Djoko Santoso installed as city military commander

Djoko Santoso installed as city military commander

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso was installed as the new military
commander of Jakarta on Wednesday, replacing Maj. Gen. Ahmad
Yahya, who was appointed the Army's inspector general.

Djoko, a former head of the Pattimura Military Command, which
oversees Maluku and North Maluku, played an important role in
ending the sectarian conflict in those provinces.

Born in Surakarta, Central Java, on Aug. 9, 1952, Djoko is a
1975 graduate of the National Military Academy.

Djoko served in the former Indonesian province of East Timor
in 1976, 1981 and 1988 as part of the Seroja military operations.
In the late 1990s he became the youngest member of the House of
Representatives, representing the TNI faction.

He was appointed an assistant of social and political affairs
at the Jakarta Military Command in the mid-1990s, and deputy
assistant of social and political affairs to the Indonesian
Military Headquarters' territorial chief of staff.

Djoko, who is married to Angky Retno Yudianti and a father of
two, was appointed chief of staff of Central Java's Diponegoro
Regional Military Command in 2000. He was then assigned to head
the Malang-based Second Division of the Army's Strategic Reserves
Command in East Java in 2001.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, who presided over
the installment ceremony on Wednesday, said in a speech that
Djoko would face a great challenge in safeguarding the capital
ahead of and during the 2004 general election.

"Jakarta is the center of government, politics and the
economy ... a barometer of the country's security situation.

"As the general election draws near, the competition between
the political elite will heat up ... the general election could
turn into a melee between the children of the nation," Ryamizard
said.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post and Bisnis Indonesia
daily, Djoko said he had a formula for maintaining security in
the capital that he learned from his posting in Maluku: the
importance of good relationships.

"By taking a positive approach with all the political and
social groups, I believe security in Jakarta will remain stable,"
he said.

"The role of the police is to maintain order and security and
to uphold the law, with the military backing them up. But in an
emergency situation, we will be in the front," Djoko said.