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.