TNI may allow companies to be audited
TNI may allow companies to be audited
Deutsche Press-Agentur, Jakarta
The Indonesian Military (TNI) may allow its various business
operations to be audited to pave the way for greater
transparency, the TNI commander said on Wednesday.
Days after Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri said
the military should not be involved in off-budget businesses, TNI
chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto told reporters he was trying to
persuade his colleagues to allow the military companies to be
audited.
"I have been trying to convince those dealing with the
companies to let the latter be audited," Sutarto told the state-
run Antara news agency.
He said the audits would pave the way for greater transparency
and allow others to know that the TNI's foundations have been
conducting business lawfully.
"It would be better if the country can replace them so that we
ill no longer deal with business," Sutarto said.
His remarks were made days after President Megawati used her
speech marking the 57th Armed Forces Day last Saturday to
criticize the Indonesian military's traditional involvement in
non-security related business activities.
"We should not allow the old practice where Indonesian armed
forces and the national police have been forced to look for their
own budget to fund their routine tasks," Megawati said in speech
last Saturday commemorating the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI)
57th year as one of the country's most vital institutions.
The TNI, born in 1945 as an essentially guerrilla force
opposed to Dutch colonialists, has a long tradition of "living
off the land".
The practice of military involvement in economic activities
was institutionalized under former president Soeharto (1966-
1998), who allowed the TNI to set up "foundations" dedicated to
raising funds to help supplement soldiers' welfare, while also
turning a blind eye to regional commanders involvement in
businesses.
Military analysts estimate that the government's budgetary
allocation to the TNI, amounting to 9.3 trillion rupiah (US$1
billion) this year, accounts for only 30 to 35 percent of their
actual expenditures.
The remaining 70 to 65 percent is raised by "off budget"
businesses, including the foundations and other less legal
operations.
Megawati, who is as head of state also Supreme Commander,
noted that the government should in theory meet the TNI's
budgetary needs out of state coffers, but given the country's
economic difficulties, she admitted that would be impossible.
It has been suggested that the TNI's business foundations could
be put under a holding company, to be managed and audited by the
government, which could then return some 75 percent of the
profits back to the TNI for soldiers' welfare.