Former general may be appointed as deputy state secretary

Former general may be appointed as deputy state secretary

JAKARTA (JP): What does a cabinet minister do when he is
overburdened after being elected to chair the country's biggest
political organization? Appoint a new assistant to conduct his
ministerial duties.

Lt. Gen. (ret) Toni Hartono is scheduled to be sworn in as a
deputy state secretary next week, a newly created post especially
set up to assist Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung who will
be increasingly preoccupied with his new role as Golkar chairman.

"Pak Toni will play a key role because Pak Akbar must also
share his time with Golkar," a senior palace official said
yesterday.

Akbar announced that he would install a retired three-star
general as his assistant next week but refused to disclose the
name of the candidate.

Toni himself refused to comment.

"I am sorry I cannot give you any details because I have not
heard about it," he said when contacted by The Jakarta Post
yesterday.

Toni and Akbar know each other well from when Toni worked as
the head of the secretariat of Golkar's board of patrons and
Akbar served as its secretary.

The board of patrons is due to be abolished following Golkar's
extraordinary congress last week, where Akbar was elected as the
organization's chairman, replacing House of Representatives
Speaker Harmoko.

Akbar said Sunday he had proposed to President B.J. Habibie
that he needed a deputy, to enable him to give more time to
Golkar affairs. The deputy he said would not hold a ministerial
rank. (prb)