M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – The Coalition for Democracy is of the opinion that granting powers to the commander of the armed forces (TNI) to mobilise troops in an emergency situation, without a decision of the President, is a move to give legality to the TNI commander to take a political decision in violation of the Law on the State Defence and the 1945 Constitution.
The Coalition made this clear at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday, 3 March, responding to the draft bill, in particular the highly controversial Article 19. The Coalition is composed of a number of commentators, activists and human rights activists, including lain Kusnanto Anggoro, Todung Mulya Lubis, Bambang Widjojanto, Munir, Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, Chusnul Mariyah, Fajrul Falakh, Rizal Sukma, Syamsudin Haris.
In its statement, the Coalition said that granting such powers would legitimise moves by the TNI commander to take a political decision by seizing the authority to mobilise the armed forces which, according to article 14 of Law No 3, 2002 regarding State Defence, is the sole authority of the president together with parliament.
This is true also of the stipulation regarding the declaration of a state of emergency which, according to Article 10 of the 1945 Constitution, falls within the authority of the President acting with the approval of the DPR, which would subsequently be formalised in a special law.
This unilateral assessment of the social and political situation makes clear once again the ideological stance of the TNI as the sole arbiter of the interests and safety of the nation and state.
The Coalition believes that it is not for the TNI commander, the chief of police or the head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to have the authority to adopt political decisions that are the sole authority of the government and cabinet.
"The attempts that have been put made in the past few days to defend Article 19 of the draft TNI law have confused the armed forces political role with the possible emergence of threats, while failing to draw any distinction between military strategy and military operations," the statement said.
Matters such as quelling mass unrest or handling natural disasters, as mentioned by the commander of the TNI, are not part of the basic tasks of the TNI. The TNI cannot be mobilisied autonomously without a political decision having first been taken.
According to the Coalition, any move to handle armed threats under Article 19 ignores the principle that military power may only be used in proportion to the escalating threat. Arguing that these powers would only be used to force back foreign forces making intrusions into Indonesian territory is just an attempt to defend the inclusion of this article. Responding to such intrusions is simply part of the routine operations of any force included in a joint operation.
"In other words, the draft as it stands will roll back the process of democratisation and efforts to reform the armed forces", the statement said. The Coalition also said that the draft law could strengthen the position of the TNI as an independent institution.
"The controversy that has arisen over this article means that it should be deleted from the draft. This would safeguard the professionalism of the TNI as a force for the defence of the state and protect it from political interests," the Coalition for Democracy said in its statement.