Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) is still heavily politicized, with many of its key members joining the elections race more than 10 years on from the outset of the military reform, experts and activists say.
The political tide within the TNI, combined with a slashed budget, will weaken the military, a joint press briefing heard in Jakarta on Monday.
As a consequence, analysts said, the reform movement would either take off, or the nation's soldiers would become frustrated, resulting in a possible formal political intervention by the TNI.
During the session, the civilian court was criticized by the event's organizers for failing to prosecute incriminated military personnel.
The event's organizers were the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Solidarity, Imparsial, Infid, Pacivis, the University of Indonesia, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and ProPatria.
They also argued that an ongoing movement to transfer military-controlled businesses to civilian hands was half-hearted and non-transparent.
Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid said the military had proven unable to distance itself from politics, citing the more than 100 active military officers registered to compete in regional and legislative elections next year as well as more than a dozen retired generals set to contest the presidential election.
"The military can forget their main duty to defend the nation because its officials are creating internal conflicts by competing against one another in the elections," he said.
Military expert Andi Widjajanto of the Institute of Defense and Security Studies said the government had failed to improve the welfare of low-ranked soldiers, and that there were concerns the military budget would be slashed.
"Looking back at history, the economic crises, such as the 1998 crisis, have always weakened the military. While a weakened military opens the door for civilians to reform it, it will also frustrate the soldiers," he said.
Andi said the current economic crisis would further weaken the military, increase frustration and, if the government failed to act properly, risk political intervention or even a coup.
"The military may get weaker in 2010 or 2011. There is a 'curse' on the military that it will always return to politics. If the government doesn't do anything, it will happen again," he said.
Rizal Sukma of the CSIS said the government must identify any potential threats and act accordingly by allocating money on a needs basis. He said the military had said Indonesia's chief threat was from natural and maritime disasters, rather than from foreign attacks.
"We don't need many jet fighters or submarines to handle these. If we focus on these threats, the Rp 36 trillion (US$3.67 billion) allocated for defense is enough," he said.