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)