Military think tank gets first civilian governor

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)