As in the previous few years, the anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI) will be commemorated without fanfare. The ceremony to mark the 61st armed forces day Thursday will be a modest one, in line with the spirit of the fasting month of Ramadhan.

This year's TNI anniversary celebration, however, comes on the heels of the military coup against the Thai civilian government, the first after 15 years.

Many have lashed out at the Thai army for the putsch, which is unacceptable for whatever reason as not only has it put democracy in danger but also reinstated the use of the power of the gun.

In response to the coup, TNI Commander Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto has asserted the idea of a coup attempt is alien to the military's culture. The TNI, he underlines, is committed to upholding democracy and the law. Suyanto vows that the Indonesian armed forces will always respect the civilian government, which was democratically elected.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself has brushed aside the possibility of the military taking away the country's hard-won democracy. On a number of occasions he has warned the military against practicing politics, the latest when addressing TNI top brass just hours before the coup in Thailand was launched.

During his trip to the United States, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told American top businesspeople that TNI soldiers had been "returned" to the barracks to allow democracy to flourish.

The commitment of the present government and the TNI leadership to democracy comes as a relief. But who can guarantee the military will not be tempted to seize power in the future, or at least after the present national leaders step down?

History tells us a lot about the military's search for power in many countries, including Indonesia, usually stemming from a crisis that escalated out of control. Those people in uniform claimed they were the defenders of the nation and their actions a necessity to keep national unity intact when they seized power.

Militaristic rule in Indonesia, which followed an aborted coup attempt blamed on the communists in September 1965, was cheered in the beginning but it gradually showed its evil face. A corrupt mentality and the politicization of the law are the legacy of the past regime, which the nation is struggling to root out.

The possibility is still there for the military to claw its way back to power here, if, learning from Thailand, corruption is marauding or if the economy slumps to its ebb as Indonesia experienced in 1965. Therefore the survival of democracy largely depends on the civilian government; its capability of eradicating poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, corruption and other "time bombs" of social and political diseases will determine whether civilian supremacy is durable.

On the other side of the coin, the country's transformation into a full-fledged democracy will also rely on the acceleration of TNI internal reform.

Emerging from the hardships inflicted by the regional economic crisis and domestic political turbulence in the late 1990s, Indonesia took a major stride toward democracy in 2000 with the historic separation of the police force from the armed forces. The police have since played a leading role in security affairs, with full support from the military.

Another major step in political reform in the aftermath of Soeharto's resignation in 1998 was the termination of the TNI's political role. The armed forces, once a dominant player in both the House of Representatives (DPR) and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), are no longer represented in the legislative bodies. The law allows military individuals to exercise their right to vote in exchange for their loss of legislative seats, but it remains a controversy until today.

Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI marks a further progress in military reform as it bans the military from business as of 2009. Profit-seeking in business has stood between the military and professionalism, which is one of the goals of the reform.

The reform movement has stripped the military of the privileges it enjoyed in the past, one by one. The next challenge for the military's commitment to reform will be their submission to the civilian justice system.

TNI leadership has demonstrated resistance to the political move in the House to enforce the long-delayed 2000 MPR decree, which orders soldiers to stand trial for general crimes at a civilian court, instead of the military tribunal.

The TNI's acceptance of the principle of equality before the law will precipitate its internal reform and place it on a par with other champions of democracy.