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TNI budget increase will endanger demilitarisation process in Aceh

Fpdra.org - August 5, 2005

Alisa P, Jakarta – The demilitarisation phase covered under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement will proceed over a period of three months.

The TNI (armed forces), though the department of defense, has submitted a request for a budget of 526 billion rupiah to providing security for the three month transition process from August 15 to December 2005. Defense minister Juwono Sudarsono in Jakarta revealed this on Thursday August 4. Sudarsono further explained that it would not be part of an earlier defense budget allocation of 2.19 trillion rupiah.

According to the chairperson of the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), Thamrin Ananda, this submission for additional funds indicates that the TNI is not yet demonstrating its good intentions in welcoming the peace process in Aceh. It should be that with the signing of the MoU, as stated under the point on demilitarisation, GAM will lay down its arms and non-organic TNI troops will be withdrawn. So what is the budget increase for since what is needed by the TNI at the moment is funds for the repatriation of its troops which should already be part of the state budget said Ananda.

This gives the impression that the TNI is peppering an alternative scenario for the peace process. When the TNI wanted to ensure that CoHA¹ would fail, the TNI also asked for a budged increase, which was then used for preparations for war, that is the state of martial law. This is truly not a positive contribution towards a genuine peace process.

Furthermore explained Andanda, the TNI itself is not in fact involved in the monitoring team so making a budget submission on the ground of maintaining security during the transitional period makes absolutely no sense. It would only make sense for the TNI to submit a request for a budget increase if it was involved in the monitoring process, he explained.(*)

Notes:

1. On December 9, 2003, Indonesia and GAM signed the historic Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) in Geneva which required both sides to begin demilitarisation within two months and a Joint Security Committee (JSC) was tasked with monitoring the peace process.

[Translated by James Balowski.]
 

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