Air Force officer named to key TNI's post
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Military (TNI) conducted a major reshuffle with the appointment of Vice Marshall Wartoyo as chief of TNI general affairs, the first-ever promotion of a member of the Air Force to such a high position -- second overall -- in the military's command structure.
Wartoyo, current deputy chief of the Air Force, will replace Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago who is retiring in April. Rear Marshall Herman Prayitno was promoted to take Wartoyo's current position.
TNI Chief spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsuddin told The Jakarta Post that there was nothing special or strange in the reshuffle as it is done every April and October.
It is the first time for the Air Force to be entrusted with such a high position at the Cilangkap TNI Headquarters since 1965 following allegations of collusion with coup plotters -- widely blamed by the New Order government and Army figures on the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), however no independent investigation has conclusively identified the perpetrators.
The top TNI position, which has been dominated by the Army was only entrusted to a Navy man when then President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid appointed Admiral Widodo to replace General Wiranto.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri apparently differed on many more of her predecessor's policies than originally thought, and decided to go back to the old way by giving an Army man the top post.
Wartoyo's promotion is part of a long-awaited reshuffle that involves a total of 126 high-ranking officials in the Army, Navy, Air Force and TNI Headquarters.
Sjafrie denied that the reshuffle had anything to do with national elections, saying no officials who ended their service had been nominated by parties in the legislative elections on April 5 or look to be presidential candidates for any party.
"Forty-two officials, including outgoing Chief of TNI General Affairs Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago, are close to their mandatory pension age while more than 80 others will be rotated or promoted to higher positions," he said.
Djamari, who graduated from the Military Academy in 1971 was in the spotlight briefly when Wiranto appointed him in May 1998 as chief of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) to replace Lt. Gen. Jhonny Lumintang, who was unceremoniously and controversially axed after just 18 hours on the job.
Asked whether the replacement of Djamari with an Air Force officer would not affect the ongoing military operation in war- ravaged Aceh, Sjafrie said that there were no problems and the new official would do his best for all military personnel in the military operation.
The military leadership also appointed Col. Hotmangaradja as Army spokesman to replace Brig. Gen. Ratyono who is also retiring soon.
Hotmangaradja who graduated from the Military Academy in 1978 and developed his military career in the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) is the son of late Brig. Gen. Pandjaitan who along with six other Army generals, was killed in the aforementioned 1965 coup attempt.