Completing Reform of the TNI and Polri
In response to the public demand for reform in 1998, the ABRI commander, who at that time was Gen. Wiranto immediately carried out an international reform on ABRI.
In response to the public demand for reform in 1998, the ABRI commander, who at that time was Gen. Wiranto (now Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister) immediately carried out an international reform on ABRI.
We can imagine what would have happened if only the ABRI Commander at that time had taken another stance that was not in line with the demand of the people, possibly there would be another bloodbath of the nation\'s children that would inundate the Mother Earth as happened after the G30S/PKI coup attempt, which led to the change of president from Bung Karno to Pak Harto.
Through its internal reform, distortion and deviation of identity and values that led to the birth of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police (Polri) were corrected. ABRI\'s dual function was ended. The TNI and Polri are institutionally separated. The TNI returned to its identity as a people\'s army, a fighting army, a national army, with the core business in the field of defense. In accordance with the demands of democratization, the TNI is no longer involved in practical politics and the role of the TNI is returned as an instrument of the state, no longer an instrument of power. In managing national defense, the TNI upholds civil supremacy (civilization) under the Defense Ministry.
Meanwhile, the position of Polri was restored in line with the intention of its founders, as the state police. The National Police is positioned as part of the law and justice system, with main duties in the field of the community law and order (Kamtibmas). Temporarily, Polri is under the Defense Ministry, but in turn will directly be under the Law and Justice Ministry or under the Home Ministry, according to field needs.
Meanwhile, security is positioned as an output of the civil system. Therefore, in dealing with security issues that may arise, it must be handled by civil means or civil supremacy in which the law is the commander of life and by civilians, including by Polri. However, in certain circumstances where civilian methods carried out by civilians are no longer possible and/or are certain to be ineffective -- especially if measurably certain casualties will occur even though one person - then at that time it must also turn into the portion of the TNI and carried out by military means or military supremacy in which order is the highest law in life.
Dynamics of the TNI and Polri reform
Unfortunately, since the beginning of the Reform Era in discussing the bill on national defense, the TNI and Polri, lawmakers have simply separated the terms defense and security, where the defense function is a portion of the TNI and security becomes a portion of Polri. They apparently do not understand that the term defense and security are two compounds that are impossible to be separated from one another. In practice, in the middle of the road the position of Polri was instead changed to be under the president. Legally the police then carry out tasks that are not supported by competence outside the area of law enforcement and kamtibmas.
It is not uncommon for law enforcement to be regarded as a "disease", or even more extremely positioned as an enemy of democracy.
This reality makes this nation in dealing with security issues do "silly" things, such as the TNI being assigned to help Polri face the real nature of threats in the form of combatants. On the contrary, to crush a group of 2-3 armed terrorists, Polri has taken an approach like conventional war. More than that, in the field there are tensions and feuds between members of the TNI and Polri because of this engagement model, which is inevitably linked to jiwa korsa (esprit de corps) and the pride of unity. Not to mention because of the gaps in the facilities they receive and conflicts of interest due to seizure of side income sources, outside of their small official salaries.
What is definite is that slowly in relation to the development of democracy, the TNI has now begun to become a backbone of the people\'s hopes, especially after the leadership of the TNI is in a position to reaffirm their commitment not to be involved in practical politics. However, ABRI\'s internal reform goals for realizing that Polri is part of the law and justice system has failed because the reality is that now Polri has turned into an institution that is not a military, but also not a civilian who in carrying out its profession is only subject to the law. As a result, it is not uncommon for law enforcement to be regarded as a "disease", or even more extremely positioned as an enemy of democracy.
Priority to finish the reform
Unlike its predecessors, now a series of domestic and foreign tertiary education has been taken by officers of TNI and Polri, especially their elites. Not a few bear the S-2 and S-3 degrees. Likewise, due to the affections of the officers, especially those who now hold the ranks of colonels/commander in chief, in handling national security in a democratic state, they are far more mature than their previous TNI and Polri officers, who were more prominent in the experience of war and emergency state.
What is certain is that the TNI needs to complete the 1998 reforms by continuing the restructuring program in accordance with the demands of democratization.
Especially for the elite of Polri, without having to wait for many more police stations to be burned by the masses, they should immediately do the same with other elites of related civilian government institutions to do the same thing, especially to formulate the concept of Polri repositioning and design of the legal system in a civil system based on the principle of checks and balances for all institutions, the police itself is no exception, which since the beginning of independence has never been designed by its founders and predecessors. Therefore, in the future, in discussing changes to the bill related to the functions and or involvement of the TNI and Polri, lawmakers do not face psychological obstacles.
What is certain is that the TNI needs to complete the 1998 reforms by continuing the restructuring program in accordance with the demands of democratization. The TNI troops\' re-dislocation program as conveyed by President Jokowi to the public after the Cabinet meeting on 12 January 2017 also needs to be implemented immediately because the dislocation of KNIL model troops from the Dutch East Indies is no longer feasible. With the model of the swap, there is no need to wait for the government\'s ability to prepare the state budget, re-dislocation can actually begin immediately by spreading unity that has nothing to do with defense strategies, such as weaponry and branching centers and TNI educational institutions, evenly throughout the provinces. That way, the TNI can directly help the government grow new centers in the inland/border areas.
The TNI can legitimately help the government "fight" social diseases, such as combating drug abuse. Isn\'t the Indonesian Navy able to play an active role in eradicating drugs at the upstream stage, namely drug smuggling through the sea, especially with the support of the Air Force.
Educational reform within Polri to end the legacy of militaristic ways also needs to be urgently carried out.
Meanwhile, the TNI (Army) can also help Polri and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) in combating drug trafficking and its illegal use.
Likewise, Polri needs to immediately restructure by transferring the existence of a unit in charge of Polri\'s inorganic functions, such as traffic matters and driving licenses (SIM)/vehicle ownership documents (STNK) to the relevant ministries, in this case the Transportation Ministry. Polri also needs to immediately realize transparency by integrating the investigation process with all related parties through IT.
By doing so, practices that involve individuals, such as criminalization, buying and selling articles of the Criminal Code, backing of the illegal drug business, protecting the legal mafia, "protecting" problematic capital holders, or illegal levy collection, no longer exist. Educational reform within Polri to end the legacy of militaristic ways also needs to be urgently carried out.
Happy 74th anniversary to the TNI. The people are waiting for your devotion in maintaining the Republic of Indonesia with the performance according to the demands of the present age, with the role of the military, which is starting to shift to a humanitarian force.
Saurip Kadi, TNI Major General (Ret.); Deputy Chairman of the Formulation Team of the Internal Reform Concept of the Armed Forces (ABRI) 1998