House undecided over TNI rotation

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite agreeing that there should be an equal chance for Army, Air Force and Navy officers to hold the post of Indonesian Military (TNI) commander, the House of Representatives factions disagreed that such a rotation should be applied now.

The House factions said the appointment of the TNI chief was the prerogative of the president, pending approval from the House.

The recently endorsed TNI bill, which the House passed on Sept. 30, stipulates that the position of TNI chief should, but is not required to, rotate among the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The bill will take effect 30 days after the House's endorsement, unless the President approves it earlier.

"The bill has not gone into effect yet. Besides, the stipulation is not imperative," said Heri Akhmadi of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction on Tuesday.

Muhammad Najib from the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Amin Said Husni from the National Awakening Party (PKB) said the lawmakers wanted to encourage fairness among the military branches.

"The president will ideally take the spirit of fairness into consideration. But it still is the prerogative of the president to choose the best person," Amin added.

They were commenting on President Megawati Soekarnoputri's (whose term ends in seven days) decision to approve the resignation of TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and appoint Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu as the acting TNI chief.

Military analysts Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and Salim Said stated that the TNI's top post should go to someone from the Air Force.

So far, the post has been reserved mostly for Army officers. Only in 1999, was it given to a Navy chief, Adm. Widodo A.S.

Many had expected that Megawati, who assumed power in 2001, would appoint an Air Force officer as the military commander, but she chose the Army's Endriartono.

The House members will discuss the letter from Megawati informing them of the resignation of the TNI chief in a plenary meeting scheduled for Friday.

"The plenary meeting will be a forum to inform the 550 House members that the President has sent a letter. The meeting will also decide whether to hold a quick discussion in response to the letter or delay it until the new president (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) is inaugurated on Oct. 20," Najib said.

"Should the House members agree to discuss the letter, the plenary meeting will assign a commission, which will deliberate on the resignation of the TNI chief."

According to the House's standing orders, any important letter from the government must be announced before a House plenary meeting.

The letter will then be forwarded to the House's steering committee (Bamus), which will assign a related commission or special committee (Pansus) to deal with the issues.