DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING?
Democratic backsliding?
Radical new powers given to Indonesia’s military are causing disquiet among its civilian population. Can a balance between military and civil powers be struck or are concerns about the erosion of hard won democratic gains well-founded? Yvonne Gill reports.
The Indonesian parliament has approved far-reaching changes to the 2004 TNI law, which will allow the military to actively participate in civilian governance – a throwback to the days of the Suharto dictatorship. The amendment to the TNI law– adopted by parliament on March 20–is the most significant legislation since democratic reforms began in the country in 1998, and will grant special powers to the armed forces.
Increasing from ten to fourteen government bodies, the amended legislation will expand the number of civilian institutions where serving military officers can be appointed to key civilian positions without retiring or resigning from service.
Military personnel can now hold positions in the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs, the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General’s Office, as well as in disaster management, border security, maritime security, and counter-terrorism.
What critics find especially troubling is that the law will allow the president to send military officers to other ministries ‘as required’. It will alsoraise the retirement age of officers andallow enlisted and non-commissioned officers to serve until the age of 55 and junior and senior commissioned officers until the age of 58.
Highest-ranking four-star generals will also be able to serve until they are 63 years of age– an age limit which can be extended by a further 2 years subject to presidential discretion.
Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, says the amendments to a law designed to curb military over reach following the overthrow of Suharto, will now create a conflict of interest and abuse of power, resulting in corruption and human rights violations which had often gone unpunished in the past.
For many Indonesians, these changes bring back painful memories of ‘dwifungsi’ (dual function), the doctrine that justified the military’s deep involvement in all aspects of governance during President Suharto’s 32-year authoritarian rule between1965 and 1998.
The parallels are obvious. Although the government claims that this is not a return to dwifungsi, the upshot is the same – serving military officers presiding over the affairs of civilian institutions with no accountability. What’s more, military personnel carrying out civilian duties maybe able to remain under military control instead of civilian supervision, thereby creating a breakdown in accountability and raising concerns about human rights abuses.
University students have come out in protest, holding demonstrations in Jakarta, Makassar, and other major cities following the law’s enactment. Clashes between the police and protestors–some of whom have thrown Molotov cocktails– have been reported, with activists complaining ofthe widespread harassment of young protesters by security personnel.
For many Indonesians, these changes bring back painful memories of ‘dwifungsi’
Talking to a small group of senior journalists at his residence in Sentul, Bogor Regency, West Java, on April 6, President Subianto Prabowo said that this isn’t about dwifungsi and that the TNI law has been accelerated due to the too frequent changes in the roles of TNI commander and chief of staff as retirement age was reached. ‘The essence of this TNI Law revision is merely to extend the retirement age of several high-ranking officers’.
Denying that he had any intention of restoring the dual function of the TNI, he went on to defend the involvement of the military in civilian matters during President Sukarno’s era. ‘Sukarno invited the Indonesian Armed Forces to government due to the war and the rebellion crisis in the 1950s’.
Tempo magazine reported the president as saying that the TNI law actually formalises positions in several institutions that serving TNI personnel are allowed to fill, such as the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and the intelligence services. The Attorney General’s Office and the Supreme Court have also been included because ofthere being military prosecutors and military chamber judges.
Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin contends that the changes are necessary to address both conventional and unpredictable threats, in light of global technological developments and geopolitical changes while military spokesman, Brig Gen Kristomei Sianturi, tried to allay public concerns by saying that today’s generation of TNI personnel were opposed to returning to the dual function of the military of the past.
However, apart from the amendment to the law, intelligence suggests a more worrying development: the Indonesian security forces have been accused of waging a ‘silent war’ in Papua, including troop deployments, aerial bombardments, and human rights abuses.
Systematic human rights violations and political opposition suppression were the order of the day
The military has also been increasingly involved in government projects, including logistical assistance to President Prabowo’s flagship free school meals programme. Plans were revealed by the government in February to establish new ‘development’ battalions and territorial commands to assist in the government’s food security initiatives.
A coalition of civil society groups has criticised the presence of military personnel on campuses for engaging insurveillance, raising questions regarding academic freedom– allegations refuted by the military, however.
Human Rights Watch has also condemned the Indonesian government’s stance, saying that the changes in TNI laws are contrary to its stated commitment to upholding human rights and the rule of law. The lack of transparency in the law’s enactment has also been widely condemned by international observers.
Strongly criticising the law, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) has voiced concern over increasing military involvement in civilian affairs and the possible militarisation of universities under compulsory state defence education.
The APHR has warned that these policies threaten to militarise academic institutions, suppress dissent, and undermine Indonesia’s democratic progress. They further stated that the amendments represent a dangerous regression that threatens Indonesia’s hard-won democratic gains by eroding civilian oversight and opening the door to military rule in public life.
Experts have also warned these changes could adversely affect Indonesia’s soft power and global standing with signs of instability or weakened democratic institutions being closely watched by foreign investors and international allies.
Indonesia’s civil rights movement has fought a long and arduous battle to establish civilian supremacy over the military. Indeed, following the collapse of Suharto’s government in 1998, reformers worked tirelessly to limit the military’s power and set up a democratic government with the 2004 TNI law clearly defining and restricting the military’s roles in civilian affairs.
Suharto’s ‘dwifungsi’ doctrine (1965–1998) allowed the military to maintain extensive control over politics, government, economy, and society. Systematic human rights violations and political opposition suppression were the order of the day. What we see today is not exactly like the Suharto-era policies but there are, however, troubling similarities that indicate Indonesia’s democratic red lines are being challenged.
The increased military presence in civil administration and the judiciary throws up many important questions for Indonesian democracy: the changes threaten civilian supremacy and the system of checks and balances vital to democracy, in turn compromising democratic institutions. Increased military presence in civilian life may also increase the likelihood of surveillance, harassment, and suppression of dissent, as military personnel would be operating under reduced civilian oversight. Furthermore, military operations, especially in conflict areas like Papua, could increase tensions without adequate civilian oversight. Beinga strategically important Southeast Asian nation, Indonesia’s internal political changes would also affect its foreign policy priorities and position in ASEAN as well as the world.
Experts have pointed out that the success of Indonesia’s civil-military relations will be shaped by the government’s reaction to domestic and international concerns and the way these changes are implemented.
Whether these changes reflect a temporary shift or a longer-term reversal of Indonesia’s democratic achievements remains to be seen. Clearly, the nation is starting a new chapter in its civil-military dynamics,one that many observers are watching with growing concern.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for Southeast Asia’s largest democracy and its 280 million people, as Indonesia negotiates these tensions between the military’s growing influence and democratic ideals.
Yvonne Gill is a freelance journalist based in London