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JAKARTA: The military (TNI)
still holds the real political power in Indonesia, four years
after the end of President Suharto's dictatorship, according to a
former defence minister.
And soldiers will continue to run Indonesia for at least the next
decade, predicts Yuwono Sudarsono, who was the country's first
civilian defence minister.
"It's the only institution
that's holding the country together," Mr Sudarsono said.
"Despite its shortcomings, it's the most organised, the most
disciplined."
Mr Sudarsono was part of the
country's first democratically elected government under
Abdurrahman Wahid and was responsible for reducing the role of the
TNI in politics by pulling them out of government jobs.
But politicians have failed to take
up the role of the military, particularly in the provinces, Mr
Sudarsono said.
"(Now) there are 250 mini
Suhartos around the country at various levels doing their own
thing with no worry at all about being prosecuted," he said.
Analysts agree that since President
Megawati Sukarnoputri rose to power almost a year ago, the impetus
to remove the military from political life has waned.
Mr Sudarsono asserts that Mrs
Megawati needs the political backing of the TNI's parliamentary
representatives in order to be re-elected in 2004.
This report appears on
news.com.au.
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