Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Despite its withdrawal from practical politics, the military remains one of the most powerful political institutions in the country, and questions on whether it will return to practical politics always arise during elections.

This year's election is no exception. If anything, the speculation, and fears, have only heightened now that the contenders in July's presidential polls include four retired military generals – incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of the Democratic Party; Wiranto, chairman of the People's Conscience Party, or Hanura; Prabowo Subianto, chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party, or Gerindra; and former Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso. In addition, virtually all the big political parties in the country now count dozens of former military personnel among their ranks.

Just recently, a group of retired military generals organized a news conference to announce its intention to support candidates who fight for a return to the original 1945 Constitution. Of the presidential candidates, only Prabowo, former commander of the Army's Special Forces, or Kopassus, has stated that as one of his aims.

Under the amended constitution approved in 2004, active military personnel are banned from practical politics, including even voting. Going back to the original 1945 constitution would allow the military to return to the country's political life.

Experts, however, agree that there is little chance for the military to make a political comeback now. The closest thing to that, they say, would be an attempt by political parties to try to politicize the military.

"It's the political parties and figures who always try to drag the military into the election process," said Indra Samego, a political and military analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, or LIPI.

There are more than a million military and police personnel throughout the country. Add to that their family members, and you have a significant potential voting bloc and political force attractive to the parties.

Former political activist Fajrul Rahman has alleged that Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party might use the military to win the elections, especially now that coalition partner Golkar Party and Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, were distancing themselves from the ruling party.

Yudhoyono, according to Fajrul, has depended upon the political apparatuses of coalition partners Golkar and PKS to help rule the country. Now that the coalition appears to be crumbling, says Fajrul, Yudhoyono is likely to enlist the military and police to help him and his party win the elections.

The issue of military involvement in the upcoming elections made headlines earlier this year when Yudhoyono said that an army officer had urged people against voting for a candidate whose name began with "S." The subtext of Yudhoyono's remark was that he had no intention of dragging the military into the political arena – but that other presidential candidates do.

The military's territorial command structure, which allows it to deploy members throughout the country, is a holdover from Suharto's 32-year rule, when the military was not only a security force but also an active political player that helped keep the strongman in power.

Following Suharto's resignation in May 1998, the military was forced to relinquish seats in the House of Representatives and hand over its lucrative business ventures to the government. Active military members are also barred from casting their votes in elections, let alone joining political parties.

The military has since provided a detailed plan for how to safeguard the institution's neutrality through, among other things, bans on active military personnel being present at polling stations even when their family members were casting their votes.

Andi Widjajanto of the University of Indonesia, says, however, that Yudhoyono has tried to use the military for his own political designs, an apparent reference to retired Lt. Gen. Muhammad Yasin's admission that he and several active high-ranking Army officers supported Yudhoyono in the 2004 presidential elections through a "mass organization" called Barisan Nasional.

Independent police observer Bambang Widodo Umar said that an internal meeting of families of police personnel in Banjarnegara, Central Java Province, in 2004 clearly showed that they were being pushed to vote for former president Megawati Sukarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P.

A military source who declined to be named said that three presidential candidates competing to win voters at the Pesantren Az-Zaytun, an Islamic boarding school in West Java Province, used military facilities in their campaigns in 2004.

However, Bambang said that police and military officers who graduated from the officers' academy before 2000 were vulnerable to being dragged into politics because they had learned the Suharto-era military doctrine under which the military had a role in both security and political affairs.

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono brushed aside all suggestions, saying that the military is now committed to helping establish good governance based on democratic principles.

"It means the military's role must be decreased, while civilians must be given broader ones through nongovernmental organizations, political parties, local governments and police departments," Juwono said, adding that the military would only be deployed to deal with issues that threaten national sovereignty.

Juwono added that for the military, the gate to political and legal reform in Indonesia had already been opened in 1998, with civil societies were becoming increasingly capable and well-organized.

Along with the government, Juwono said, the military had made a commitment to a stable, democratic national political scene under the framework laid out through the post-Suharto reform process.

"Let us say that there is a group of military personnel who want to return to past times, they can't do that because the commitment bars them." Juwono said. "Furthermore, it is now more difficult to impose order on the people. That's why I am sure the military will not become involved in politics."

However, Indria Samego said that the real test would be what happens to voters in local provinces, which are more vulnerable to political intervention. Voters in big cities, he said, might have better political awareness than provincial voters, due to better levels of education and information access.

"When we want to supervise and prevent military and police structures from being used by political parties in the elections, give attention to the regions," Indria said.