| |
Indonesian military makes political
comeback
By Richel Langit
JAKARTA - Indonesia's war on terrorism is
drawing the country's powerful military back on to the
political stage, threatening to put an end to political
reforms and progress toward fuller democracy.
The appointment of two retired generals to key
positions in the anti-terror drive highlights President
Megawati Sukarnoputri's reluctance to divest the
military off its political role, which dominated the
country's life for more than three decades under the
leadership of the dictator Suharto.
Susilo
Bambang
Yudhoyono, a retired four-star army general, has been
appointed coordinating minister for political and security
affairs, heading the country's anti-terrorism drive,
while a retired three-star army general who heads the
National Intelligence Agency (BIN), M A Hendropriyono,
has been made coordinator of all of the country's
intelligence.
Currently, Indonesia has
four intelligence units: BIN, which reports directly to
the president; military intelligence (Bais), which is
under the auspices of the military chief; police
intelligence (Intelpam), which the responsible of the
police chief; and an intelligence unit responsible to
the attorney general.
The appointment of
Yudhoyono and Hendropriyono has raised concerns that the
military is making a comeback after members of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's
highest legislative body, agreed to end the military's
political role officially by 2004, when the country is
to hold a direct presidential election.
There is
no doubt that Yudhoyono and Hendropriyono will greatly
influence the government's policies against terrorist
networks, blamed for the deadly bomb explosions in the
county's prime tourist destination, Bali, once
considered a symbol of peace and order. Hours before
Megawati issued two government regulations on terrorism,
she consulted Yudhoyono and Hendropriyono as well as
military chief General Indriartono Sutarto, while
Attorney General A M Rachman was ignored.
Megawati
seems to have left everything to Yudhoyono
and Hendropriyono; she did not address the nation
about the terrorist attacks until almost 13 hours after
the bomb blasts, and has not done so again since. Yudhoyono
has been holding regular news conferences to unveil
government policies and security measures taken in
dealing with terrorism. He has also warned the population
of possible new terrorist attacks, and on Monday he
spelled out government measures against terrorism and
urged Muslim groups to demonstrate that they are against
violence and terrorism.
Given the police's poor
intelligence, Megawati will have to rely heavily on
military intelligence to unravel the terrorist attacks,
which may push the country into another round of
economic crisis. Already, military intelligence says it
has identified the bombers, but the police say they have
no leads to possible suspects. This shows that the
military intelligence apparatus was not only more
prepared to deal with terrorism but that the military
was not willing to share its information with the
police, which was separated from the military in January
2001. This is despite the fact that BIN has been
appointed to coordinate the work of the country's
intelligence. The military is intent on going it alone
and taking the credit for itself.
The Bali bomb
blasts, which killed at least 190 and injured more than
300 people, mostly foreigners, has awakened the country
to the fact that terrorist networks are operating in the
country and that they are out to shatter peace and order
in the world's biggest Islamic country. There was a
prevailing feeling among Indonesians after the terrorist
attacks that military personnel should be deployed
throughout the country to reduce its vulnerability to
terrorist attacks. The military was seen as possessing
the qualified personnel to safeguard vital
infrastructure across the archipelago and to track down
those responsible for the Bali attacks. Indeed, the
military has the most qualified intelligence personnel.
And that is exactly what the Megawati
administration has done. Almost immediately after the
Bali blasts, the government instructed military leaders
to be on the alert, with thousands of military personnel
deployed in vital potential targets such as mining
companies, electricity and telecommunication
installations, and airports throughout the country.
The return of the military into politics and the
use of intelligence data, as stipulated in the
government regulation on anti-terrorism, to arrest,
detain, question, and prosecute suspected terrorists
revives memories of human-rights violations, which if
they reappear could put an end to the democratization
drive. During Suharto's 32 years of leadership,
intelligence data were often used to silence his
political opponents and government critics.
The
recently issued anti-terrorism regulations stipulate
that investigators should obtain court approval before
arresting, detaining, and bringing to court suspected
terrorists. The problem, however, is that the country's
judges are not used to using intelligence data to bring
somebody to court. Human-rights abuses are likely to go
unchecked.
During Suharto's rule, the label
"communist" was often used to put an end to someone's
career, or even his life. This labeling was often used
by feuding groups in order to gain support from the
government. New fears that political careers will now be
destroyed with the "terrorist" label are all too real.
(©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for information
on our sales and syndication policies.)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
