Reform of the TNI (Indonesian military) and National
Police Force (Polri) must be resolved so that it is
in concert with civilian supremacy as the pillar of
a democratic system.
The reform agenda of the TNI/Polri must be completed
in unison, not in installments, one by one. Delays
only lay the grounds for compromises, horse trading
with sections of the TNI/Polri’s internal leadership
and the political parties in power that are
exploiting the reform of the TNI/Polri for their own
interests. Delays will only end in distortions, such
as ending the political role of the military being
reduced to merely the abolishing the TNI/Polri
factions in parliament while the territorial command
structure (Koter) — the political machine that has
been responsible for the majority of cases of gross
human rights violations by the TNI/Polri - has
instead been retained. Likewise, resolving human
right violations by high-ranking TNI/Polri officers
though the courts was reduced to resolution by
reconciliation.
In relation to the view that giving voting rights to
the TNI/Polri in the 2009 general elections should
be in parallel with the upholding of human rights,
the People’s Democratic Party (PRD) declares its
agreement. In so far as these voting rights
represent the individual political rights of
TNI/Polri members as citizens, there can be
absolutely no discrimination with regard to such
rights. Doing this however will only have a positive
effect when all of the aspects of reforming the
TNI/Polri also follow within the same time frame. In
addition to this, we must distinguish between the
individual rights of the TNI/Polri as citizens and
the TNI as a military institution that has the
special right to carry arms - that is as a tool of
national defense in confronting the threat of attack
from another country. The key to this issue is
clearly regulating their rights as citizens and
their obligations to the TNI/Polri in order that
they do not contradict each other and are carried
out consistently. It is this that is the best
measure of the professionalism of the TNI/Polri.
Giving voting rights to the TNI/Polri is part and
parcel of their political rights as citizens, and is
precisely what will have positive meaning for the
quality of democracy in the future. Giving them such
political rights will make TNI/Polri officers be in
touch with the realities of the nation’s problems
and the lives of the Indonesian people. It will also
lead them a fuller understanding of the roots of the
social, economic and political conflicts that are
developing in civil society. Thus by giving them
voting rights, individual members of the TNI/Polri
can weigh up these issues using common sense, using
their consciousness, and can be distanced from
“command-istic” tendencies of blind discipline to
the political views of their superiors as has taken
place up until now. Demonstrations by workers to
demand improvements to their welfare and protests by
ordinary people over the injustices that befall them
will no longer be arbitrarily seen as disturbances
to security and public order. Likewise, the mindset
that national stability is only measured in terms of
there being no unrest when the reality of ordinary
peoples’ lives continues to worsen.
Concerns by parties that giving voting rights to the
TNI/Polri will result in the risk of the TNI/Polri
being boxed into a particular political party that
could lead in the direction of civil war, such as
the statement by the deputy speaker of the House of
Representatives from the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI-P), Soetardjo Suryoguritno, as well
as an almost identical view expressed by Yudi
Chrisnandi from the Golkar Party, are shallow and
erroneous. It is precisely the opposite. If these
rights are not given, for as long as the political
aspirations of TNI/Polri officers are demanding an
outlet, they will seek “special” channels such as
TNI/police factions in parliament, officers being
assigned to temporary duties such as civilian posts,
the dual social and political role of the military,
the territorial commands and so forth. It has been
proven that the impact of this is far more damaging
to the democratic system. Even though in formal
terms some social and political roles have been
abolished, it has not eliminated the TNI/Polri as
institutions from continuing to be involved in
politics or being politicised. The enthusiasm of the
TNI/Polri leadership to continue their involvement
in politics for their own political interests or the
interests of certain groups in the TNI/Polri
leadership is still often being channeled by
expressing political opinions on non-TNI/Polri
issues. In addition to this, the fear of the
military’s reaction to consistently implementing the
reform of the TNI/Polri by a mainstream political
parties has perpetuated the syndrome of a civilian
inferiority complex in the face of the institutions
of the TNI/Polri and is precisely what has caused
the development democracy to be so fragile.
This is ridiculous because what the mainstream
political forces are afraid of is precisely the
tools of their own democratic system. Coinciding
with this however is that in victoriously seeking
power they have competed with each other to build
cliques with the TNI/Polri leadership. The most
recent example was the political conflict
surrounding the appointment of the commander-in-
chief of the TNI. A negative symbiosis developed
between the PDI-P who wanted to compete for the
political sympathies of the army and the army
officers that had ambitions to dominate the post of
TNI commander. This was indeed dangerous because the
political maneuvers by the TNI/Polri as well as
particular political parties around the centers of
power ended up drawing the TNI/Polri into the
process. In reality the determination of this
political issue merely became the special right of
high-ranking TNI/Polri officers, while ordinary
TNI/Polri officers just became tools for the
interests of and a stepping stone for their
political carriers or the narrow interests of
civilian the political forces that are holding
power.
Fear over the internal politicisation of the
military, the threat of a military coup, that the
military will used as tool by civilians, has no
relationship with giving democratic rights to
members of the TNI/Polri as individuals. As long as
the TNI/Polri are a social group that has a monopoly
on carrying arms, for as long as a minority of
civilian forces oppress the majority, for as long a
small fraction of the elite enjoy affluence while
the majority of people suffer, efforts to attract
political support from the military to side with
their respective but contradictory interests will
continue. If this is said to be dangerous, then this
danger will continue to exist, whether or not the
TNI/Polri have the right to be elected or to vote.
If this is said to be dangerous, it is better if
this danger were resolved by surrendering it to the
wishes of the majority of the people.
The other problem originates from the high-ranking
officers in the Department of Defense. The statement
by Rear Air Marshal Koesnadi Kardi who said that
giving the military the right to vote and be elected
cannot have a time limit and that it depends more on
the capacity of civilians to improve their civilian
leadership is an extremely arrogant, political and
New Order-ish statement. It is truly ridiculous!
Opposing giving political rights to soldiers in the
style of old politicking by high-ranking TNI/Polri
officers continues to this day. Is it based on the
military as an institution feeling it has the right
to judge of the quality of civilian leadership? This
is a uniquely New Order argument - that civilians
are not yet ready - and another justification to
perpetuate their capitalist-military dictatorship.
At the same the statement reflects the reluctance of
the military as an institution to ever be prepared
to be subordinated by civilians under a democratic
system. Political statements of this kind are a
danger to democracy. Unfortunately, quite a number
of high-ranking military officers that have
expressed opinions on various other political
issues.
The People’s Democratic Party therefore is of the
view that giving political rights to members of the
TNI as individuals, who have the same political
rights as other citizens, will be positive for
democracy as long as the following conditions are
met:
1. The territorial commands must be dismantled along
with an end to the involvement of the military in
business. If not, giving them these political rights
will become an additional legitimisation for the
continued consolidation of the TNI as an institution
in politics.
2. There must be clear laws, complete with sanctions
and the enforcement of this law, regarding those
that violate the separation of the individual
political rights of the military as citizens and the
obligations of the TNI/Polri as an institution in
carry out its central functions and role in a
professional manner.
3. The law must deal with cases of human rights
violations by TNI officers. Safeguarding the image
of the corps by protecting officers and former
officers involved in human rights crimes is an
error. Perpetuating the impunity of high-ranking
TNI/Polri officers involved in human rights crimes
along with compromises with the mainstream political
parties in resolving cases of human rights violation
by serving and former TNI officers must end. This
model of resolution will become an example to be
imitated in the future by others. And, the ideals of
braking the chain of human rights violations in
Indonesia that have taken place for decades will
never become a reality if there is a precedent that
those involved in violations will in the end be
freed from the hand of the law.
4. The function of defense must gradually be shifted
to the people themselves. The best defence and
defence of the nation is if it is carried out by the
Indonesian people themselves as demonstrated by the
Indonesian nation’s own history in fighting Dutch
colonialism. This can be realised though regular
training of all healthy citizens in the use of arms
so that in the future the size of regular forces
need not be too large and no longer squander the
state budget. All of the political risks of having a
regular military, as a social group that has the
special right to carry arms will also be removed.
Central Leadership Committee of the People’s
Democratic Party
For a united people’s government though a national
front towards socialism
Jakarta, February 17, 2006
General Chairperson
Dita Indah Sari
General Secretary
Agus ’Jabo’ Priyono
[Translated by James Balowski.]
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