TNI’s rights to vote needs re-consideration: House speaker
Hans David Tampubolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 06/21/2010 12:04 PM
The Indonesian Military: (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)The House of Representatives speaker, Marzuki Alie from the Democratic Party, says that the idea to give the rights for members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) to vote in the next general elections needs re-consideration.
“This issue needs to be reviewed thoroughly. First, is our democracy currently moving on the right track considering our elites' reluctance to accept defeat? There are many losing candidates who could not accept defeats mobilize anarchy demonstration,” Marzuki told reporters in Jakarta on Monday.
“Second, the level of education is still relatively low. Central Statistic Agency (BPS) data shows that 70 percent of our citizens are only junior high school graduate. So, most of our citizens still cannot determine which political figures that deserve to be chosen with those who only use financial capability,” he added.
“Third, the level of poverty is still high, so people can easily be provoked by money. With such a condition, if TNI members are given the freedom [to vote] now, will they be ready?” he said further.
Marzuki then concluded that giving TNI personnel the right to vote could very well disturb the political stability in the current reality of Indonesia ’s democracy.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said last Friday it was possible for military personnel to vote and run for political office. TNI personnel have only voted once in post-independence Indonesia , during the 1955 legislative elections.
During the New Order era, the military automatically received up to 20 percent of seats in the House of Representatives. Former president Soeharto used military and his ruling Golkar Party to keep him in power for 32 years.
The reform era saw mounting protests from student activists to put an end to the military’s role in politics. The TNI and National Police automatic representation at the House was suspended in 2004 while the 2003 Election Law banned TNI personnel from voting in the 2004 elections.
