Acting Presidency of Suharto - Defense and Security

Defense and Security

The first order of business for Suharto to give official recognition to ABRI's non-military role. Measures had been taken to create a doctrinal justification for ABRI's interference in non-military matters and this had culminated in August 1966 with the formulation of the Four Duties, One Function (Indonesian: Catur Dharma Eka Karya Acronym: Cadek) Doctrine. The doctrine stated that in addition to its defense and security role, ABRI also takes part and would serve in other fields outside of the aforementioned functions of defense and security. 31 March 1967, Suharto called on ABRI to adopt and implement Cadek.

The next step was to continue purging ABRI of PKI and Sukarnoist elements. With the Army,most intense purges happened in Central Java, East Java, and North Sumatra with the Commanders of the Regional Military Command (Kodam) supervising the areas in question leading the purge. Outside of the Army, the Air Force had been weakened enough by its alleged involvement with G30S. The Police tried to resist but political pressure became too strong for them to overcome. Only the Navy resisted, criticizing the purges as practice reminiscent of the Old Order.

Suharto also began reorganizing the Command Structure of ABRI. The first step was taken by stripping the Commanders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police of their Cabinet status in August 1967. Suharto's Acting Presidency also saw the establishment of the State Intelligence Coordinating Agency (BAKIN), another agency to ensure state security in addition to the Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order (Kopkamtib). In addition to all this, Suharto issued a regulation regarding pay for ABRI soldiers. The regulation provided provisions for pay, conditions for pay rise and the various types of allowances for the members of ABRI.

Beginning in July, Indonesia faced a security problem in the form of the North Kalimatan People's Forces (Paraku) and the People of Sarawak's Guerilla Forces (PGRS), two guerilla armies consisting of people of Chinese ethnicity, with communist leanings, and backed by Beijing. By the end of 1967, ABRI troops, working together with troops of Malaysia, had made progress but it was unknown as to when the conflict could have been decisively ended.