Jakarta has new military commander

Jakarta has new military commander

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Amid mounting political tension in the city ahead of the planned
People's Consultative Assembly annual session in August, the
Indonesian Military (TNI) has assigned Maj. Gen. Achmad Yahya,
the outgoing Wirabuana Military Commander, to maintain security
and order here.

Yahya, a 1971 graduate of the Armed Forces Academy (Akabri),
is to replace Lt. Gen. Bibit Waluyo, who was earlier assigned to
head the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).

The two plan to participate in the formal handing over of the
command baton on Thursday at the Jakarta Military Command
Headquarters at Cililitan, East Jakarta.

The appointment of Yahya to head the Jakarta Military Command
might seem surprising to many, considering that he failed to stop
prolonged sectarian conflicts in Poso, Central Sulawesi, while he
was on charge there from July 2000.

During the recent fresh violence in Poso, which erupted in
December last year, hundreds were killed, while thousands of
others were forced to leave their homes and become refugees.

Yahya was also the Jakarta Military Command chief of staff
from 1999 to 2000, when two bloody incidents, known as Semanggi I
and Semanggi II, occurred here.

The Semanggi I incident took place when security personnel, in
an attempt to ensure that Soeharto's successor, B.J. Habibie,
remained in office, clashed with student protesters.

The Semanggi II incident occurred when students marched to
protest a House of Representatives session set to approve
legislation that would have permitted the state to commit acts of
repression against its citizens.

The military repression took several lives, including that of
students.

At that time, former Kostrad chief Lt. Gen. Djadja Suparman
was in charge as Jakarta Military Commander.

Nevertheless, Yahya asserted that he would be able to maintain
control in Jakarta during the Assembly's annual session, saying
that "maintaining security and order here is not merely the TNI's
duty, but also that of all elements of society."

"I believe that people will be happy to cooperate with us (the
military) to ensure peace here," Yahya told reporters here on the
sidelines of a welcome ceremony held at its headquarters on
Wednesday.