Army leadership to change soon, spokesman announces

Army leadership to change soon, spokesman announces

JAKARTA (JP): The leadership of the Diponegoro and the Trikora
regional military commands will soon change hands, according to
Army spokesman Brig. Gen. I Dewa Putu Rai.

Maj. Gen. Mardijanto will soon transfer the reins of the
Diponegoro Regional Military Command, overseeing Central Java, to
Maj. Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, while Maj. Gen. Johny Lumintang will
relinquish control of the Trikora Military Command, overseeing
Maluku and Irian Jaya, to Brig. Gen. Amir Sembiring.

"Maj. Gen. Mardiyanto will soon assume a new post as assistant
to the Armed Forces chief of sociopolitical affairs and Maj. Gen.
Johny Lumintang will become assistant to the Armed Forces chief
of general affairs," said Putu Rai after a ceremony in which Lt.
Gen. Soegiono officially took over the duties of deputy Army
chief of staff from Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo.

"Probably next week," Putu Rai said when asked about the date
for the transfers.

Subagyo is now the Army chief of staff, while Soegiono was
formerly chief of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).

Putu Rai said Amir Sembiring was now Johny's deputy in
Trikora, while Tyasno was the assistant to the Army chief of
staff for general planning.

He said Tyasno's post would be transferred to Brig. Gen.
Sugiarto Maksum, who is now Tyasno's deputy.

The new Kostrad chief, Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, will be
installed Friday, while the new head of the Tanjungpura Regional
Military Command overseeing the four Kalimantan provinces, Maj.
Gen. I Nyoman Suwisma, will be installed next Tuesday.

The new chief of the Army's special forces (Kopassus), Maj.
Gen. Muchdi P.R., will be installed on Thursday next week to
replace Prabowo.

Prabowo will replace Soegiono, while Suwisma will replace
Muchdi.

Addressing soldiers at a monthly military ceremony yesterday
morning, Army commander Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo called on the
Army to maintain its alertness, despite the fact that the General
Session of the People's Consultative Assembly was over.

"Soldiers should remain vigilant over any possible
unconstitutional maneuvers by certain groups in society...
trying to... disrupt national stability and order," he said.

He said the soldiers were also obliged to disseminate the
results of the Assembly's 11-day General Session, which ended
last week.

The Assembly reelected President Soeharto, elected B.J.
Habibie as vice president and endorsed the 1998/2003 State Policy
Guidelines. (imn)