Australian
government bypasses Jakarta,
builds
ties with military
Lauren
Gumbs ; The writer holds a Masters in Communications
from Griffith University in Queensland and is doing a Masters in Human Rights
at Curtin University in Perth
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JAKARTA
POST, 27 Februari 2014
Relations
might be tense between Jakarta and Canberra, but between Canberra and the
Indonesian Military (TNI), things have never been better.
Indonesian
officials are in disbelief that special life rafts carrying undocumented
migrants were given by Australian authorities for the purpose of sending back
migrants but concede that there might be a special agreement between
Australian and Indonesian defense force chiefs.
Foreign
Minister Marty Natalegawa remains steadfast in opposing the coalition’s boat
U-turns despite six reported incidents where boat people have been pushed
back or even sent back on new lifeboats purchased solely for that task.
And
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, deeply concerned about impositions on
sovereignty as well as public ire, is still smarting after the phone-tapping
furor and recent accidental maritime incursions.
The
TNI however, previously told to beef up maritime border protection and point
its radar Australia’s way, has been largely silent on rhetoric about threats
to Indonesia’s sovereignty from Australia and somehow missed two giant orange
life rafts being chaperoned around the sea for several days before finally
being nudged back toward Indonesia.
After
a lifeboat filled with migrants landed on popular Pangandaran Beach in West
Java in early February, Indonesian media reported the tongue-in-cheek
comments of TNI commander Gen. Moeldoko on the police investigation into the
occurrence; an event that the TNI and perhaps even the National Police —
whose job it is to catch people smugglers — was almost certainly well aware
of and well informed about.
Reports
said a sophisticated life raft suspected to have been given by Australian
authorities had landed on Pangandaran Beach with dozens of migrants onboard
and the case was being looked into by police.
But
Moeldoko refused to give anything away.
“So
strange, it’s not like the boat could have just fallen out of the sky. It’s
now being investigated by the police,” he said.
According
to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the “way to Australia is closed” and boat
arrivals have stopped. But this couldn’t have happened without the TNI and
police who have done more recently to apprehend people smugglers and police
maritime borders than they have in 10 years of otherwise unwelcoming
tolerance of the thousands of refugees and migrants waiting in transit around
the country.
And
this in the face of a controversial quasi-immigration/military led unilateral
policy that has irritated Jakarta since the 2013 elections and has the
Australian media and public locked out of informed debate by strict terms of
operational security.
The
Abbott government has managed to bypass the endless rhetoric and political
indolence of Jakarta, circumventing political stonewalls altogether, and
halting boat arrivals with the direct support of the TNI and police.
Australian
Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison’s operational
secrecy is, in effect, so as not to ruffle Jakarta’s feathers with public
debate on policies affecting both countries’ sovereignty.
But
this military cooperation could stoke a trend that is seeing military figures
on the rise in Indonesian politics, traditionally a strongman’s game.
TNI
previously had to defend claims they were not in line with government policy
over allegations that Moeldoko had personally come to an agreement on boats
with Australian Defense Force Chief Gen. David Hurley.
Moeldoko
depoliticized the allegations and referred to his own operational discretion,
subtly portraying the extent to which the military still commands authority
and legitimacy over certain matters.
The
Jakarta Post quoted Moeldoko as saying, “My statement did not indicate that I
agreed [with the policy], but that I understood such tactical moves. And my
reasoning was that the UN declaration says that every country has the right
to protect its sovereignty. If it were my responsibility, I would have done
the same thing. So, that’s the context.
“I
am not talking about foreign policy. I am talking about tactical matters in
the field,” he said.
Indonesian
lawmakers are angry at this latest Australian “provocation”, however
Singaporean fighter planes crossed into Indonesian airspace this week,
demonstrating that threats to Indonesia’s territorial sovereignty can come
from other directions, and extenuating the way that the TNI has reasserted
itself into the political debate.
With
such sovereign and domestic threats featuring on the horizon, and the endless
corruption scandals biting chunks out of democratic legitimacy, some fear
that Indonesian voters may turn towards the strong leadership offered by
presidential candidates with a military background. Indeed, Prabowo Subianto,
a former general, is second in line to the throne after Jakarta Governor Joko
Widodo (so far an unofficial candidate).
The
presence of conservatively nationalist military actors in the political
sphere signals retrograde forces at play in Indonesia’s still vulnerable
democratization.
In
Indonesia politics can be a largely patrimonial game, so if Australia enjoys
special cooperation on a controversial humanitarian issue now it may one day
have to return the favor. ●
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