TNI still unwilling to accept civilian supremacy: Observers

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.