{"id":21424,"date":"2015-07-06T14:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-07-06T04:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=21424"},"modified":"2015-07-06T16:32:08","modified_gmt":"2015-07-06T06:32:08","slug":"jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Jokowi’s troubling lack of interest in Indonesia’s security affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SURABAYA,<\/a><\/figure>\n

When President Joko Widodo was presented with an army beret recently, he caused general amusement by planting it like an upturned flower pot on his head, rather than flattening it rakishly across his right ear. No-one bothered to tell him how incongruous it looked.<\/p>\n

It left observers wondering whether his ignorance of millinery is matched by a seeming ignorance of the military and the implications of him using it as a counterbalance to a national police force that has shown a disturbing refusal to accept his orders.<\/p>\n

After more than a decade behind the scenes, the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) needs no encouragement, seeking to revive a modified version of its Suharto-era \u2018dual function\u2019 doctrine and claw back some of the powers it lost with the birth of democratisation.<\/p>\n

Outgoing TNI commander General Moeldoko\u2019s \u2018multi-function\u2019 concept envisages a larger role for the TNI in counterterrorism and a return to the days when military officers occupied positions in the civilian bureaucracy.<\/p>\n

Aware that its legitimacy depends on a full commitment to democracy, the military is clearly seeking wider influence rather than trying to\u00a0regain\u00a0political power. But a foothold in civilian affairs does also make it better placed to\u00a0recover\u00a0some of its previous commercial interests.<\/p>\n

The fact that Widodo didn\u2019t reject the plan outright suggests he\u2019s giving it serious consideration, underlined most recently by his decision to break with tradition and select another like-minded general as TNI commander.<\/p>\n

Ever since reformist president Abdurrahman Wahid introduced the practice in 2000, the country\u2019s highest military post has been rotated among the three services as a way of keeping the once-dominant army in its place.<\/p>\n

Under normal circumstances, newly-appointed Air Force Chief of Staff Air Chief Marshal Agus Supriatna would have been expected to replace the politically-ambitious Moeldoko, who reaches the retirement age of 58 later this month.<\/p>\n

But Widodo ignored the advice of his own party and instead nominated equally-outspoken Army Chief of Staff General Gatot Nurmantyo, potentially giving the 55-year-old general nearly three years at the helm.<\/p>\n

Nurmantyo, whose appointment\u00a0sailed through Parliament this week unopposed<\/a>, underscored the army\u2019s new assertiveness in late 2013 when as head of the\u00a0Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad), the TNI\u2019s main combat force, he\u00a0publicly expressed doubts<\/a>\u00a0about what he called \u2018an empty democracy.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Our democracy at the moment is populist and led by forces through means of a vote,\u2019 he\u00a0said<\/a>, in an implied criticism of both the democratic system and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s faltering rule. \u2018The many are not necessarily right.\u2019<\/p>\n

Analysts believe Widodo\u2019s choice of Nurmantyo was taken at the advice of Moeldoko, who could be in line to take over from Tedjo Purdijatno as chief political minister in a widely-anticipated post-Ramadan cabinet reshuffle.<\/p>\n

The retired admiral was brought off the bench at the last minute after PDI-P matriarch Megawati Sukarnoputri opposed Widodo\u2019s choice of his long-time business partner, ex-special forces general Luhut Pandjaitan.<\/p>\n

Pandjaitan went on to become presidential chief of staff in a quid pro quo for Widodo\u2019s ill-fated nomination of corruption suspect Budi Gunawan as the next police chief, a move that weakened his presidency in ways which are still being felt.<\/p>\n

Rising through the ranks during an era when the TNI was under a US military embargo, Moeldoko and Nurmantyo have had little overseas experience and their public statements often reflect outmoded thinking and a heavy reliance on conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

Nurmantyo\u2019s November 2013 anti-democracy outburst was all the more surprising because he had only been in charge of Kostrad for\u00a0six months after a career in which he has served as East Java commander and head of the army’s training command.<\/p>\n

The speech received little media coverage, but\u00a0a few days later the National Resilience Institute issued a detailed study in which it found governance across Indonesia in a \u2018fragile\u2019 state because of so-called \u2018institutional and cultural weaknesses.\u2019<\/p>\n

The head of the military think tank, retired civilian Defence Ministry official Budi Susilo Soepandji,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0\u2018excessive freedom\u2019 had led to radical ideologies that were undermining the country\u2019s bedrock values encapsulated in Pancasila, the state ideology.<\/p>\n

Now the new army chief, Nurmantyo is back on his soap box, this\u00a0time claiming that Indonesia<\/a>\u00a0was in the throes of a \u2018proxy war\u2019 conducted by\u00a0NGOs, mass organisations and individuals, all working for foreign interests.<\/p>\n

In speeches around the country and in bizarre diatribes on social media, he said Islamic terrorism, the plundering of natural resources and spreading drug addiction problem were part of the same international conspiracy.<\/p>\n

Self-serving as its criticism of civilian officials may be, the military has been riding a wave of public outrage over the blatant and continuing efforts of police and politicians to undermine the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK).<\/p>\n

Since the Budi Gunawan affair, the police have ignored the president\u2019s instructions to back off from its anti-KPK campaign, with chief of detectives Commander-General Budi Waseso\u00a0even refusing to disclose his wealth to the commission as is required under law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Widodo sent Nurmantyo\u2019s nomination to Parliament on the same day the TNI headquarters announced the creation of a\u00a0new multi-service anti-terrorist unit<\/a>, the latest step in a concerted campaign to win back a role for itself in domestic security operations.<\/p>\n

Last March, the army\u00a0mounted a 3,000-person operation to capture wanted terrorist leader Santoso<\/a>\u00a0in the jungles of Central Sulawesi. The fugitive escaped, but the sweep exposed the shortcomings of the police in pacifying the country\u2019s hottest trouble-spot.<\/p>\n

Moeldoko then used the opening to get permission to leave a mission-ready battalion in the Poso area and also to criticise the Defence Law which requires parliamentary approval for soldiers to confront domestic threats outside of wartime.<\/p>\n

How far Nurmantyo is prepared to go on pushing the envelope will likely depend on whether Widodo can get a better grip on his eight-month presidency, seemingly unable so far to deal with policy inconsistencies that prevent the economy getting back on track.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s lack of interest in security and foreign affairs and the military\u2019s historical distrust of civilian politicians suggest the TNI\u2019s expanding role will continue, exacerbating tensions with the police in the process and leaving the country\u2019s neighbours in some doubt about where Indonesia is headed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When President Joko Widodo was presented with an army beret recently, he caused general amusement by planting it like an upturned flower pot on his head, rather than flattening it rakishly across his right ear. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":21429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[64,1344,8,377,408],"class_list":["post-21424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-civil-military-relations","tag-gatot-nurmantyo","tag-indonesia","tag-joko-widodo","tag-tni"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJokowi's troubling lack of interest in Indonesia's security affairs | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jokowi's troubling lack of interest in Indonesia's security affairs | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When President Joko Widodo was presented with an army beret recently, he caused general amusement by planting it like an upturned flower pot on his head, rather than flattening it rakishly across his right ear. ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-06T04:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-06T06:32:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/15195560386_941820470a_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John McBeth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John McBeth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/15195560386_941820470a_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/15195560386_941820470a_z.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":414,\"caption\":\"SURABAYA, India (Sept. 8, 2014) - Tentara Nasional Indonesian Armed Forces and U.S. Army Soldiers return from presence patrol during operation Garuda Shield 2014.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/\",\"name\":\"Jokowi's troubling lack of interest in Indonesia's security affairs | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-06T04:00:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-06T06:32:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9b5c44c0b34c5424dbbe1e0de664b19a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jokowi’s troubling lack of interest in Indonesia’s security affairs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9b5c44c0b34c5424dbbe1e0de664b19a\",\"name\":\"John McBeth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7845a8a2730a369903c0a345160c3b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7845a8a2730a369903c0a345160c3b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John McBeth\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/john-mcbeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jokowi's troubling lack of interest in Indonesia's security affairs | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jokowi's troubling lack of interest in Indonesia's security affairs | The Strategist","og_description":"When President Joko Widodo was presented with an army beret recently, he caused general amusement by planting it like an upturned flower pot on his head, rather than flattening it rakishly across his right ear. ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2015-07-06T04:00:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-07-06T06:32:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":414,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/15195560386_941820470a_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John McBeth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John McBeth","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/15195560386_941820470a_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/15195560386_941820470a_z.jpg","width":640,"height":414,"caption":"SURABAYA, India (Sept. 8, 2014) - Tentara Nasional Indonesian Armed Forces and U.S. Army Soldiers return from presence patrol during operation Garuda Shield 2014."},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/","name":"Jokowi's troubling lack of interest in Indonesia's security affairs | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2015-07-06T04:00:49+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-06T06:32:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9b5c44c0b34c5424dbbe1e0de664b19a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/jokowis-troubling-disinterest-in-indonesias-security-affairs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jokowi’s troubling lack of interest in Indonesia’s security affairs"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9b5c44c0b34c5424dbbe1e0de664b19a","name":"John McBeth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7845a8a2730a369903c0a345160c3b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7845a8a2730a369903c0a345160c3b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John McBeth"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/john-mcbeth\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21424"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21448,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21424\/revisions\/21448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}