Gen. Hartono gets cabinet post

Gen. Hartono gets cabinet post

JAKARTA (JP): In a surprising cabinet reshuffle, President
Soeharto appointed retiring Army Chief Gen. R. Hartono minister
of information yesterday, replacing Harmoko, who led Golkar to a
landslide victory in last month's general election.

The President, who is widely tipped to retain his post in next
year's election, also reshuffled senior generals in the Armed
Forces (ABRI).

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said yesterday Harmoko
would stay in the cabinet as a state minister of special
assignments, a newly created post.

"Harmoko is honorably discharged as minister of information.
The president will give him special assignments to facilitate the
cabinet's job," Moerdiono said after accompanying ABRI Chief Gen.
Feisal Tanjung to a meeting with Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.

"General Hartono will be retiring and honorably discharged
from his position as Army chief," he said.

Hartono will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Wiranto, chief of the
army's strategic reserve command. He will be promoted to four-
star general.

Moerdiono said Soeharto would swear in Hartono and Wiranto
next Wednesday in a ceremony at the State Palace. Harmoko would
not be sworn in because he is already a cabinet member.

Born on June 10, 1941, in Pamekasan, East Java, and graduating
from the National Military Academy in 1962, Hartono reached his
mandatory retirement age last year, but the President kept him on
for another year.

When he completed his three-year assignment in 1993 as
Brawijaya's military commander he won strong support to run for
East Java governor.

However the President appointed him head of the Armed Forces
Staff and Command School in Bandung. From 1993 to 1994 he was the
governor of the National Resilience Institute.

For the next few months he was the Armed Forces'
sociopolitical affairs chief, before assuming his post as Army
chief of staff in February 1995.

He is among those tipped to become the next vice president.

Harmoko has served as information minister in Soeharto's last
three cabinets, since 1983.

Soeharto also decided to promote Wiranto, together with the
Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Arief Kushariadi, Air Force
Chief of Staff Vice Marshal Sutria Tubagus, and National Police
Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo.

As chairman of Golkar, which captured more than 74 percent of
the vote in last month's general election, Harmoko has a strong
chance of being elected the next speaker of the House of
Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly later this year.

"It is common that the winner of the general election
nominates its chairman as the DPR/MPR speaker," said Moerdiono.

It means that Harmoko will leave the cabinet in October when
the new legislators take their seats.

Under Indonesian state protocol, the House speaker is the
third most senior position after the president and vice
president.

If he is elected House speaker, Harmoko will chair the
People's Consultative Assembly next March which will meet to
elect the new president and vice president and adopt the State
Broad Guidelines for the next five year's cabinet program.

Wiranto's career has skyrocketed after serving as Soeharto's
adjutant from 1989 through 1993. He was the Jakarta military
commander from 1993 to 1996 before being promoted commander of
the Army's strategic reserve command.

Wiranto was born on July 7, 1947, in Yogyakarta, and graduated
from the National Military Academy in Magelang in 1968.

Wiranto will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Sugiono, currently
commander of the Presidential Security Guards.

Sugiono's position will be filled by Maj. Gen. Sutarto, one of
Hartono's assistants.

President Soeharto also appointed the incumbent Diponegoro
Military Commander Maj. Gen. Subagyo Hari Siswoyo as the Army's
deputy chief of staff.

The officers' ranks will be promoted before they assume their
new positions.

The deputy Army chief position became vacant when Lt. Gen.
F.X. Sudjasmin retired Wednesday.

Born on June 12, 1946, in Yogyakarta, Subagyo graduated from
the military academy in 1970.

He spent 13 years of his career in Presidential Security
Guards, from 1986 to 1993. He briefly headed the Army's special
forces in 1994 before taking up his current post in Semarang.

Subagyo will be replaced by Brig. Gen. Mardjianto, currently
the deputy governor of Armed Forces Academy in Magelang. (06)