Military think tank gets first civilian governor

JAKARTA (JP): Ermaya Suradinata, currently Director General for National Integration at the Ministry of Home Affairs, has been appointed governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas).

He becomes the first civilian to head the military think tank.

Minister of Defense Mahfud MD told a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission I on security, defense and foreign affairs, on Wednesday that the presidential decree confirming the appointment would be issued later that day.

"We used to have a civilian as the assistant governor of Lemhannas, but now we are going to have a civilian as the governor of Lemhannas. Prof. Ermaya will take charge of the institution as soon as possible," Mahfud said.

He went on to explain that he had sent a formal letter to the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief asking that a senior military officer be nominated for the assistant governorship.

"The TNI chief has yet to respond to the letter so I do not know who the candidates nominated for the position will be," Mahfud remarked.

Separately, the outgoing governor of Lemhannas Lt. Gen. Jhony Lumintang voiced his support for the appointment of the first civilian to fill the post.

"To me, it doesn't matter whether he's military or civilian...there's no longer a dichotomy between civilian and military."

"The most important thing is that the person appointed is qualified. Good luck to Pak Ermaya," Jhony told The Jakarta Post by telephone.

Jhony will now be posted as the Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense, replacing Lt. Gen. Sugiono, who may be appointed Indonesian ambassador to Beijing.

The change from a military to civilian governor is being made in order to bring the institution directly under the control of the President. (02/dja)