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Police, TNI and protesters
The nationwide student protests, some of which descended into riots, were marked by incidents that again expose the rift between the TNI and the National Police. The incidents are only the tip of the iceberg of unresolved issues between the nation’s two armed forces.
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Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Minister Wiranto (center) speaks at a press conference in his office in Jakarta on Thursday, Sept. 26, accompanied by the National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian (right) and the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Chief Marshall Hadi Tjahjanto (left). (Antara/M. Risyal Hidayat)
I
t is not unusual for leaders of the nation’s security forces to address a press briefing at the office of the chief security minister. But the presence of National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian and Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto along with commanders of the TNI’s branches at a presser led by chief security minister Wiranto in the wake of protests in the capital and other cities on Thursday was by no means business as usual.
Their attendance, Wiranto said, was to quash “rumors” that the TNI and the police “do not get along”. “Some parties are trying to pit the elements of the TNI and the police against each other. Here we present the commanders of [the TNI’s] branches [to show] that the TNI remains solid and would provide back up to the police,” said the former commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), the TNI’s official name when the police were still part of the military.
The backdrop made Wiranto’s “reassurance” come off as somewhat ominous. The nationwide student protests, some which descended into riots, were marked by incidents that again expose the rift between the TNI and the National Police.
Viral videos show police members shooting tear gas and water cannons toward the Medan Military Command (Kodim) headquarters in Medan, North Sumatra, where students sought sanctuary after clashing with police. Other recordings show members of the police’s elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) shooting tear gas toward a Marine Corps dormitory in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, to disperse protesters within the compound. Meanwhile, a Marine officer was reportedly arrested early Thursday for allegedly ransacking vehicles at the East Jakarta police headquarters.
Despite Wiranto’s statement, and that of Tito and Hadi, who said the Marine Corps personnel were only trying to help the police, continuous rivalry, if not rising tension, between the TNI and Polri is hard to ignore. The incidents are only the tip of the iceberg of unresolved issues between the nation’s two armed forces.
The rivalry goes back to the early days of the Reform Era when the country decided to end the dual function of the military and remove the police force from the military. But under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the rivalry seems to have simmered with the police having managed to expand their influence in the government. Now, police generals control the nation’s most strategic security institutions: the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).
Jokowi’s administration has partially accommodated the military role in civilian affairs again, but resentment on the part of the military seems to persist.
Claims by Wiranto and Tito that the student protests were “taken over” by political forces trying to change the “legitimate” government have left more questions than answers.
Whatever the answer, the recent fracas between police and TNI personnel highlights a serious security problem that President Jokowi must address. One of the first things he could do is to balance the power between the two institutions, within the corridor of security sector reform.
