supremacy of the archipelago.

However the TNI's dual function doctrine won official status only in late 1950s. And its real strong exposure came later in 1965 after the communist coup.

At that time, the sociopolitical function of the TNI became necessary to prevent a leadership vacuum among many government as well as other organizations. From 1960 onward, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) had been very successful in infiltrating many organizations, including political parties, the government, state enterprises and others.

After 1965, there was a cleanup of members of the PKI and its sympathizers. To prevent a leadership vacuum because of the removal of those people, many organizations requested TNI officers to replace them.

That was the beginning of pengkaryaan as part of the sociopolitical function, namely the assignment of TNI or ABRI personnel in nonmilitary functions.

Before 1965, the sociopolitical function was implemented mainly in the form of advice of TNI leaders to the government. There was a minor change when the Indonesian government nationalized Dutch companies during the Irian Jaya conflict and president Sukarno ordered TNI officers to function as managers in these companies.

When Sukarno introduced "Guided Democracy", all members of the legislature were appointed by him. Among the appointed members were TNI officers. However, this early manifestation of pengkaryaan only involved a small number of TNI personnel. At that time, the term pengkaryaan was not yet used.

After 1965, pengkaryaan became an important method to maintain the leadership and management of many organizations and institutions. Because people at that time realized the necessity of pengkaryaan, nobody was against it.

There was even a strong tendency among government institutions and state enterprises to request the presence of TNI leaders in their organizations because many people were still afraid of a possible counteroffensive by the communists and their sympathizers.

Gradually a change took place in society. The New Order administration became successful in running education and training activities. More and more people graduated from several kinds of higher learning institutions both at home and abroad.

In the late 1970s, one could observe a change in the attitude of people vis--vis pengkaryaan. People started to talk about the abundant presence of TNI personnel in nonmilitary organizations. People were talking about the large number of governors and district chiefs (bupati).

This new mood was also a product of an increasing irritation of the way the government under the leadership of president Soeharto was ruling the nation. There was a growing antipathy toward pengkaryaan. Because most people could not see the difference between pengkaryaan and the sociopolitical function, more and more people wanted to have a change of ABRI's sociopolitical function.

There are now three main categories of opinion toward the future of ABRI's sociopolitical function: 1. Those who want no more sociopolitical function for ABRI. It means that there will be no more pengkaryaan. But it will not be possible to prevent the ABRI leadership to maintain a sense of responsibility for the future of the nation. ABRI's ethical norms as reflected in the Sapta Marga oath required by each ABRI member to bear the responsibility of guarding the nation and the achievement of its goals. In this case, ABRI will return to its position of 1945 until the late 1950s. It depends very much on the character of the people who are leading ABRI how far the ABRI leadership will express its attitude and opinion to the government.

However, there is a consequence of this option, namely that members of ABRI are participating rightfully in the general election. ABRI members cannot be denied the right to vote and to be elected. Of course, an ABRI member wants to became a candidate to be elected, he should request a temporary or full dismissal from ABRI.

People in favor of this option should also realize that the termination of the sociopolitical function does not include the end of ABRI's territorial function. They should know that the territorial function is not a part of the sociopolitical function but is a significant part of the implementation of ABRI's operational doctrine Sistem Hankamrata (the People's Defense and Security System). Without the territorial function there can be no successful defense of the nation. 2. The continuation of the present setup but with a significant decrease of the pengkaryaan. People who prefer this option feel that ABRI's sociopolitical function is important for a strong and affective management of the nation. But they also realize that there is too much ABRI presence in several nonmilitary organizations. They admit that there is still a need for ABRI personnel in the civil administration and the legislature. But the number should be limited. They also think that ABRI members should not participate in the general election. Therefore, ABRI personnel should be appointed to become a member of the House of Representatives and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). But the number of the House members should be limited to 50 from the present number of 75. The number of governors and district chiefs should also be limited to a maximum of 25 percent of the total number. 3. The third possibility is a continuation of the sociopolitical function, but a very restricted pengkaryaan. Pengkaryaan should be limited only to the appointment of ABRI personnel to become MPR members. No more pengkaryaan for governors, district chiefs, members of national as well as local governments. An ABRI member can be appointed a certain government job, but that is because of his professional ability. For example, an ABRI officer who is known for his professional expertise in nuclear science could be appointed as head of the National Atomic Energy Agency. In this option ABRI personnel do not participate in the general election.

In my view, the third option would be the most preferable choice for all parties. Perhaps, in the long run, Indonesia could go for the first option, but not in the next five years.

It is also important that the Police should be separated from ABRI, as it was before 1967. Indonesia needs a more professional and effective National Police. Many people want to place the National Police within the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In my view, to become more effective and professional, the National Police should be under a new Department of Law Enforcement, which could also include the Attorney General's Office. The National Police should become a civilian institution and its members partly civilians in uniform.

If people want to enhance the provincial government security capability, the best way is to improve the already existing Polisi Pamong Praja. The National Police should concentrate on wide-ranging criminal and other law enforcement problems, similar to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States.

Hopefully the coming MPR General Session in 1999 will be able to make decisions on these topics.

The writer is former governor of the National Resilience Institute now ambassador-at-large to the Non-Aligned Movement.

Window A: There was even a strong tendency among government institutions and state enterprises to request the presence of TNI leaders in their organizations because many people were still afraid of a possible counteroffensive by the communists and their sympathizers.

Window B: After 1965, pengkaryaan became an important method to maintain the leadership and management of many organizations and institutions. Because people at that time realized the necessity of pengkaryaan, nobody was against it.