TNI urged to dissolve military commands

TNI urged to dissolve military commands

JAKARTA (JP): Fresh demands are mounting for the Indonesian
Military (TNI) to phase out its territorial operations on the
grounds that the system is outdated and pulls the military into
political activities.

Speaking at a seminar held by the National Resilience
Institute (Lemhannas), Lt. Gen. (ret) Sayidiman Soerjohadiprodjo,
former TNI chief of sociopolitical affairs, suggested that the
territorial function could be conducted by a special force whose
members would be recruited from the Army, Air Force and Navy.

He said the special force's mission would be aimed at
defending the country's sovereignty.

"The special troops would fall under the direct command of the
TNI chief and would be deployed in the case of an emergency. The
presence of regional, district and subdistrict military commands
and soldiers in villages is no longer necessary," Sayidiman said.

Territorial military commands have been widely criticized for
discouraging a civil society and justifying the military's
dominant role in sociopolitical affairs.

The country currently has 11 regional military commands,
hundreds of military district and subdistrict commands and has
thousands of soldiers deployed in villages across the
archipelago.

Sayidiman said now that the reform movement was underway, TNI
should go back to the basic function of defense and develop its
professionalism in order to improve its image.

Asked about TNI's future role, he said the military should
focus on its defense function.

"Besides internal reform, TNI should focus on training
programs to produce professional soldiers and improve its
intelligence function to detect any threats to national unity.
Intelligence officers should master foreign languages," he said.

To improve personnel competence, Sayidiman suggested that TNI
reform its education curriculum to produce professional and
intelligent officers.

"The present military academies should be dissolved and
replaced by a military university to produce professional cadets
at an undergraduate level. Talented officers should be allowed to
take a post-graduate program at the Staff and Command School
(Sesko)," he said.

Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a researcher at the Indonesian Institute
of Sciences (LIPI), said territorial military commands should be
dissolved because of their political interests.

"The territorial function has been widely perceived as a form
of militarism in provinces and regencies, since military
commanders play a key role in the decision-making process in
local administrations," she said.

Dewi warned that regional autonomy would not proceed
successfully if the present territorial system was maintained.

"Regional autonomy will bring nothing to the people as long as
the military still dominates the policy and decision-making
process in regions," she said.

She suggested that the House of Representatives draw up a new
security law regulating military deployment in a state of
emergency at home.

The government of former president B.J. Habibie failed to pass
the 1998 State Security Bill into law due to widespread protests.
Dewi, a close aide to Habibie, said the bill would have clearly
regulated military deployment in the case of an emergency.

"The bill was rejected not because of its content but because
it was proposed by the military, whose image was badly
tarnished," Dewi said.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo, TNI chief of territorial
affairs, said the current territorial system was open to change
because of its temporary nature.

"We need an acceptable and legitimate territorial security
arrangement to handle security problems in the future. We should
no longer depend on personal opinions on how the territorial
system should work," he said.

He suggested that the House carry out an objective evaluation
of the military's territorial function before scrapping it.

"If it is deemed necessary, there should be some conditions on
how it should work. But if it has to be abolished, all things
regarding security matters should be entrusted to local
administrations and the National Police," he said. (rms)