'TNI just guards border areas'

Lawmakers recently passed a new military bill that reintroduces the physical presence of soldiers in the regions under a territorial command system, despite the desire by some observers to see the military's territorial role ended. Lawmakers said the regional military offices would be revamped to empower the defense forces and to avoid the abuses committed by the military in the past. The Jakarta Post asked some residents for their thoughts on the issue.

Matheus, 33, is a producer at a private TV station in West Jakarta. He lives near his office:

The ideal concept for the military is to keep them as far away as possible from politics. It is necessary to prevent them from abusing their military power for their own interests.

If rural areas or villages have security issues, it would be better to add more police officers rather than deploying the military to the villages.

To handle internal security, we need more police officers, not the military providing security.

Kristiawan, 30, works for a media monitoring organization in South Jakarta. He lives in a boarding house near his office:

The police should be in charge of internal security. The military should only back up the police in restive areas.

But if these restive areas have been pacified, there is no need to retain the military posts.

Command posts at the district and city levels are not necessary. The military can back up the police with command posts at the provincial level.

The military should only be in charge of handling security threats emanating from outside the country.

--The Jakarta Post