Endriartono's nomination for TNI top post draws mixed reactions
Endriartono's nomination for TNI top post draws mixed reactions
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's nomination of current Army
Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto as new commander of the
Indonesian Military (TNI) drew on Tuesday mixed reactions from
political and military analysts and activists.
Staunch human rights campaigner Hendardi said the decision to
nominate Endriartono as the sole candidate had strengthened
speculation on the return of conservatism into the President's
policy on the powerful military.
"His nomination by the President as the sole candidate is in
effect a fait accompli and is intended to preclude public
discussion or assessment of other prospective candidates," he
said.
The move also strongly indicates that Megawati has striven to
emphasize her retention of power rather than reforming the TNI,
said Hendardi, director of the Legal Aid and Human Rights
Association (PBHI).
He said that conservatism within the TNI had surfaced after
Endriartono appointed former Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen.
Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, widely accused of involvement in several
human rights abuses, as the new Army spokesman.
Leading the powerful Army, Endriartono failed to show
"impressive achievement", and even allowed several human rights
violations to take place unchecked, Hendardi added.
The worst, he cited, was the murder of Papuan separatist
leader Theys Hiyo Eluay last November, which was blamed on
members of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus).
Under a system introduced by former president Abdurrahman "Gus
Dur" Wahid of rotating the post among the three services, the
next TNI commander should have come from the Air Force.
Hendardi said Megawati's repudiation of the rotation agreement
has clearly indicated her reliance on the Army to bolster her
political control.
Meanwhile, military analyst M.T. Arifin said the current four-
star Army chief was the best of the available candidates to head
the military.
"Endriartono is known to be a modest man with good capability
and close ties to the lower ranks," he was quoted by AFP as
saying
J. Kristiadi of the Center for Strategic and International
Studies also said Endriartono was a better choice than the other
candidate proposed by the military promotions council, former
Army chief Gen. Tyasno Sudarno.
"Personally, I see Endriartono as a professional soldier with
high acceptability among the ranks of the TNI," he told AFP.
But Kristiadi's colleague at the CSIS Kusnanto Anggoro said
Endriartono could "turn authoritarian" if he were not
counterbalanced by a strong Army chief.