Endriartono controls top two posts<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said here on
\nFriday that he would temporarily carry out the duties of the
\nvacant deputy chief post of the Army until the appointment of a
\nnew officer.<\/p>\n
The Council for High Ranking Promotions and Duty Rotation
\n(Wanjakti) was selecting the new officer, he said.<\/p>\n
Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri relinquished his
\npost on Friday after turning 55, the retirement age, last month.<\/p>\n
Endriartono refused to reveal the timeline for the widely
\nexpected military (TNI) reshuffle.<\/p>\n
\"The TNI chief (Adm. Widodo A.S.) has reported to the
\nPresident that the appointment of my deputy has a strong
\nconnection to the next TNI reshuffle,\" he told reporters after
\npresiding over the handover ceremony from Kiki to himself at the
\nArmy Headquarters in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Unlike Army chief of staff appointments which need a
\npresidential approval, the deputy chief of staff appoinment needs
\nonly a report to the President.<\/p>\n
In the recent TNI duty rotation, the Wanjakti had reportedly
\npicked up Maj. Gen. Hary Kosasih, the operation assistant to the
\nArmy Chief of Staff, to replace Kiki. There was no explanation as
\nto why Wanjakti's decision had been dropped.<\/p>\n
A former Udayana Military commander, Kiki was the dark horse
\nin the race for the Army's second post. He was believed to be
\nrecommended by Megawati Soekarnoputri who was the country's vice
\npresident at the time.<\/p>\n
Kiki, who was a 1971 graduate of the Armed Forces Academy
\n(AKABRI), surged to prominence when he was picked up by former
\nArmed Forces commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto to head the East Timor
\nsecurity restoration in 1999.<\/p>\n
Pro-Jakarta militias had earlier devastated the region
\nfollowing the announcement of the vote result by the United
\nNations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) declaring victory for the
\npro-independence group.<\/p>\n
Vacating posts are not unusual in the Army.<\/p>\n
When Endriartono was officially assigned to the Army's top
\nslot in 2000 replacing Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, he had to wait for a
\nlong time before he got a deputy reportedly due to stiff
\ncompetition among the Army's high ranking officers.<\/p>\n
Endriartono, at the time, insisted that the deputy chief post
\nwas crucial because of its function as a coordinator of all the
\nArmy's staff members.<\/p>",
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