Age 'does not count' in picking military boss<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono said on Sunday that age did not matter in the
\nselection of the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief.<\/p>\n
Susilo said that it was quite a normal practice for the
\nPresident to extend a candidate's service beyond his or her
\nretirement date \"when the country was in need\".<\/p>\n
\"According to the law, an officer's period of service can be
\nextended by the President if the country needs the officer to
\nlead the military. The President considers many aspects ... but
\nage is not the deciding factor in the selection of the new TNI
\nchief,\" Susilo said.<\/p>\n
The Defense Law passed by the House of Representatives last
\nNovember restricts the candidates for TNI chief to those with
\nexperience as a chief of staff.<\/p>\n
Of the four candidates eligible for the TNI top job, Army
\nChief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto will reach mandatory
\nretirement age this April. His predecessor Gen. Tyasno Sudarto
\nand Air Force Chief of Staff Air Marshal Hanafie Asnan will only
\nretire next year, while Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Indroko
\nSastrowiryono has had his service extended by a year.<\/p>\n
Susilo also stressed that the agreement to rotate the highest
\nTNI position between the three military forces would not be
\napplied strictly.<\/p>\n
\"Rotation will be taken into consideration, but the quality
\nand readiness of the respective military force is also important.
\nThe rotation does not necessarily mean that the Air Force must
\ntake over from the Navy. The post could go to the Army before the
\nAir Force,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Rotation of the top position in the military began under the
\nadministration of former president Abdurrahman Wahid in 1999,
\nwith the Navy being awarded the post through Adm. Widodo AS. If
\nthe system were to be consistently applied, it would now be the
\nturn of the Air Force to get the top job.<\/p>\n
In the past, the position was a quasi preserve of the Army.<\/p>\n
Susilo said President Megawati Soekarnoputri was coming closer
\nto submitting TNI chief candidates to the House of
\nRepresentatives in the near future. The much-awaited change of
\nguard in the military would follow the latest TNI reshuffle which
\naffected 118 officers.<\/p>\n
Rights activists saw the reshuffle, which was announced on
\nFriday evening, as an obstacle for the inquiry established by the
\nNational Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) into three
\nincidents in 1998 and 1999 here that killed dozens of students
\nand civilians.<\/p>\n
Usman Hamid of the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims
\nof Violence (Kontras) told the Post on Sunday that the reshuffle
\nwould discourage the inquiry's attempts to bring in military
\nofficers allegedly involved in the incidents for questioning.<\/p>\n
He was specifically referring to Maj. Gen, Sjafrie
\nSjamsoeddin, who has been named the new TNI spokesman replacing
\nRear Air Marshal Graito Usodo.<\/p>\n
\"How could the inquiry continue its work when one of the
\nofficers being summoned for questioning now holds the strategic
\nposition as spokesman for the military?\" asked Usman, a member of
\nthe Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations (KPP HAM)
\nfor the Trisakti, Semanggi I and Semanggi II incidents.<\/p>\n
But military observer Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for
\nStrategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that the
\nappointment of Sjafrie as the TNI spokesman had nothing to do
\nwith the widely hailed internal reform in the TNI or its stance
\non human rights issues.<\/p>\n
Kusnanto said that with or without Sjafrie's comeback to the
\npublic spotlight after almost four years of absence, the
\nmilitary's internal reform program had already come to a
\nstandstill.<\/p>\n
\"I guess the appointment of Sjafrie to the position is merely
\naimed at giving him lighter tasks rather than assigning him to
\nintelligence work,\" Kusnanto told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
He said the public could not blame the military for its lack
\nof accountability over past human rights violations as the House
\nof Representatives itself had blocked the efforts to bring rights
\nabuse perpetrators to justice.<\/p>\n
The House said last year the three incidents were not
\nclassified as gross human rights violations.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/age-does-not-count-in-picking-military-boss-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}