The future of ABRI's dual function

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.