Local military chiefs in two regencies in East Java set an unwanted political precedent last week by heavily – and effectively – demanding two local TV stations cancel the scheduled broadcasting of an opera on our prominent but controversial national hero, Tan Malaka.

In this country where many people are paranoid about communism, tolerance and pluralism, the action of Kediri military commander Lt. Col. Bambang Sudarmanto and his Malang counterpart naturally win a big applause.

Bambang, as reported by The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, insisted that the Opera Tan Malaka TV show should be banned because the central figure in the program was a communist. But he forgot that Tan Malaka is a national hero, and was one of the country's most outstanding founding fathers.

Some may regard the Army officers act of forcing their will on media institutions as heroic, but they have committed two fundamental violations of the Constitution.

First, the military leaders have blatantly defied the freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

The nation made an amazing progress in transforming its state from authoritarian into a full-fledge democracy in less than a decade after the fall of Soeharto in May 1998. Any attempts to weaken the pillars of our democracy therefore should not be tolerated as they threaten the fundamentals of this nation.

Second, the TNI has committed to the civil supremacy principle as a result of its sweeping reforms. The amended Constitution restricts the military's role to merely national defense or simply directing the military "to return to the barracks".

It is a big relief, however, that the Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman made it clear Tuesday that the military should not be involved in politics.

We must fairly acknowledge the military's tremendous progress in the reform process. Now we hardly see traces of their past deeds. Of course it still has many unresolved issues on its hands, especially past human rights violations cases implicating the armed forces and military business.

But we should not let temptations facing the military to regain its lucrative power remain there. A widening gap of living conditions between the military and police personnel is just an example of the pull factors that might mean a possible return to the good old days The police force, which used to be part of the military under Soeharto, is now fully in charge of domestic security and public order, depriving the military of extra income.

The government has moved to improve the military's welfare. But in a country where corruption is so rampant, civil servants and the military are often very dependent on side jobs.

But no matter how sympathetic we are with the reality of confronting the military, we should allow no room for excuses and no room for a military regime to revive.

The ban on the opera in Kediri and Malang is a litmus test for the TNI to prove its pledge to guard democracy and reforms, and for the government to protect freedom of expression of citizens.