Starting Points: Agus Wirahadikusumah

May 18, 2010

Tempo - The End of Duality

Not everyone within the TNI was happy with the scrapping of dwi fungsi. Conservative officers accused the reformists of being American lackeys.

DECEMBER 1999: an internal conflict within the Indonesian Military (TNI) was coming to a head, triggered by a plan by the East Timor Human Rights Violations Commission to question a number of army generals, including Gen. Wiranto, then Minister for Political & Security Affairs.

During a visit to the headquarters of the 6th Army Infantry Brigade in Solo, Central Java in mid-December 1999, Lt. Gen. Djaja Suparman, Chief of the Army Strategic Command, called the plan “hurting the feelings of the military.” If the plan went through, he warned, the rank and file of the military would run amok.

Gen. Djaja’s statement drew strong reactions. Maj. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah, Commander of the Wirabuana Military Command VII said: “No, it’s not true, the rank and file are not soldiers serving the interests of certain generals,” he said. “A soldier’s loyalty goes to the people and the nation.”

The war of words between Suparman and Wirahadikusumah reflected the split within the military. The mutual recriminations were widely reported by the media, something unheard of under the New Order.

Many were deeply concerned with the then ongoing conflict within the military. Lt. Gen. Agum Gumelar, then the Minister of Transportation, acknowledged such a conflict was not new in the past, but, “there had always been then a way to resolve the differences.”

With the fall of the New Order in May 1998 the military entered a new era of reformasi. Senior officers within the military had to make a quick decision: adjust to the changing situation and reform the military or be on the defensive and risk going against the current.

The roots of the conflict lay in a much more fundamental issue: dwi fungsi, the dual function of the military as a defense and security force and a social and political force in the life of the nation.

Suparman, a loyalist close to Wiranto, was viewed as representative of the conservatives within the military who wanted a gradual change of the social and political role of the military. Wirahadikusumah, on the other hand, was a progressive reformist who wanted the military to end its social and political role and “return to barracks.”

A month before the conflict came into the open, Wirahadikusumah released a book titled Indonesia Baru dan Tantangan TNI (A New Indonesia and the Challenges to the TNI), a compilation of articles written by army officers, graduates of the military academy, class of 1973, such as Maj. Gen. Djasri Marin, Brig. Gen. Saurip Kadi, and Brig. Gen. Romulo Simbolon. Almost all of the writers were of the view that the military should reform and dual function end.

“The writers were members of the generation who were entrusted with keeping a warisan (legacy) by those who themselves failed to set a good example,” says Salim Said in his book Tumbuh dan Tumbangnya Dwi Fungsi (The Rise and Fall of Dual Function). The young army officers were relieved with the fall of the New Order.

Wirahadikusumah’s book exacerbated the conflict between the conservatives and the reformists within the military. Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, then-Army Chief of Staff, said in an interview with Tempo last week that an atmosphere of conflict filled the air within the military. “We all agreed the military should be reformed, but there was no agreement on how it was to be done.”

According to Tyasno, there were two major groups of thinkers within the military. The first group wanted the military to be a force of professionals dedicated to the defense and security of the country. The second group wanted the military to be a social and political force as well, but no longer merely as protector of the existing regime.

The driving force behind the first group, said Tyasno, was made up of generals Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Agus Widjojo, and Agus Wirahadikusumah. Tyasno admitted he belonged to the second group of conservative officers. “The territorial command system of the military should not be abolished because it was a means by which the military maintained relations with the people,” he said.

Tyasno charged the reformist officers with being overly influenced by the idea of civilian control of the military as in America. “Indeed, most of them were trained in America,” he said.

Gen. Widjojo, former Chief of Staff for Sociopolitical Affairs, denied Tyasno’s allegations. He said the reformists’ arguments were based on the 1945 Constitution. Speaking at length with Tempo last week about the history of dual function and the reasons why the military ended its sociopolitical role, Widodo said: “Under the Constitution, the military is supposed to function only as a national defense and security force.”

The conflict between the reformists and the conservatives carried on at the military headquarters at Cilangkap after the fall of President Suharto. According to Tyasno, leaders of each group worked hard to bring the military leadership to its side.

Gen. Fachrul Razi, former deputy chief of the military, recalled the dynamics of the conflict that raged on a decade ago. He said there were no sharp differences over the dual function issue. “The idea of ending dwi fungsi had been floated since reformasi began.” Most senior officers believed that the idea was a historical necessity. “For a very simple reason: where in the world is there a component of a nation acting as a super body over the rest of the nation?” he asked.

It was a conflict, said Razi, more on how and when the change should be made. “Some wanted it to be done gradually, others wanted it done now.” As chief of the military, Wiranto tried to accommodate everyone and ensure the change wouldn’t rock the boat. On 18 July 1998, only two months after the fall of the New Order, Wiranto announced four new paradigms by which the military would review its social and political role in Indonesia. The term dwi fungsi had since been dropped. “The civic work of the military was dropped, although its role in determining strategic policies remained,” writes Salim Said.

Widjojo said he and Yudhoyono, then his superior and Chief of Staff for Political Affairs, took part in the drafting of the new paradigms. “At that time, there had already been talk of scrapping the social and political role of the military,” he said. Only, he added, it was to be done gradually because of the unfavorable political condition with street demonstrations and economic woes continuing to destabilize the situation.

Two years later, a number of important positions in the military changed hands. Admiral Widodo was named chief of the military and Gen. Fachrul Razi his deputy. Gen. Widjojo was the new Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs replacing Gen. Yudhoyono, who joined the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid as Mining & Energy Minister.

The rotation marked a new era with reformist officers taking strategic positions within the military. The power of the conservatives declined drastically. In April 2000 the reformist officers succeeded in convincing the military leadership to scrap dual function.

The decision was announced by Widodo at the close of a military leadership conference at Cilangkap. “The main task of the military will henceforth be to act as a major component for the defense of the nation,” said Widodo. Thus ended the long history of dwi fungsi.