Warief Djajanto Basorie, Jakarta – How much has the Indonesian Military (TNI) changed? One potential change currently under review is whether military service should be mandatory or voluntary. The Jakarta Post editorial Nov. 21 questions the relevance of pending compulsory military service in a bill now before the House of Representatives (DPR).
"At least until military reform is completed, which should be translated into an armed forces that protects the people and guards democracy, we should think twice, or thrice, about debating the reserve component bill," the editorial concludes.
Meanwhile, on the broader issue of military reform, a US-based scholar pours praise on the TNI for its reforms since the end of former president Soeharto's 32-year authoritarian New Order regime in 1998. Alfred C. Stephan, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Tolerance and Religion at Columbia University, listed TNI actions that have contributed to Indonesia's progress toward democracy: Giving away their seats in the House, abandoning the dual function concept and turning the police into a separate armed force (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 30 2007).
A closer look shows most of the moves for TNI reform occurred during the presidency of Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid (Oct 1999 -July 2001). A chapter in a recently published study lists at least six TNI reforms during Wahid's 21-month tenure in comparison to two under Megawati Sukarnoputri (July 2001-Oct 2004) and two under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the current president.
The chapter, simply titled Tentara Nasional Indonesia, is in the Almanak Reformasi Sektor Keamanan Indonesia 2007 (2007 Almanac on Indonesia's Security Sector Reform), which was published in August 2007 by the Indonesian Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies (LESPERSSI). The chapter's author, Al Araf, a research coordinator at Imparsial, the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor, lauds Gus Dur as "serious and successful in pushing forward TNI reform".
Under Gus Dur's watch, the reforms included reorganization of the Defense and Security Department to become the Defense Department (1999); appointing a civilian as defense minister (1999); declaration of political neutrality and disassociation from Golkar, the party in perennial power during Soeharto's New Order (1999); a split in the structure and role of the TNI and the police force (2000); dissolution of the Dual Function doctrine that gave the armed forces a defense role and a social-political role (2000); and appointment of an admiral as TNI commander, a position unfailingly filled by an Army general in the Soeharto years (2000).
Meanwhile Megawati oversaw the enactment of the Defense Law (2002) and the TNI Law (2004). Whereas the changes under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were the abolishment of the military/police faction in the House of Representatives (2004) and an end to the civil unrest in Aceh (2005).
During Yudhoyono's present term, continuation of TNI reform seems to have faltered. Apparently the president, a retired general, has put the matter on the back burner. In his 2007 state of nation address on Aug. 16, the president gave no mention of TNI reform but did speak of reforming the bureaucracy.
Yet TNI reform is still incomplete. Unfinished work includes the restructuring of the territorial command set-up as obligated under Article 11 of the 2004 TNI Act and the transfer of TNI businesses to the government. Also of concern are the unresolved cases of human rights violations and the slow pace of military court reform. On businesses, Article 39 of the TNI Act emphatically states that soldiers of the TNI are prohibited from becoming members of a political party; engaging in practical politics; becoming involved in business activities; and being elected as legislators or in other political offices.
President Yudhoyono should be able to put military reform back on the front burner. He showed his steel in appointing an Air Force marshal as the TNI commander and not an Army general who had the DPR's backing. Yudhoyono's point was to institutionalize the rotation of the chief of the armed forces among the three services.
Yudhoyono had this to say on leadership when he spoke before business leaders on Oct. 25: "In the scheme of turning a vision into reality, leadership is essential. When I say leadership, it is not just at the very top level at the presidency, but we also need to see leadership applied by ministers in various government agencies, in the Parliament, in local governments, and in civil society, and in the business sector. So leadership means also the ability of the nation's leaders to work together to reach a common goal".
Leadership to Yudhoyono is teamwork. His thumping electoral mandate by winning 61% of the votes against 39 percent for Megawati in the 2004 runoff presidential election is political capital he has not yet totally spent. This is capital to make his team work.
Vested interests may well be blocking the road to further reform. To complete the job, the people in charge must be individuals of resolute mettle to remove these restraints of TNI reform. To envision the big picture of security sector reform and good governance, the president's team must be unbought by and unbowed to entrenched vested interests.
[The writer is a Jakarta-based freelancer. He can be reached at wariefdj@yahoo.com.]