The Professionalism of Indonesian National Army in Civil-Military Relations. A Case Study in General Election 2014

Journal of Social Research & Policy, Volume: 6, Issue: 1, Online First

Date: July 2015

ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)

Abstract: The slow process of professionalizing the Indonesian National Army (TNI) currently needs to be looked out, as well as with reemergence of a tendency to draw the military into practical politics activity as in 2014 general election. Military professionalism in a civil-military relation within a country is necessary to create civilian supremacy. To get a good insight of the issue, this research used qualitative methods to capture information from several informants as the primary data source in addition to some secondary data. From this research it is found that in the 2014 general election there were indications to leads back the military into practical politics, including one that was done by civilian political elites in political parties. This is directly threatening the realization of military professionalism. This study concludes that the absence of military professionalism can pose a threat to civilian supremacy, because when the government is controlled by the military power, the rights of civil society will be neglected.

Keywords: Professionalism; TNI; Civil; Military; General Election; Civilian Supremacy.