Endriartono's hearing

Endriartono's hearing

This is the first time an Indonesian Military (TNI) chief
candidate has had to pass a fit-and-proper test under which the
candidate had to sit alone to face various questions raised by
members of the House of Representatives (DPR).

We witnessed such a scene on Wednesday when Army chief Gen.
Endriartono Sutarto had to answer a wide variety of questions
from House members.

Whoever is to become the TNI chief must go through such a
process today, showing that the military is no longer a law unto
itself.

Times have changed. The House is not the only institution that
makes an evaluation. Non-governmental organizations also have the
right to do so. Kontras, for example, even rejected candidates
from the Army. It suggested that the candidates come from the Air
Force. The Air Force is free from human rights violations and has
never had one of its officers become the TNI chief, it said.

For us, we are not overly concerned with the selection of the
TNI on a rotational basis. What is important is that a candidate
is able to develop the military into a more professional
organization.

But one thing is clear, we do not want to see or hear of any
soldiers being involved in criminal acts, such as the timber
theft that is raising such concern at the moment.

The point is that we want to see the military getting out of
all types of direct or indirect criminal practices.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta