Jakarta – Indonesia's military do not vote, but unlike most of the 48 parties contesting Indonesia's elections they are already assured of a solid block of seats in parliament. Thirty-eight of the 500 seats in the house go by right to the armed forces, who along with the police force number some 448,000 men, as will 10 percent of all the seats in provincial and district assemblies whose members are also elected Monday.
According to observers barely half a dozen of the 48 parties contesting the first free elections since 1955 will be able to muster 10 percent of the vote, and not a single party is expected to poll more than 35 percent.
In statistical terms, one military MP represents 12,000 of his fellow servicemen while one "civilan" MP represents 310,000 people. In other words one man in uniform "weighs" 25 times more than a man out of uniform.
The military block in parliament – which is answerable to its leaders – will be a formidable, disciplined force in the intricate and difficult negotiations needed to elect the next president.
The participation of the armed forces in the political and economic life of Indonesia, based on the "dual function" awarded them for the role they played in winning the country's independence, gives them the opportunity to extend their influence in every field of the country's life.
Outside their official role, many military – detached, active and retired – serve in the government, in big state companies as well as in the administration, forming a parallel heirarchy from the highest levels down to the lowliest village.
As recently as 1996, all the provincial governors and half the district chiefs were from the military.
Accepted without question since Suharto, then still a general, took power 32 years ago, the dominance of the military has since his fall been openly challenged.
This about-face was fuelled equally by the brutality of the armed forces in squashing protests, the role played by certain units in the disappearance of political opponents and the public expose of serious human rights abuses committed not only in East Timor and Irian Jaya but in the province of Aceh.
The defenders of "dual function" in Indonesia argue that the army is the most solid institution in the country and the only one capable of defending it, a position strongly contested by the country's new reformist political parties, notably the National Mandate Party of Amien Rais and the National Awakening Party of Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
In contrast, Megawati Sukarnoputri, who heads the Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP), a strong favorite in the polls, is uncritical of the privileged role of the armed forces whose nationalist position she echoes.
And she does not seem to hold the armed forces responsible for their role in her eviction from the leadership of the Indonesian Democracy Party and the assault on her party headquarters in July of 1996.
The demonstrations that broke out spontaneously were the worst in 20 years in the center of the capital. They are now generally considered as the beginning of the process which resulted less than two years later with the departure of Suharto.