TNI still unwilling to accept civilian supremacy: Observers

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Military observers said on Friday that the Indonesian Military (TNI) had made some progress in reforming in the last 5 years, but pointed out other problems that it must improve to meet the nation's expectations and uphold democracy.

Those low marks included the TNI's seeming lack of respect for civilian leadership and a lack of professionalism, according to local analysts.

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said the Indonesian military remained unwilling to wholeheartedly accept civilian rule five years after reform, although they should be given credit keeping some distance from public policy-making.

"The Indonesian Military, for example, is not willing to be subordinate to the civilian-run Ministry of Defense, despite public pressure," Ikrar, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), told The Jakarta Post.

The public has demanded that the Indonesian military be placed under the Ministry of Defense to ensure civilian supremacy, a prerequisite for democracy.

However, the demand has met stiff resistance from the military, and resulted in the issuance of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree No. 7/2000, which placed the military under the direct supervision of the president.

Another example of an area that needs improvement is related to the high profile Sukhoi deal.

According to Ikrar, the Sukhoi deal was executed by the Indonesian military without the consent of the Ministry of Defense, although it was requested by defense law. The military essentially left the defense ministry out of loop, which caused an uproar among legislators, who charged that the deal was not entirely transparent.

The Sukhoi deal refers to a US$192.6 million countertrade deal between Indonesia and Russia, in which Indonesia bought two Sukhoi SU-27 jet fighters and two MI-35 assault helicopters.

Another military observer, Kusnanto Anggoro, said that the Indonesian military must enhance its organizational competence to meet people's expectations for a professional and capable military force.

Kusnanto said he was disappointed that the Indonesian military, which would commemorate its 58th anniversary on Sunday, still lacked professionalism and technical competence.

He added that the ongoing military offensive in Aceh had apparently taken a huge toll within the ranks of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels as well as Acehnese civilians.

Kusnanto said that it would be more effective for the Indonesian military if they could curb separatism in Aceh with only a few casualties. "Needless to say, we could say that the TNI is technically incompetent to achieve its goal ," said Kusnanto, a researcher with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Organizational problems were another cause for concern, specifically the TNI bureaucracy, which was completely ineffective. "The disbursement of funds from top to bottom must go through 14 layers of authorities, creating a window of opportunity for possible corruption," said Kusnanto.

To improve the performance of the Indonesian military, Kusnanto suggested that the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) set some guidelines for the TNI's internal reform.

The government and the DPR must involve non-military representatives in the drafting of TNI-related bills, he said.

"The TNI can't reform itself. Outsiders must be involved in order to ensure that democratic values are preserved for any bill on the TNI," he said.

The government must also be willing to raise the TNI budget and improve the welfare of soldiers so that they could become a professional force and were not tempted to engage in moonlighting, he said.

The salary of low-ranking TNI personnel is very low, just slightly over minimum wage. A low-ranking marine officer in South Jakarta, for example, admitted recently that he earned only Rp 700,000 (US$90) per month, while the Jakarta regional minimum wage is Rp 630,000 per month.