TNI remains powerful, no headway in reforms

TNI remains powerful, no headway in reforms

Muhammad Nafik and Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Efforts to put the country's powerful military (TNI) under
civilian supremacy remain largely ineffectual four years after
the nation embarked on a reform movement marked by the fall of
former dictator Soeharto, analysts say.

They insist that TNI is irrefutably still and will remain the
country's most influential political force.

"Reforms within the TNI are still on the surface, but
substantially there are no reforms yet," military analyst
Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS) told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He admitted that the TNI had introduced many changes in the
past four years, such as progressive policies on politics,
bureaucracy and legal aspects, but the "reforms" have "not been
internalized or passed down the chain of command."

"We know that many military members are still practicing dwi
fungsi or the dual function doctrine," he said referring to the
disbanded doctrine wherein members of the military were allowed
and encouraged to hold political leadership posts.

Kusnanto said although the military planned to step away from
the House of Representatives (DPR) and the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) by 2004, it could seek new "political
concessions".

"Formally the TNI has quit politics but informally it would
continue exerting its political influence, particularly through
the Regional Representatives Council (DPD)," he added.

Under the latest constitutional amendment, the DPD along with
the House will make up the MPR, the nation's highest legislative
body, after the 2004 general elections. Any individual, including
retired generals, can be elected as a DPD member.

Political analyst Daniel Sparingga from Airlangga University
in Surabaya shared a similar view, saying TNI's internal reform
program had almost came to a complete halt due to complicated
problems from within and outside the military, including its
extremely tight budget and the powerlessness of civilian leaders.

"Reforms in TNI are at a standstill, although the spirit of
reforms among its leaders is extraordinary. It's not a matter of
reluctance but they do not know what to do. They need
assistance," he told the Post.

Daniel said the pledge by TNI leaders to quit practical
politics, push for the transitional process and review its
conventional doctrine for soldiers was part of the good spirit of
reforms, but this appeared to be fruitless.

Another political analyst Hermawan Sulistyo of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said TNI's internal reforms were
shallow at best.

The TNI has a different idea of reforms, which is not about
coming under civilian rule, he argued. "They (TNI) officially
call this (reform) shifting from occupying to influencing," he
said.

Hermawan said that despite the military's move to stop
occupying strategic seats in the bureaucracy and legislative
bodies, it did not mean that it would halt imposing its influence
on civilians there.

"They (the military) will do it by forceful lobbying of
politicians," he said.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri's full support of the
military showed that the TNI still holds powerful political
influence.

Daniel said that in certain macro-policies such as the
replacement or appointment of its top leaders, TNI was prepared
to bow to civilian rule.

"But in the aspects of territorial operations, they are still
not under control. Ambon and Aceh are such cases. The civilian
government lacks any influence on how to deal with conflicts
there," he added.

Daniel theorized that the military was actually willing to
come under civilian rule so long as the political leaders were
credible and trustworthy.

"There are hints among military leaders that they have less
faith in the civilian leadership because it has not been
performing well over the last four years."

Efforts to improve TNI's professionalism, often blamed for
human rights abuses and involvement in illegal practices across
the country, have not been a priority of its reforms.

They said the latest attack by troops on police stations in
the North Sumatra town of Binjai, which killed eight people, was
hard evidence that the TNI, particularly the Army, is
unprofessional and facing a "serious demoralization".

Critics have also urged the military to be stripped of control
of its business empires, the size of which was still unknown.

However, serious responses to the demands have been too slow
partly due to the limited state budget that has forced the
military to cover around 70 percent of its expenditures through
mostly illegal rackets.

On Thursday, a group of political analysts from CSIS and the
Indonesian Institute of Science urged the military to exercise
its voting rights in the 2004 general election.

Kusnanto and his colleague Edy Prasetyono from CSIS said that
since the TNI had yet to undertake sweeping internal reforms,
exercising its right to vote could trigger cracks within its
forces and affect democratic elections.

Last August, TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto called on his
troops not to vote in the next elections for fear that they would
be overly influenced by political parties.

But Kusnanto and Edy said the decision on whether or not TNI
would be allowed to vote should be left to the House, not the
military commander.

"The suspension or the use of the military's right to vote in
the 2004 election should be based on a political decision, not on
a policy taken by the TNI chief," Edy said.

Kusnanto said the military must rearrange its institutional
structure before using the voting rights or otherwise its
intervention in and partiality with certain political parties
during the elections would be unavoidable.