House to sign off on Endriartono nomination

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.