Academia
As Indonesia honored its fallen soldiers alongside those of Timor-Leste last week, the occasion served as a reminder of the parallel journeys the two bordering neighbors have trod, not least in their leaders' approaches to maintain national defense and public security within the corridors of democracy.
External reinforcements: A group of soldiers stands guard on Wednesday at the front gates of a luxury house in South Jakarta’s upscale Kebayoran Baru neighborhood identified as the private residence of Febrie Ardiansyah, who resigned as assistant attorney general for special crimes on Friday amid an ongoing corruption investigation by the National Police. (Antara/Putra M. Akbar)
Recently, I accompanied former president Megawati Soekarnoputri as she received the Grand Star of Timor-Leste from President Jose Ramos-Horta. In Dili, she also met Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao who, like President Prabowo Subianto, carries a military past. Both men must now keep their respective armed forces, the Timor-Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL) and the Indonesian Military (TNI), within the corridor of democracy.That corridor is easier to name than to hold, as events in Jakarta showed. On the night of July 8, as police searched a dozen premises in a graft and money laundering inquiry, seizing 74 kilograms of gold and around Rp 476 billion (US$29 million) from one villa, dozens of soldiers took up position outside the home of Febrie Adriansyah, who later resigned as assistant attorney general for special crimes.
