ABRI spokesman moves up

ABRI spokesman moves up

JAKARTA (JP): Maj. Gen. Syarwan Hamid was sworn in as new assistant to the chief of the socio-political department of the Armed Forces (ABRI) yesterday, replacing Maj. Gen. Hari Sabarno.

Syarwan will momentarily retain his post as the ABRI spokesman and Hari Sabarno is participating in the regular course at the National Resilience Institute, awaiting new posting.

Syarwan was once spokesman for the Siliwangi military command of West Java, commandant of the Lhokseumawe military district in Aceh and spokesman for the Army.

Graduating from the National Military Academy in 1966, he began his career in 1967 when he joined an infantry battalion in Bali before heading the intelligence section of the Mataram military district in Lombok.

In the swearing-in ceremony, chief of the ABRI socio-political affairs department, Mohammad Ma'ruf said that the Armed Forces' role in politics would intensify in the future.

Ma'ruf, a former governor of the institute, said that the socio-political department's task to assist the ABRI commander would be more complex.

"ABRI officers will play their role as the stabilizing and dynamical force in the development of the nation," he said, reported Antara.

He said that, in the future, ABRI should be more pro-active in handling social problems.

"So far ABRI has played a strategic role in the development of Indonesian politics," he said. (pan)