Moeldoko Calls for Calm Amid Fears of Armed Forces Law Revision

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko on Wednesday urges calm in the wake of news that the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Law will be revised. The former TNI commander claims that the revision will clearly define the professionalism of the country’s military force.

“We should fret overly fearing it as soldiers nowadays are different. They are truly professional, and this sense of professionalism comes from the soldiers themselves,” said Moeldoko on May 24. “The definition of professionalism might be biased back then but that is impossible today, it’s clear and it’s in the law.”

Moeldoko understands that people fear TNI personnel will act excessively as the past has shown, however, he said the current public control towards TNI as an institution in the modern day is more than sufficient. 

He also said that a revision to the TNI Law will not resurrect what many people fear, TNI’s dual function (dwifungsi). 

“It’s not a possibility for us to return to the dual function role as in the past. No, no, it’s not possible,” said the former commander. 

Previously, the proposed revision of the TNI Law had resurfaced even though it was not included in the 39 Bills in the 2023 Priority National Legislation Program. Most recently, a draft proposal emerged from the Legal Development Agency (Babinkum) TNI in April 2023.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH

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