The military and politics

The military and politics

Indonesians can sigh a deep breath of relief; the threat of a
direct confrontation between the embattled President Abdurrahman
Wahid on one side and the military, or TNI, and the House of
Representatives on the other has been averted -- for now.

Persistent rumors of a deepening rift between the President
and the military over the possibility of a forced reshuffle of
the military's top ranks kept Jakarta on its toes during the
week, as spokesmen for President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid kept
denying speculation of an impending replacement of top officers
within the military.

That possibility, whether real or perceived, provoked several
strong public statements from the military to the effect that the
TNI would refuse to be drawn into day-to-day politics and, as a
true people's army, would remain faithful to "the nation and the
country". The tension was strong enough to lead the President to
summon TNI chief Adm. Widodo A.S. on Tuesday to clarify the
matter.

At the core of the controversy is speculation that the
President intends to dissolve the House to prevent it from
calling a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly,
which to all expectations would end in the President's
impeachment.

Under the 1945 Constitution, however, the President cannot
dissolve the legislature, nor can the House dismiss the chief
executive. As Abdurrahman and his legal advisers seem to perceive
it, in order for him to be able to dissolve the legislature a
state of emergency, which gives the president extraordinary
powers, would have to be declared first, although even this is
disputed by many legal experts.

Since the military leadership so far appears unwilling to play
along, the only option left for the President to achieve his
reported end is to replace the military leadership with officers
more sympathetic to his situation.

So far, the TNI seems to be steadfast in its stand that it
shall remain free from political interests. Here, however, lies
the difficulty for the TNI in maintaining even the appearance of
consistency. It is, of course, true that for more than 30 years
under president Soeharto's New Order regime the military let
itself be completely politicized by becoming -- together with
Golkar and the bureaucracy -- one of the main pillars on which
Soeharto's authoritarian regime rested. The results, as can be
seen by everybody, were disastrous, producing an all-pervasive
corruption, nepotism and mismanagement.

In a sense, the TNI is correct in refusing to allow itself to
be drawn into a situation similar to that which existed under
Soeharto's New Order and serve as a mere instrument in the power
play that is at present being enacted on the Indonesian political
stage.

However, one could well ask if by taking the opposite approach
and allowing the "constitutional process" by which Gus Dur could
in the end be impeached, the military is not engaging in another
political game. To confuse things even more, United States
Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Gelbard has reportedly advised the
military to acknowledge the "civilian leadership". The question
is, which civilian leadership? The President's or the
Constitution's?

In the meantime, Indonesians continue to live from one crisis
to another, from one uncertainty to another, from one hardship to
the next, with no resolution in sight. Who is to blame? The
President blames the legislature's "arrogance". The legislature
blames the President's inconsistency, mismanagement and
controversial policies.

It would seem though, that if Indonesians are serious about
building a democratic society based on justice and prosperity for
all, everyone should respect the Constitution. If the necessity
of holding a special session of the Assembly is what the
Constitution indicates, let a special session be held. But under
all circumstances, let wisdom and statesmanship prevail. After
all, a humiliating impeachment is not the necessary result of an
Assembly special session. How wonderful it would be if a solution
could be found that did not cause anyone to lose face.