House to sign off on Endriartono nomination

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While the question of internal reform in the Indonesian Military (TNI) hangs in the balance, legislators and military observers gave a thumbs-up to President Megawati Soekarnoputri's nomination of Gen. Endriartono Sutarto for TNI's top post on Thursday.

Legislators said the legislative body was not actually in a position to reject Endriartono, since the President had proposed only one candidate.

"Unless there is something really wrong about Endriartono, it would be difficult for legislators to turn down his nomination," said House deputy speaker A.M. Fatwa, who was once put in jail by the regime of former president Soeharto for his alleged involvement in the Tanjung Priok case.

Permadi, a legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), said it was not out of the ordinary that Endriartono did not elaborate on his program to conduct an internal reform during the fit and proper test because of the uncertainty of his term of office.

"He is fully aware that he could be replaced at any time the President wishes to do so," said Permadi, who has frequently spoken out against the military.

It is almost certain that the House will endorse Endriartono as all factions in the commission that conducted the fit and proper test agreed to his nomination.

Kusnanto Anggoro, a military observer from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the President should replace Endriartono should he fail to meet the promises he made before the legislative body.

He said, however, that he was not sure if Megawati would have the courage to do so should Endriartono's performance be considered disappointing.

Juwono Sudarsono, the former defense minister and former deputy governor of the Institute of National Resilience, threw his weight behind Endriartono's nomination.

"He is the right general to systematically carry out the military's reform agenda," he said.

Endriartono has drawn negative reactions from activists and students who were behind the proreform demonstration that forced Soeharto to step down on May 21, 1998.

So far, the students' demands for military reform have remained unclear since the TNI, especially the Army, still plays a powerful role in politics. The House fell short of extracting the military's commitment to stay out of politics, accept civilian supremacy and go back to the defense function.

Four years after the reform movement was launched, there is no indication that the military is ready to leave the House in 2004 or the People's Consultative Assembly in 2009 or that it will gradually leave its territorial function behind.

The number of military commands has increased from ten to twelve.