Jakarta Military gets new commander

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Maj. Gen. Achmad Yahya has a daunting task ahead him in safeguarding Jakarta when he takes up his new post as military commander in the capital city on Thursday.

Jakarta has witnessed a fragile peace over the past few months, although there have been a number of small explosions.

A small bomb exploded inside the Graha Cijantung Mall near the Army Special Force (Kopassus) headquarters in East Jakarta on Monday, injuring eight people. Two weeks earlier, a bomb went off in the parking lot of the Jayakarta Hotel in Central Jakarta, severely injuring four people.

With his sights set on the upcoming annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) next month, Yahya warned that bomb threats and explosions in the capital were taking place due to weak security.

"Given the fact that the police have a limited number of personnel, the military will assist them maintain security and order here," Yahya said after taking over command from Lt. Gen. Bibit Waluyo at the Jakarta Military Command headquarters in Cililitan, East Jakarta. Bibit has been promoted to become the new chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).

Yahya's mastery in security affairs was severely tested when as the Sulawesi military commander, a communal conflict broke out in Poso, Central Sulawesi, that left hundreds of people dead and thousands of others displaced. He moved to Jakarta some months after a peace deal was agreed between the warring groups in Poso.

He was the Jakarta Military chief of staff when the city was rocked by antigovernment demonstrations which ended up with troops opening fire on protesting students in November 1998 and September 1999.

Yahya stressed that current security policy needed review so as to provide the military and police with a clear division of powers and duties.

"I think we must reevaluate the current regulations on security and defense. At least such a reevaluation would help us avoid further miscommunication between our (military and police) personnel in the field," Yahya, a 1971 graduate of the Armed Forces Academy (Akabri), said.

Asked whether he had a concept for security arrangements during the August MPR Annual Session, Yahya said: "I have just arrived here. Let me take some time to learn about it first."

Political tension looks set to heighten during the MPR session, as some political parties may attempt to mobilize their supporters so as to influence the political process.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also implied that certain armed civilian groups, believed to be the Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) and Laskar Jihad, were conducting paramilitary training near the capital city, and also hinted that "these activities have a strong connection with Jakarta's planned political agenda."

Yahya labeled the act of threatening public security as terrorism, which "the people must fight against."

He further said that there were certain people who would like to see Jakarta reduced to chaos.