TNI chief stands by military bill
TNI chief stands by military bill
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite strong criticism from various sides, the Indonesian
Military (TNI) commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto insisted that
the military had no plans to review a bill that would give the
TNI commander authority to deploy the armed forces in an
emergency without the necessity of seeking approval from the
president.
Instead, Endriartono defied the critics, saying that even
without the legislation, the military could launch a coup at any
time it wanted to.
He called on the public not to be suspicious of the bill
because, referring to Article 19 of the bill, the TNI commander
had the authority to deploy military personnel anywhere in the
country in an emergency if the president, vice president or a
triumvirate of the Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Foreign
Affairs and the Minister of Defense, were not available.
"Currently, there are more than a hundred thousand military
personnel deployed in numerous regions across the country. Does
that mean that I'm going to launch a coup against the legitimate
government?," Endriartono said.
He said he would be available to give a full clarification to
the House of Representatives during the reading of the bill if he
was requested to do so.
The armed forces bill, which was prepared by the military-
dominated Ministry of Defense, drew sharp criticism from a number
of political analysts, legal experts and human rights activists
when it was first made public last week.
The critics called on the House of Representatives to be alert
to the various contentious issues in the bill as it threatened
the country's nascent democracy, and civilian governance.
Endriartono said further that the bill did not contradict the
Constitution or the 1959 Emergency Law as the emergency troop
deployment articles would only be applicable in a case where
there was no other option.
"We're not talking here about a normal situation. Do you think
that we (the TNI) should await the president's orders if a
serious conflict erupts in a particular region. It's totally
different in an emergency," Endriartono asserted.
According to the Constitution, the president in his/her
capacity as TNI supreme commander has the ultimate authority to
declare war and deploy military personnel to a war zone. In
addition, the president has the power to impose curfews in
troubled areas after gaining the approval of the House of
Representatives.
The widespread criticism of the bill has much to do with
Indonesia's traumatic experience during the New Order era when
the military unswervingly supported former president Soeharto's
repressive regime.
Endriartono declined to give a detailed explanation regarding
another contentious provision, Article 7, on the Army's much-
criticized territorial function.
"There's nothing wrong with the article," he said.
During the New Order era, the military (Army) abused its
territorial function to legitimize its control over top political
positions in local administrations. Almost all senior positions
in the provinces and regencies were occupied by Army generals.
The military used the Golkar Party as its political vehicle to
monopolize these civilian posts.
The territorial function was also abused to oppress opposition
groups, and extort the private sector and state-owned companies.