President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday it was possible for Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel to vote in the 2014 legislative and presidential elections.
He said as any other citizens, military personnel had a political right that should not be denied and that their counterparts in other countries could vote anyway.
"It is the (elections) law, however, that will determine whether or not they can finally vote," Yudhoyono told reporters.
On the government side, the President said, he would not mind if TNI personnel were allowed to exercise their right to vote.
There are conditions, however, that should be firstly met, he added.
"In the past, TNI personnel were not allowed to vote over concerns that it would lead to a split, which would then result in disturbance in their security function, including in securing the elections.
"If someday this is no longer an issue, then they should be allowed to exercise their right to vote," said the President said, who is a former Army general.
Military personnel once cast ballots in the 1955 legislative elections.
Under the New Order era, the TNI and the police were banned from voting, but were given seats at the House of Representatives and People’s Consultative Assembly.
The TNI/National Police faction was later on dissolved in the reform era, but the 2003 election law maintained the voting ban.
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