Richel Langit, Jakarta – Indonesia's war on terrorism is drawing the country's powerful military back on to the political stage, threatening to put an end to political reforms and progress toward fuller democracy.

The appointment of two retired generals to key positions in the anti-terror drive highlights President Megawati Sukarnoputri's reluctance to divest the military off its political role, which dominated the country's life for more than three decades under the leadership of the dictator Suharto.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a retired four-star army general, has been appointed coordinating minister for political and security affairs, heading the country's anti-terrorism drive, while a retired three-star army general who heads the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), M A Hendropriyono, has been made coordinator of all of the country's intelligence.

Currently, Indonesia has four intelligence units: BIN, which reports directly to the president; military intelligence (Bais), which is under the auspices of the military chief; police intelligence (Intelpam), which the responsible of the police chief; and an intelligence unit responsible to the attorney general.

The appointment of Yudhoyono and Hendropriyono has raised concerns that the military is making a comeback after members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest legislative body, agreed to end the military's political role officially by 2004, when the country is to hold a direct presidential election.

There is no doubt that Yudhoyono and Hendropriyono will greatly influence the government's policies against terrorist networks, blamed for the deadly bomb explosions in the county's prime tourist destination, Bali, once considered a symbol of peace and order. Hours before Megawati issued two government regulations on terrorism, she consulted Yudhoyono and Hendropriyono as well as military chief General Indriartono Sutarto, while Attorney General A M Rachman was ignored.

Megawati seems to have left everything to Yudhoyono and Hendropriyono; she did not address the nation about the terrorist attacks until almost 13 hours after the bomb blasts, and has not done so again since. Yudhoyono has been holding regular news conferences to unveil government policies and security measures taken in dealing with terrorism. He has also warned the population of possible new terrorist attacks, and on Monday he spelled out government measures against terrorism and urged Muslim groups to demonstrate that they are against violence and terrorism.

Given the police's poor intelligence, Megawati will have to rely heavily on military intelligence to unravel the terrorist attacks, which may push the country into another round of economic crisis. Already, military intelligence says it has identified the bombers, but the police say they have no leads to possible suspects. This shows that the military intelligence apparatus was not only more prepared to deal with terrorism but that the military was not willing to share its information with the police, which was separated from the military in January 2001. This is despite the fact that BIN has been appointed to coordinate the work of the country's intelligence. The military is intent on going it alone and taking the credit for itself.

The Bali bomb blasts, which killed at least 190 and injured more than 300 people, mostly foreigners, has awakened the country to the fact that terrorist networks are operating in the country and that they are out to shatter peace and order in the world's biggest Islamic country. There was a prevailing feeling among Indonesians after the terrorist attacks that military personnel should be deployed throughout the country to reduce its vulnerability to terrorist attacks. The military was seen as possessing the qualified personnel to safeguard vital infrastructure across the archipelago and to track down those responsible for the Bali attacks. Indeed, the military has the most qualified intelligence personnel.

And that is exactly what the Megawati administration has done. Almost immediately after the Bali blasts, the government instructed military leaders to be on the alert, with thousands of military personnel deployed in vital potential targets such as mining companies, electricity and telecommunication installations, and airports throughout the country.

The return of the military into politics and the use of intelligence data, as stipulated in the government regulation on anti-terrorism, to arrest, detain, question, and prosecute suspected terrorists revives memories of human-rights violations, which if they reappear could put an end to the democratization drive. During Suharto's 32 years of leadership, intelligence data were often used to silence his political opponents and government critics.

The recently issued anti-terrorism regulations stipulate that investigators should obtain court approval before arresting, detaining, and bringing to court suspected terrorists. The problem, however, is that the country's judges are not used to using intelligence data to bring somebody to court. Human-rights abuses are likely to go unchecked. During Suharto's rule, the label "communist" was often used to put an end to someone's career, or even his life. This labeling was often used by feuding groups in order to gain support from the government. New fears that political careers will now be destroyed with the "terrorist" label are all too real.