Active Chief of Territorial Staff Position Restored: Golkar Legislator Says It's Internal Policy, No Need for Parliamentary Discussion

Deputy Chair of Commission I at the Indonesian Parliament (DPR) from the Golkar faction, Dave Laksono, has commented on Armed Forces Commander General Agus Subiyanto’s decision to reactivate the position of Chief of Territorial Staff (Kaster) TNI.

Laksono stated that the position of Kaster TNI, currently held by Lieutenant General Bambang Trisnohadi, falls within the internal domain of the TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces).

“This is already an internal TNI policy, so it is the government’s prerogative to determine its organisational structure,” Laksono told journalists at the Golkar Party headquarters in West Jakarta on Wednesday, 18 March 2026.

Laksono explained that the reactivation of the Kaster TNI position does not require discussion at Commission I of Parliament. He compared the policy of reactivating the position to changes in Directorates General, which are the government’s prerogative.

“There is no need. It’s like changes to a Directorate General, the addition of directors and such—these do not need to be discussed with us because they are the government’s prerogative,” he said.

Previously, it was reported that Armed Forces Commander General Agus Subiyanto had undertaken a further reshuffle of senior officer positions within the TNI. A number of strategic positions underwent rotation, including the posts of commanders of regional military commands (pangdam) in several areas.

In this latest rotation, TNI Headquarters also conducted an organisational validation of Jakarta Military Command (Kodam Jaya). This structural change means that one of the TNI Army’s main commands will subsequently be led by a senior officer with the rank of lieutenant general or three-star general.

The Jakarta Military Command position, currently held by Major General Deddy Suryadi, did not experience a change, though there was no further clarification regarding the organisational validation at that unit.

The TNI’s Information Centre Chief, Brigadier General Aulia Dwi Nasrullah, explained that job rotation and transfers are routine matters within the TNI organisation.

“I should point out that job transfers within the TNI are a normal occurrence, in order to develop the professional development of personnel and meet organisational requirements,” he said on Thursday, 12 March 2026.

Besides changes at Jakarta Military Command, rotation also affected several other senior officers. Lieutenant General Bambang Trisnohadi, who previously served as Commander of the Combined Regional Defence Command III, was transferred to become Chief of Territorial Staff TNI.