Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – The year 2007 ended with the appointment of Army chief of staff Gen. Djoko Santoso to head of the Indonesian Military (TNI), replacing the retiring Air Force Marshall Djoko Suyanto and initiating a reshuffle within the three military forces.
Santoso's appointment did not violate the mechanism stipulated in the 2004 law on the TNI, but it broke the tradition of rotating the TNI leadership among the three military forces – the Army, the Navy and the Air Force – that had been practiced since the presidency of Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid. The law says only that the TNI leadership "could be" rotated among the three forces.
As the article does not stipulate a system of rotation, it therefore gives the President the opportunity to pick a TNI chief who would potentially be a political ally during the difficult times of his presidency.
This political consideration cannot be separated from the fact that the 2009 presidential election is approaching. The President has yet to officially announce his intentions, but many believe he will seek reelection.
The military's strong bargaining power in the country's political affairs has a strong correlation, some analysts say, with the fact it is the only institution in the country, aside from the Police, equipped with arms.
It is with this control of arms that on many occasions its personnel has abused its power for non-military purposes, including involvement in business.
The year 2007 witnessed the failure on the government's part to make a highly anticipated announcement on TNI businesses. The release of the presidential decree, which is expected to define, classify and uncover all TNI businesses, has passed the October 2005 deadline the government previously pledged.
The government then blundered in June when it announced that only six businesses, out of some 1,500 previously identified, met the criteria of TNI businesses. The announcement was controversial as its definition of a TNI business – which included only entities with assets over US$50,000 – fell far short of credible expectations.
Such a narrow definition would mean that military businesses with assets below $50,000, or military businesses that do not even require assets or capital, cannot be categorized as a TNI business.
Such a classification deviates from the initial idea of TNI reforms – that is, for it to focus on its role as the country's key defense element – because it covers only partial elements of TNI businesses.
Another fault of being one of only two institutions to controls arms in the country is the temptation for TNI soldiers to use weapons in settling disputes.
An obvious example is the May 30 shooting spree in Alas Tlogo village of East Java's Pasuruan regency, which left four villagers dead and eight wounded. The shooting occurred over a dispute between villagers and Navy officers involving a plot of land.
The case took a controversial turn when the 13 Navy officers implicated in the shooting incident were released by the Navy Military Police due to an expired detention period. Since then, there has been no information on the prosecution of involved parties, nor a clarification on the status of the disputed property.
The general public, moreover, has not been the only party to fall into dispute with TNI officers.
There were at least six occurrences of brawls between the TNI and Police officers in the year 2007, with the most recent at the Pemalang bus terminal in Central Java in October. No fatalities were reported, but one TNI officer was seriously wounded in the incident.
A month earlier, two officers were killed and five others injured in a series of brawls between the TNI and police in Ternate, North Maluku.
There has never been a clear explanation on the real causes of these incidents, with the National Police headquarters denying the brawls had any correlation with the Police's separation from the TNI in 2001. The Police instead ascribes the brawls to certain elements within the two forces that had been acting irresponsibly in the name of "esprit de corps".
One aspect that has drawn public concern is the rare prosecution of soldiers or officers implicated in corruption cases within the military institutions. The only ongoing prosecution of such a military-related graft case is the investigation into alleged corruption at the TNI's insurance company PT Asabri. This case, however, does not implicate any active military officers, only retired ones.
Another aspect the TNI has to consider is the implementation of its territorial command, which has left many Indonesians traumatized. The command system has caused serious problems, mainly in the realm of human rights, due partly to the military's repressive approach to any opposition against the ruling New Order government.
It is imperative the TNI redefine its territorial concept so to avoid the stigma of being the military arm of the ruling government and, most important of all, to be prepared to meet global security threats and challenges.