Jakarta – Observers welcomed the Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters' plan to drop its territorial function and to focus on defense duties, saying it was a positive move to improve its professionalism.

TNI's chief for territorial affairs Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo revealed on Tuesday that based on the results of the recent Workshop on Military Territorial Function, the military wanted to drop its territorial functions and would focus on defense affairs.

"But, such a move is not that easy to implement as there are still differences in understanding and vision among regional military commanders," Hermawan Sulistyo, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He said there were many regional military chiefs who still adopted old practices since they adhered to the belief that the military was superior to civilians, "and therefore they are unable to let go of TNI's socio-political functions."

"So, the reform measures which have been agreed upon by the military headquarters in Jakarta are not always applicable in the provinces because many regional military commanders still defend old military practices," he said. "So it very much depends on who heads the regional military commands," he added. He said the military regional commands would still need to be maintained for some time before being gradually phased out.

Military observer M.T. Arifin said the idea to drop the territorial function was part of the process within the military of leaving politics. "I think the process is still going on and of course it takes place in stages and takes time," he told the Post. He agreed with Hermawan that the military regional commands could not be phased out in the immediate future. "But their function should be narrowed so that they deal only with defense concerns."

Both of them, however, agreed that if the military managed to leave its territorial function it would boost the effort to create a professional military, whose function was only to the defend the nation. "As a consequence of the policy, all the military men in the House of Representatives (DPR) must be withdrawn. And I believe that many military officers are not happy with their presence in the legislature," Hermawan added.

Observer Indro Tjahjono, while welcoming the plan, expressed reservations that the plan to drop the military's territorial function would take place smoothly since there were still many officers who wanted to be involved in politics. He said that competition among factions in the military was won by those who were not in favor of the reform process and who now enjoyed political support. "But if the military really wants to drop its territorial function, it should be followed by the dissolution of the regional military commands which have been used as political instruments in the past," Indro said in a seminar on The Military in Megawati's Government on Wednesday.

A legislator from the Military/Police faction in the House, Christina M. Rantetana, said there were many military officers who agreed that they should no longer be used as a political tool. "Actually, we want to become a professional military which is no longer involved in political affairs, but it is not easy. We need support from all segments of society," she told the seminar.