June 11, 2024
JAKARTA – With talks ongoing at the House of Representatives on a controversial revision to the 2004 Indonesian Military (TNI) Law, a recent suggestion from TNI chief of staff Gen. Agus Subiyanto for the TNI to play a greater “multifunctional” role has been widely condemned by critics, who fear that it would be a setback for civil liberties.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting last week with House Commission I overseeing defense, Agus said that the military had evolved in serving the country in areas outside of national defense, while still remaining in line with prevailing regulations.
“[The TNI] does not have a dwifungsi [dual function] anymore, but a multifunctional role,” he said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
The military’s dual function system was in place during the authoritarian New Order regime and allowed the TNI, at the time called the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), to take on civilian roles in government beyond its main task of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. They even held seats at the House. This system effectively turned the military into a tool for late president Soeharto to stamp out political dissidents for decades.
In an apparent attempt to dismiss concerns that the TNI Law revision would return the military to its New Order position, Agus said that members of the military had already been helping out with domestic affairs, such as going after separatists in Papua and providing medical aid in far-flung communities “for the good of the country”.
“We do everything. If there’s a disaster, we’re also there, right? So let’s not think [badly of the proposed TNI Law revision]. We’re a democratic country,” he added.
Echoing Agus, Deputy Defense Minister Muhammad Herindra said concerns that the law revision would mark a return of the military’s grip over civilian affairs were unfounded.
“Everything now has rules and regulations. Even if the TNI does send its personnel to [occupy positions] at ministries, it must be done at the request of the ministry or institution in question, not at our [the Defense Ministry] behest,” Herindra said.
Agus and Herindra’s comments, however, have compounded concerns of military overreach even further among civil society groups, including from rights watchdog Imparsial, who said that Agus’ statements came from a “wrong” point of view.
“Given that Indonesia is a country that adheres to a democratic political system, there must be a separation between the civil domain and the military domain. The military […] is geared toward preparing for war and national defense, not to handle civil affairs,” Imparsial said on Friday in a joint statement with more than a dozen other civil groups.
Imparsial went on to say that Agus should not have made a statement surrounding the military’s “multifunction” in the first place, given that deciding on the military’s role in the country should be made by lawmakers and the government, rather than its own commander.
“[Agus’] statement has instead confirmed public concerns over attempts to reinstate the military’s dual function. Rather than making such controversial statements, [Agus] should instead focus on completing a number of TNI reform efforts that continue to be neglected,” Imparsial said.
Imparsial and its coalition of rights groups have previously put up stiff opposition against efforts to revise the TNI Law, particularly concerning a provision in the bill that seeks to allow active members in the military to be posted to any position in government if the President decides a need for it.
Under the current TNI Law, active personnel may only be posted to 10 ministries and institutions, including the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister; the Defense Ministry; the State Intelligence Agency (BIN); National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) and National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
Despite widespread concerns, lawmakers agreed during a plenary on May 28 to endorse the revision of the TNI Law, along with another controversial bill that will revise the 2002 Police Law.
Like the TNI bill, critics have also decried the police bill as another piece of legislation that could undermine Indonesia’s democracy and shrink civic space further, as it contains a provision that gives the police the power to “block and cut off access to cyberspace” in matters of national security.
With both bills now listed as House initiatives, the next step would be for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to appoint a handful of ministers as representatives of the government before formal deliberations can start between lawmakers and the executive branch.
Presidential expert staffer Dini Shanti Purwono told The Jakarta Post that the State Secretariat had received on Friday the requests from the House for Jokowi to name his representative who will discuss the bills. However, Dini declined to elaborate on Jokowi’s stance on the matter.
“Right now, we are still reviewing [both bills] to decide on the next course of action,” she said on Monday.