TNI should be given more authority to maintain security
TNI should be given more authority to maintain security
JAKARTA (JP): In an effort to prevent the country from
crumbling, the Indonesian Military (TNI) should be given more
room to help maintain security nationwide, Army Chief of Staff
Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Thursday.
Speaking to the press after hosting a closed-door meeting with
95 top Army officers at the Army headquarters, Endriartono
admitted that the security authorities have agreed to delegate
the security role to the National Police and the defense role to
the TNI.
"I believe that every modern country adopts the principle of
separated security and defense responsibilities in order to avoid
an overlapping while they (police and military) perform their
duties.
"But we should also realize that not all parties are ready for
change. Such unreadiness should not be defended by sacrificing
the bigger interest. We should not read the division of
responsibilities as black and white," he said, while stressing
that the meeting was held upon the recognition of TNI Chief Adm.
Widodo A.S.
Present at the meeting were former Army chief Gen. Subagyo
Hadisiswoyo, former TNI chief of General Affairs Gen. Fachrul
Razi, former Army chief Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, former Chief of the
Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. Djadja
Suparman, incumbent TNI Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Djamari
Chaniago, former Kostrad Chief Lt. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah and
Chief of Army's Education and Training Center Lt. Gen. Amir
Sembiring.
Also present were former TNI Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen.
Suaidi Marasabessy, incumbent TNI Chief of Territorial Affairs
Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo, former Assistant for Territorial Affairs
to the Army Chief Maj. Gen. Saurip Kadi, former Army Special
Force (Kopassus) Chief Maj. Gen. Muchdi PR, former TNI Chief of
Intelligence Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim and former Kostrad
Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Kivlan Zen.
In the meeting, the Army officers also vowed to remain united.
"We have agreed that the Army must be solid and united. Army
officers, wherever they are assigned, must always maintain
solidarity and all their acts should be based on the policies of
the Army headquarters," Endriartono said.
The four-star general suggested that state security
authorities and the House of Representatives establish "a
transitional regulation", which will be valid only for a
temporary period of time, stipulating that TNI could be given
freedom to conduct its security role.
"The regulation is required as our legal umbrella, so that our
soldiers on the field can be proactive in maintaining security,"
he said.
He said the idea came amid the Army's concern over the
security problem in the country.
Earlier this week, Minister of Defense Mahfud M.D. voiced his
concern over the separation of the National Police from the TNI,
saying that it could "create a lot of problems".
Mahfud claimed that a decree of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) on the separation needed to be reviewed in the
next MPR's annual session considering that, among other things,
the National Police had a weak intelligence network and that the
police were technically underequipped to deal on their own with
situations of domestic chaos.
Mahfud's statement was strongly criticized by the police,
saying that it was the minister's personal opinion.
Endriartono, however, refused to call the meeting a
"reconciliation among Army officers", saying that "there are no
factions in the Army". (02)