Army chief nominees revealed, Djoko Santoso tipped to get job

Tiarma Siboro and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Jakarta/Bandung

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Monday he had proposed four senior Army officers as candidates to succeed him as part of an imminent reshuffle of the Indonesian Military (TNI)'s top brass.

The four candidates include the deputy to the Army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Djoko Santoso, commander of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. Hadi Waluyo, the TNI's Inspector General Lt. Gen. Djadja Suparman, and Military Education Training Commander (Kodiklat) Maj. Gen. Cornel Simbolon.

A TNI source said that Simbolon would be made a lieutenant general on Tuesday.

"This reshuffle, which will affect all chiefs of staffs and the TNI commander, is required in order to bring about a regeneration in the military," Ryamizard told reporters in Bandung.

"Ideally, an officer who has held a certain posting for at least three years should be replaced or be moved to another posting."

Ryamizard, who has been in his current post for more than three years and will reach mandatory retirement age in April of this year unless the President extends his service, has been widely tipped to become the next TNI commander, replacing Gen. Endriartono Sutarto.

Rumors of a reshuffle affecting all three chiefs of staff have been rife since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's announcement that he would replace Endriartono Sutarto this month.

The Navy and Air Force chiefs of staff have reportedly also proposed candidates to fill their shoes to the TNI chief.

A source at the Vice Presidential Office told The Jakarta Post that Susilo had received the lists of candidates to succeed the three current chiefs of staff from the TNI commander, and had in fact decided to appoint Djoko Santoso as the new Army chief of staff; Vice Adm. Djoko Soemaryono, currently the secretary at the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, as the new Navy chief of staff; and Rear Marshall Djoko Soeyanto, the current operations assistant to the Air Force chief, as the new Air Force chief of staff.

Both Djoko Soeyanto and Djoko Soemaryono are from the class of 1973, which also included Susilo, while Djoko Santoso is from the class of 1975.

No confirmation either from top military officers nor the presidential office was forthcoming.

"Yes, all the chiefs of staff have proposed candidates, but I can't confirm who has been picked by the TNI commander to lead each arm of the military. It all depends on the TNI chief and the President. Just wait and see," TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoedin told the Post on Monday.

Sjafrie, a 1974 graduate, is among the senior officers who are likely be promoted; it is believed that he may get a three-star generalship, according to a source.

It is still not clear when the TNI commander will announce the replacement of the three chiefs of staff, but reporters have been invited to TNI Headquarters on Tuesday to attend a blood donation drive. According to Sjafrie, the TNI commander will also be present at the event.