TNI bill: Professionally or politically motivated?

TNI bill: Professionally or politically motivated?

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta

The ongoing deliberation of the Indonesian Military (TNI) bill
at the House of Representatives (DPR) in the final days of the
House members' terms in office has not only drawn widespread
attention, but also strong criticism from related institutions
and the public in general.

Both the decision to complete the deliberation before the
House members' terms end and the content of the bill itself are
equally controversial.

However, the decision to accelerate the deliberation of the
bill cannot merely be blamed on the House itself. The outgoing
House members likely want to leaving a positive legacy before
ending their terms by completing the deliberation of such an
important bill. But the government also played a part in pushing
the House to finish it before their mandate ends.

The House has pledged to endorse the government-sponsored bill
by the end of September. House members have said that they had to
finish deliberating the bill this term to allow legislators from
the military and the police to take part in the process as the
appointed military/police faction will cease to exist in the
House.

The Ministry of Defense had previously prepared a TNI bill and
submitted it to the State Secretariat. Apparently not satisfied
with the content, Cilangkap (TNI headquarters) went ahead and
drafted its own bill.

The bill, which has aroused widespread opposition from the
public, maintains the military's territorial role (active
military posts in every village), which former strongman Soeharto
used as a tool to maintain his power. It also allows serving
military personnel to accept civilian posts -- as governors,
regents and mayors -- without having to resign from the force, a
common phenomenon during Soeharto's 32 years in power, known as
dual function.

The bill contradicts a stipulation in a People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) decree issued in 2000 that requires military
officers to retire before taking such positions.

Critics, including President Megawati Soekarnoputri and her
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction at the
House, have urged the lawmakers to delay the deliberation of the
bill and allow the matter to be taken up by the next House, which
will be sworn in on Oct. 1.

Yet, the move by Megawati and PDI-P was indeed controversial
as it was announced as Megawati is in a fight to win reelection.

It is difficult not to believe that the move, expected to gain
support of "reformist" voters, has no connection with the
upcoming Sept. 20 presidential election runoff.

The question is then why has Megawati not raised the issue
earlier in her presidency after succeeding Abdurrahman "Gus Dur"
Wahid in July 2001.

According to the 1945 Constitution, the military is
responsible for defense, while the police, which used to be part
of the then Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), are responsible for
internal security.

But, the TNI headquarters insisted that such reforms should be
done in a gradual manner, while arguing that it would take time
for the TNI to change itself after over three decades of enjoying
privileges -- mainly in politics and the economy.

Learning from Abdurrahman's ouster in 2001 as well as from her
father's (the late president Sukarno) in the mid 1960s, which
were due to disharmony with the Army, Megawati has since taken a
careful and amiable approach toward the TNI. Such a lenient
attitude could be seen from her immediate approval of the TNI's
proposal to impose martial law in Aceh last year. It was later
downgraded to civilian emergency status earlier this year.

So critical was the opposition against the military bill, that
while Megawati was attempting to lure popular votes by issuing
such bold and "unusual" decisions, her rival and former Cabinet
minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has chosen to remain quiet on
the issue.

There has been no explanation for his silence, but it is
likely because Susilo, who is a retired Army general, is in a
difficult position to face the TNI.

Apparently realizing the public's strong opposition,
surprisingly, the TNI headquarters eventually stated that it was
not necessary to rush the bill through the House because the
soldiers' activities would not be hampered by the absence of the
regulation.

Most of us are aware that the country has not fully recovered
from the political and economic crises, which began in 1997, so
the main concern should not necessarily be whether to complete
the deliberation of the bill before the end of next month or to
let the new House complete the task.

The deliberation of the TNI bill is not about a "losing" or
"winning" game. It is about establishing a legal-political
umbrella, as well as guidelines, for the TNI in its attempt to
become a professional institution as our founding fathers and all
other Indonesians have yearned for.

We need a strong, but professional TNI to protect Indonesia's
vast and archipelagic territory from outside threats and help
establish a secure state that is conducive for investment and
restart the development programs to catch up with the seven-year
lapse of development due to the crises.

We cannot let past mistakes happen again, specifically we
cannot let the TNI be misguided and stray from the right track.

So, the legal product should not satisfy only the TNI, nor the
NGOs only, nor the public only, but should win the support and
approval of the majority of the people.

That is what democracy means, does it not?

The author is a staff writer for The Jakarta Post. He can be
reached at iman@thejakartapost.com