Indonesia Votes: Military Men ≠ Able Administrators

I know all of you must be wondering why my blog posts have been on Indonesia everytime I touch on political issues lately. Well, there is really no particular reason. Somehow when I think of Indonesia, I just realize that there are so many political issues I can ramble about. By the way, if any of you think that I am campaigning for certain political parties due to the ongoing election, let me set things straight: I am not.

Many of you who have been following Indonesia’s political development would have probably noticed that despite the enactment of laws to limit the involvement of the military in the politics, men with military background remain popular with the masses. One look at the list of politicians and you will realize that many have served in the military at some point of their careers. In fact, for the upcoming presidential election, candidates are either ex-military officers themselves or have ex-military officers as their running mates.

For some plausible reasons or pure coincidence, Indonesia under ex-military officers has been rather stable and prosperous while Indonesia under civilians tends to move dangerously towards anarchy and political turbulence. The current administration of SBY, an ex-military officer, is the only administration expected to fully complete its 5-year mandate since the downfall of Suharto. The previous civilian administrations do not complete their mandate for one reason or another. This by itself is sufficient to give many Indonesians the strong belief that only people with military background are capable of leading them. But are people with military background necessarily able administrators?

The answer is no. Although it is true that military training can turn one into a firm and decisive person, and that these traits must be possessed by whoever that is leading the country, these alone are not enough to qualify one to lead a country. Besides being firm and decisive, an able administrator must also possess other traits such as charismatic and able to accept differences in views (which I don’t think military education emphasizes for obvious reasons).

There are many examples in Indonesia of people who are elected to public offices due to their military background but up till now, have not shown their ability to administer competently. Provinces and cities have continued to move down the charts with regards to hygiene, transportation infrastructures, etc since they elected ex-military officers as their governors and majors respectively. State-owned enterprises have lost its ability to compete with the private players since they are chaired by ex-military officers. The list of their misdeeds continues.

The message is clear: No doubt some ex-military officers like SBY are also able administrators, but this does not mean that military background and ability to administer properly always come together as a package. There are many ex-military officers who have excelled in the military but know zilch about administering. Electing them may not only slow down the pace of development in the country, it may end up causing stagnation or worse, a move in opposite direction.