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Introduction
According to Bouchier (1999, pp.149-172), after Suharto (the second president of Indonesia since 1967 to 1998) was forced to resign from the office of the president, the post Suharto era began. During his reign, Suharto used the new order regime but opposition of the regime was eminent from 1996 which later lend to its fall in 1998.Indonesia became industrialized and its economy grew since Suharto came into power(Miguel,et.al.,2005).This led to development of schools and hospitals. However, since the fall of Suharto Indonesia has been going through a lot of translation and this has led the era to be called the period of Reformasi.This is because both political and social environment has become more open and liberal.
The post Suharto era features includes a careful political balance. This balance is between social political norms that were established long time ago and many emerging issues in Indonesia. Consequently, a number of compromises have been made particularly between demands for regional autonomy and the older centralized state; and between the people who are in for the greater democracy and civilian rule on one hand and those for the powerful military of Indonesia on the other hand. This also led to a compromise between those who are for Islamism and those for a secular type of government, among others. In addition, freedom of speech is another characteristic of this period as opposed to censorship of the New Order era. The freedom of speech, the role of Armed forces and expression of culture in arts has led to open political debates by the media. Additionally ,Indonesia has benefited a lot from the whole world in significant ways e.g. the Western world has paid a lot of attention on Indonesia due to Islamic terrorism.Despite all the above characteristics, Indonesia has made a lot of progress but the level of democracy is still low(Lowry, 1996, p. 12). In this paper, we shall discuss the role of the military and challenges faced in protecting national security in the post Suharto era and how the increasing concerns of terrorism changed the way in which Indonesia deals with protecting national security. In all my discussion I will focus on key issues which I will support with case studies and actual events.
The role of Indonesias military in protecting national security during post Suharto era
Indonesia is a pancasila state whose ideology is based on believing in one and only God and its unity. Pancasila is characterized by rejection of dictatorship, poverty, backwardness among others. Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world in addition to being a military dictatorship country. This is because the country has had two military presidents in the past and also due to the involvement of the military in the affairs of the government. Indonesian military by the name Tentara National Indonesia or TNI was established in 1945. By 2009, the military consisted of 432,129 personnel comprising of Army, and navy that consisted of Indonesian Marine Corps and Air force. The Indonesian army was established after the government faced guerilla war. This and the need to maintain internal security led to organizing the army along territorial lines so as to defeat both internal enemies and external invaders (Kammen &Chandra 1999, p. 13). In addition, there is need for security so as to overcome the many challenges in the country and ensure reforms.TNI is charged with the responsibility of national defense and security in addition to maintaining the nations political and social integrity (Maj 1995, p. 21). Since independence, TNI has been performing the political function in addition to guaranteeing that Indonesia is a pancasila state. In post Suharto era which is my major topic of discussion, TNI strengthened the civil government (Crouch, 1988). In addition its social responsibility is encouraging its members to serve the nation as managers and provide guidance in social-political affairs.TNI also acts as a guardian of development and national security. The roles of TNI were ruled out during the independence war in which a distinction was made between its political and military roles through the guerilla resistance.
In post Suharto era Indonesian military has been reformed. For example, the police force has been separated from the military. The Indonesian military works with militaries of other countries of United Nations in peace keeping. For instance, the Indonesian military participated in a UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Lebanon as the UN Interim Force. TNI is involved in maintaining internal stability and gathering intelligence and carrying out mission analysis. This will enable the military to get the criminals and discipline them and therefore prevent future repetition of such mistakes and ensure security is maintained. The military is also involved in maintaining law and order.
Challenges facing Indonesian military as it protects national security in post Suharto era
The Indonesian military faces many challenges in their effort to protect national security. Firstly, the TNI are in conflict with many western governments and organizations that safeguard human rights. This is because in executing their duties they are very aggressive, for instance, in East Timor and Aceh. This has had negative impacts to the military directly or indirectly. For example in 1992 Indonesias military did not receive International Military and Education Training programme as the United States withdrew from the whole processes. In addition, in 1994, US stopped selling small arms to Indonesia. Crouch (1999,pp692) states that, many people have lost their trust in TNI due to the many incidences that have happened that have made them to be termed as harsh and that they are there for self gain and not for the well being of the citizens. This has also been supported by Bradford (2004, p.5). More so, according to Vatikiotis (1999, p.67), TNI are not been in a position to perform the dual functions (dwigfungsi role). Secondly, since Indonesia is one of the most populated nations, it consists of complex societies and this makes it hard for the military to deal with all such kind of people.
Thirdly, the military personnel have not received adequate training and the equipments may not be enough especially if war breaks out in many parts of the country at the same time. Additionally, there have been a lot of confrontations between ethnic and religious groups. The work of The Editors (1999, pp.133-162) show that the military faced a lot of crises since the downfall of Suharto due to the five reshuffles that were done between January 1999 and December 2000.These reshuffles were done because TNI had lost Legitimacy and trust from people because of abusing Human rights and failure to maintain law and order. For instance, an attack of 150 police and army posts was reported by the minister of Defense (Juwonosono) on July 12, 2000 but he did not mention the place where the attacks occurred.
Financial crisis is another challenge that faces the Indonesian military.The national budget is only able to meet 30% of the expenses and the other 70% have to come from the military itself. This was said by Mahmud, the Defense Minister. The insufficient funds led to violence and a lot of killings that is why Juwonosono who was the minister of defense by then said that the military ought to rely on the national budgetary allocation so as to restore the discipline of the military.
How terrorism has made Indonesia change the way it protects national security
According to Kristiadi (1999, pp.99-114), change is a great challenge to almost every one and therefore it was also hard for Indonesia to adapt other new ways of protecting national security. The September 11 attack which was suspected to have been engineered by Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda terrorists changed the way of thinking of many people and thus many nations and their armies started looking for ways of protecting their people. According to Schmidt and colleagues(1988, p.2), terrorism is an act that is premeditated and politically motivated and directed towards innocent people either through hijacking, bombing, use of weapons or mass destruction among others. In Indonesia, national security is the responsibility of every one i.e. both the armed forces as well as the civilians. In addition Indonesia encourages its citizens not to be just aware of security but to take responsibility. For example, they should inform the government of any suspect of terrorism. Both the private and public sectors are involved in maintaining national security by providing necessary equipments.
Indonesia has cooperated with other nations and worked together in the struggle to fight against terrorism. These alliances share intelligence that enable them get hold of terrorists. In addition, Indonesia seeks to develop economically so that it can be in a position to increase the number of armed forces and ease the workload and effectiveness of the military. Moreover, the military in Indonesia has organized itself in such a way that they work together in the fight against terrorism. As it is stated that prevention is better than cure, Indonesia seeks to prevent acts of terrorism by maintaining law and order in the country and stopping terrorist funding. The Indonesian government is protecting its means of transportation especially airports by ensuring there is tight security to take note of the people who leave and enter their country. In addition, they have put enough security at the borders and infrastructures are protected in such a way that they cannot be destroyed by terrorists. Indonesia has also ensured that the military and defense agencies are well prepared such that in case of terrorism they would be in a position to respond.
A report given by ICG (2001, p. 2) shows that in an effort to fight terrorism, the Indonesian government is forming ties with US that were lost after East Timor. This will help in showing justice to human rights violators. Another report released by ICG (2002, p.5) also shows that the U.S. congress will contribute some money to be used in military training for Indonesia to deal with areas that experience a lot of troubles in the country.
As stated above, the fight against terrorism is the responsibility of everyone. In the same way, the University of Indonesia has also not been left behind. For instance, it has established a Terrorism and Security masters degree programme. The aim of the University is to counter terrorism in two ways. First, developing government policies to counter terrorism will require the government to come up with strategies that will obscure the terrorists activity and protect civil rights and social responsibility. The University will do this by informing the state on their mission.Secondly, the University will help in creation of a sound academic base that is free of bias of terrorism studies. With this, the Indonesian government will be able to understand the reasons that can make the terrorists not to succeed in their plans and be in a position to predict whether the government will be able to successfully offer enough security and counter terrorism.
Conclusion
From the discussion above it is clear that Post Suharto era began immediately after the fall of Suharto who was the president of Indonesia for 27 years and who ruled using New Regime Order. The Post Suharto era brought many reforms both in the economy of the nation, politically and socially. In addition it is also clear that Indonesia is a military dictatorship country and the Indonesian Military is the TNI which performs dual functions i.e. has both social and political responsibility and providing national security. TNI faces many challenges in fulfilling its duties such as loss of trust from citizens due to their harshness and the belief that they are there for their personal interests only and not for the well being of citizens among others.
In addition, the issue of terrorism has made the Indonesian government form ties with other nations like the U.S since terrorism is a matter of international concern. Moreover, for Indonesia to be able to counter terrorism there is need to cooperate with other nations and enforce its laws (Charmers, 2006, p. 4). In conclusion, both the government and TNI have been recommended in various ways so as to ensure national security. For instance, the Indonesian government has been advised to make a budget for the defense and publish it in addition to reviewing the defense policy and creating new reserve forces, headquarters or purchase major equipments. Moreover the government ought to review the bills of police and defense so that they complement each other. On the other hand, the TNI has been advised to ensure that they have shown great concern in terms of protecting civilians without using harsh means in an effort to improve their public and international image.
References
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Bradford, J.F. 2004. Exploration in Southeast Asian Studies. The Indonesian Military as a Professional Organization: Criteria and Ramification for reform. Journal of Southeast Studies Student Association, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp.16-20.
Charmers, I. 2006. Indonesia: An Introduction to Contemporary TraditionsCivil-Military Relations, Geneva: Columbia International Affairs.
Crouch, H.1988. The Army and Politics in Indonesia. (Revised Ed). [On-line]. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
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Sidwell, E. T., 1995. The Indonesian Military: Dwi Fungsi and territorial operations. [On-line].U.S: Army Foreign Studies Military Studies Office.
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