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Jakarta Post

Discourse: '€˜Don'€™t encourage TNI to get involved in politics'€™

Gen

Nani Afrida and Dwi Atmanta (The Jakarta Post)
Mon, April 13, 2015

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Discourse: '€˜Don'€™t encourage TNI to get involved in politics'€™

Gen. Moeldoko - JP/Wendra AJistyatama

The Indonesian Military (TNI) has received criticism following its decision to actively fight terrorism, a responsibility that traditionally falls under the domain of the National Police, including by setting up a training ground in Poso, Central Sulawesi, as part of efforts to hunt down terrorist groups. There have been allegations that the TNI is trying to revive its Dwifungsi (dual function) role, which also allows the institution to actively participate in politics. The Jakarta Post'€™s Nani Afrida and Dwi Atmanta talked to TNI chief Gen. Moeldoko about the current challenges. Below are excerpts from the interview:

Question: What is the role of the TNI today?

Answer: Just like other military forces in the world, the TNI has the Operasi Militer Perang [Military Operation in War] and Operasi Militer Selain Perang [Military Operations Other Than War or MOOTW]. The MOOTW means the TNI has a social role and responsibility that is attached to each soldier.

You can see that whenever there is a disaster, the military will take action to help the victims. Our personnel move fast even before they are given orders by their commander. The other social role is to help the government in the development process. For instance, the Transportation Ministry and the Law and Human Rights Ministry asked for our assistance to guard vital facilities and prisons.

Is it true that the [signed] agreement with ministries means the TNI wants to get involved with civil matters?

We don'€™t intend to have a role in politics. But when it comes to our role in society, I must say yes. In fact, [a social role] is our responsibility to the Indonesian people. But we need to warn people to not encourage the TNI to get involved in politics. Let us remain professional soldiers and please equip us with modern weaponry and increase our prosperity because many Indonesian soldiers still live in poor conditions.

What do you think about the role of civil society today?

Before the reform era, there was a strong demand to empower civil society. However, after the reform era, we found that people tended to seek the assistance of the TNI. This is weird. To be honest, we want civil society to be strong in the future.

Can you explain the military'€™s role in Poso?

The police saw many obstacles in Poso because of the mountainous area. The area is not the domain of the police. Radical groups are comfortable in Poso. We are concerned and worried that the area will be more dangerous in the future, especially when extremists return from Syria. Before Poso becomes the center of radical group operations, we have to do something. As the police can'€™t reach the area, we have come to chase the groups out of the mountains. This is part of our strategy.

There are 22 mineral mines in Poso and the regent said that the mines could not operate because of the [security] threat. Development in Poso is also very slow. We should stop this group to allow more development there.

There are 700 military personnel in Poso right now. They are learning about the area. If instability in Poso continues, we will be prepared with our knowledge of the area.

What are the domestic threats to TNI today?

One of our threats is ISIS [Islamic State movement]. We still consider ISIS a potential threat, but we need to manage the threat, otherwise it will transform into an actual threat and we will find it difficult to address. The TNI also finds it difficult to act because the public tends to accuse TNI of violating human rights when we fight against our own citizens.    

How about threats in border areas, especially land borders?


Security at land borders is normal, except for some social and economic problems like illegal logging, human trafficking, drug smuggling and so on. I prefer to bring prosperity to the area rather than line up thousands of my personnel along the border. Prosperity will reduce security problems.

How about external threats?

The current situation in the South China Sea is very dynamic. Indeed, we don'€™t have any claim on the area but we should stay alert because the situation will have an impact on our country. We have to evaluate the situation from time to time. We must create scenarios with regard to any situation and prepare for the unpredictable.

What is the current situation in South China Sea?


Tensions are quite high. We think this is normal because China has developed its military power as its economy has grown. However, several countries in ASEAN, such as Vietnam and the Philippines, are bothered by China'€™s military growth. The conflict will affect Indonesia because we have ASEAN solidarity. At every meeting with military generals in ASEAN we discuss how to create stability in the area.

Now we meet under the ASEAN Chief of Defence Forces Informal Meeting [ACDFIM]. At the last meeting, I suggested that we get eight more countries, including China, US, Australia and South Korea, to join the ACDFIM. We can strengthen multilateral cooperation in the area.

Your military career comes to an end this year. Is there anything in particular that you would like to see realized before then?

During my duty as commander I have developed interoperability, improved intelligence institutions like BAIS and boosted the capacity of personnel through training. I have been working to reduce sectoral egos. This is the most difficult thing to do.  I am not ashamed to reveal this issue because it exists. If we can reduce ego, we will develop interoperability, doctrine and strong infrastructure. This is a long process and I hope it continues.

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