Back to the Barracks?

摘要

Beneath Indonesia's tumult, a much quieter struggle is under way: a battle for the mind of ABRI, the country's armed forces. The contest, so far bloodless, takes the form of a debate. In one camp are ABRI officers who feel strongly that Indonesia's peculiarities—most notably its 13,760 islands, fractured by geography, language, and culture—demand a crucial role for the military quite unlike that of any other nation's. In the other are fellow officers prepared to consider, in the face of demands for greater democracy, ABRI's at least partial withdrawal from politics— for example, a reduction in the 20% of seats the military currently holds in all national, provincial, and district legislatures. At stake: how far and how fast Indonesia moves toward a more representative government.