House undecided over TNI rotation

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.