Keith B. Richburg, Jakarta – In the five decades since Indonesia achieved independence following a bloody anti-colonial war, the Indonesian Armed Forces, or ABRI, have played the pivotal role in the country's politics and society. Their role is enshrined in the constitutional doctrine known as "dual function," which allows serving military officers to hold key positions in the government and parliament.

But now, as Indonesia embarks on a new era of democracy after the fall of its longtime autocratic leader, Suharto, the armed forces are looking to reduce their active involvement in politics. Heeding the popular demands for a more open political system – and perhaps taking a cue from militaries elsewhere around the region – ABRI is preparing to assume a somewhat diminished profile in the New Indonesia.

"The idea of ABRI now is to readjust its role, to build a new political role sharing," said Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, ABRI's chief of socio-political affairs and the main thinker behind the armed forces' own reform program. "ABRI must participate in developing the nation," he said. "We have to continuously readjust and reposition."

The American-trained general, speaking casually and at length in his office at the sprawling armed forces compound on the edge of Jakarta, reflected on the dramatic changes that have swept this nation in the last three weeks: Suharto's unexpected resignation, B.J. Habibie's unlikely elevation to the presidency, the formation of new political parties, the release of some prisoners of conscience and the flowering of the kind of open debate that would have been suppressed just a few weeks ago. Yudhoyono compared it to the shock of an atomic bomb exploding.

"It happened in the past in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe," he said. "It's happened now in our country. ...I think this is a shock that exists in our country. We have to respond quickly. We have to adjust rapidly."

One such response, the general said, will require the armed forces to begin pulling back from their traditional "dual function" involvement in politics. "In some cases, in some regions, in some roles, ABRI may still influence society directly. But in other cases, and other regions, it may be better to influence indirectly. It's an open chapter."

In the interview, Gen. Yudhoyono said that while ABRI has studied other cases of the move from military rule to democracy, he believed that each country needed to find its own formula. "I do agree that we have to adopt a universal principle of democracy," he said. "But I think the precise method should be adapted to local history, local values, local culture." As ABRI searches for a new role, many analysts believe that Yudhoyono, a sophisticated and worldly officer, is the perfect person to lead the effort. Yudhoyono, along with the armed forces commander, Gen. Wiranto, is believed to represent a new breed of ABRI officer, more professional and in tune with the demands of a changing society. "Bambang Yudhoyono is the leading intellectual in the military," said Harold Crouch, a professor at the Australian National University and an expert on the Indonesian armed forces. Yudhoyono "is very close to Wiranto, and there are several others who are smart and more open-minded. They've been thinking along these lines for a long time. It just so happens they are in the top positions right now."

In Indonesia, the military is also fighting allegations from human rights groups and students that some units may be behind a recent string of incidents, including the kidnapping of more than a dozen political activists, the shooting deaths of four unarmed student protesters at Trisakti University in Jakarta, and widespread riots that left 1,188 people dead. Many, including opposition leader Amien Rais, now say they believe those riots, and attacks on the ethnic Chinese minority, may have been orchestrated by elements of the armed forces bent on sowing confusion and unrest.

There also has been intense speculation that it was the armed forces, and specifically General Wiranto, who gave Suharto the ultimatum that it was time for him to step down. But Yudhoyono disputed the accounts that Wiranto flatly told Suharto to go. What apparently did happen was a more subtle interchange in which the aging president was presented with a stark picture of a capital in flames and a populace that had lost its faith in his ability to govern. Resignation was likely one of several options presented to the president by Wiranto when they talked the night before he resigned – but it was the only viable option on the list.

"As far as I know, there was no intention of ABRI to seize power or to pose to the president to step down," Yudhoyono said. "But we do have a constitutional channel, a communications channel, to report the reality, what is happening, the true demands and aspirations of the people." Asked specifically if Suharto chose to resign because of Wiranto's assessment that the situation had become untenable, Yudhoyono replied: "In a broader sense, I think ABRI's recommendations were part of the president's decision."

[At a graduation ceremony on June 17, police institute lecturer Dr T.B. Ronny Nitikasbara, said that the police should be separated from the armed forces (ABRI), which is currently made up of the army, navy, air-force and police, who were integrated into ABRI by a presidential decree in 1969. Prompted by issues of autonomy and funding, the idea was proposed earlier in June by the National Human Rights Commission and according to Nitikasbara, negotiations are already underway with high-ranking ABRI officials - James Balowski.]