SEMARANG, KOMPAS – The solidarity of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police is necessary ahead of the 2018 simultaneous regional election and the 2019 general elections. In order to maintain this solidarity, the military and police leadership must be able to maintain their distance from formal and informal political powers.
President Joko Widodo said he was not concerned about the increasing political tension ahead of the 2018 and 2019 elections, so long as the military and the police remained united. “There is one key, and one key only. As long as the public, the election candidates and their supporters see that the military and the police are solid, there will be no problems [political commotion]. That is the key,” said the President at the Assembly of Regional Police Chiefs at the Indonesian Police Academy in Semarang, Central Java, on Monday (9/10/2017).
The assembly saw the attendance of 33 provincial police chiefs and 461 city police and district police chiefs. The three-day event comprised seminars and an exhibition of the National Police’s priority programs and innovations in keeping public order and safety.
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, State Secretary Pratikno, National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian and TNI Commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo accompanied the President to the event.
Dragging
The President said that he believed that, as long as TNI and the National Police were able to remain solid, no one would dare disrupt national security.
In the presence of the National Police leadership, the President called on all police personnel to remain politically neutral, and stressed that the National Police’s politics was state politics. Consequently, all police personnel must remain loyal to the state, the people and their leaders.
Separately, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University professor Azyumardi Azra said that political players would always try to drag the TNI and the National Police into political matters. This is because of the belief among political players that they would be safer with military and police support.
Therefore, military and police leaders at both national and regional levels must be cautious. “Military and police leaders must keep their distance from formal and informal political entities. They must take care not to become involved too deeply, and yet they must be able to maintain relationships. It’s like flying a kite. You cannot pull too hard on the string, yet you cannot just let it loose,” Azyumardi said.
In order to achieve this, Azyumardi said, the military and the police must remain professional and impartial in carrying out their duties. If military and police leaders were too busy responding to political turmoil, it might cause internal friction that may lead to further political instability.
House of Representatives Commission III head Bambang Soesatyo said that increased cooperation between the two security forces at multiple levels was necessary to increase their solidarity.
Bambang also said that both the military and the police should understand their respective duties under the law. The TNI was responsible for maintaining national unity and security, and the National Police was responsible for maintaining domestic security. The military may help the police upon request. “As long as both institutions understand their duties and carry them out effectively, the public should not have any worries about security disruption,” he said.
National stability
At the event, the President also called on the National Police to anticipate any possible security disruptions during the 2018 and 2019 elections.
“Please prepare detailed security measures. Map out the potential friction between parties that may arise among one another and apply preventive measures as early as possible. Potential provocateurs must also be identified. Who they are and what they are able to do. [Police] Intelligence must have comprehensive data on this,” the President said.
Furthermore, the President also asked the National Police to prepare alternative solutions in the event of public disruptions. The President said that, despite his conviction that Indonesians were becoming smarter in responding to political tensions, the police should carry out its duty of clearing up fake news and cooling down any heated situations. “If issues arise that endanger security, the law must be strictly enforced, no matter who the perpetrator is,” the President said.
In the 2018 and 2019 political years, the country needed political stability to safeguard economic activities. Stability was the fundamental element to provide business players with the necessary certainty for pursuing economic activities.
“The country needs political stability and security. The state does not provide business opportunities, but it facilitates businesses and the private sector in creating such opportunities. Once again, political and economic stability is necessary,” the President stressed.
Meanwhile, National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said the police had mapped out regions that may be at risk of potential disruptions. “[These regions] are West Java and Papua, as well as regions with sensitive issues regarding ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup relations [SARA], like West Kalimantan. We remain solid and have planned anticipatory measures,” he said.
In response to the President’s call, Tito said that the police would maintain its strong relationship with the military. According to him, the National Police and TNI would continue to develop their cooperation at all levels. “The police and the military are two major pillars of the state. If both are solid, the state will be strong,” Tito said.
TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Wuryanto said the military would follow the President’s order to maintain the solidarity between the TNI and the Police.
“At the national level, cooperation with the National Police will be strengthened, as is the cooperation in regions, [and] down to the village or subdistrict levels. Non-commissioned officers assigned to villages [Babinsa] will always maintain a close relationship with their police counterparts [Bhabinkamtibmas], as well as with village and subdistrict leadership,” he said.
It is believed that village- and subdistrict-level cooperation will be most effective in anticipating sociopolitical issues that may arise in 2018 and 2019.