TNI officers urged to choose between military or politics
TNI officers urged to choose between military or politics
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Political observers believe that military (TNI) members on
active duty should not be allowed to join a political party
unless they quit the military. However, they also support the
idea of military personnel voting in elections.
Yahya Muhaimin of Yogyakarta University and Syamsuddin Haris
of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) were commenting on
President Megawati's recent call for the military to quit
politics and concentrate on defense functions.
The military, which was the backbone of the New Order regime
until president Soeharto tumbled in 1998, has pledged to give up
their 38 seats from the House of Representatives by 2004 and from
the People's Consultative Assembly in 2009.
Muhaimin said that when the soldiers are stripped of their
legislative role, they should have full access to political
parties to channel their aspirations.
"The military abandoning politics is something we have been
waiting for a long time. We want to have a truly professional
military however, we want to see them retain a say in defense and
security matters," said Yahya, who is also a former minister of
education.
Since Soeharto fell from power in 1998, the military has
symbolically reduced its political role.
The TNI is reportedly going through some major restructuring
involving the elimination of a number of posts, including
territorial affairs, which critics say hampers democracy due to
the military's deep involvement in civilian affairs, and was
allegedly manipulated to maintain dictatorial government under
Soeharto.
The military, which is not allowed to vote in the general
election, has been granted seats in the House of Representatives
and People's Consultative Assembly in recognition for its
political role.
Yahya said that reinstatement of the right to vote was
different from direct involvement in politics by joining a
political party or being a member of the legislature.
"The military is armed to win wars. If these personnel join
political parties, I am afraid they will use their weapons to win
votes," Yahya said.
Syamsuddin said that a democracy cannot allow the military to
play politics as the TNI has done for the past several decades.
"As an institution, of course, the TNI (Indonesian Military)
must not quit its vital role as the country's defense instrument,
but individually, they must be allowed to vote in general
elections," Syamsuddin told the Post.
He stressed that no military member should be allowed to fight
for a political seat in any state institution without them
first retiring from active service.
If not, it would hamper democracy because the soldiers would
bring with them the "military culture", the hierarchy of command
and their loyalty to their commanders.
When addressing TNI's 56th anniversary, Megawati called on the
military to abandon politics and dump the Dwifungsi, or the dual
function doctrine which allows for the political role.
Syamsuddin suggested that former military officers form their
own political parties as senior army officers AH Nasution and
Gatot Subroto did in 1954.