Military undergoes major leadership reshuffle

Military undergoes major leadership reshuffle

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Military (TNI) on Monday formally
announced the much anticipated promotion of Maj. Gen Kiki
Syahnakri to the position of Army Deputy Chief of Staff as part
of a major military reshuffle involving 94 senior military
officers.

Vice Adm. Fred Salem Lonan, who currently holds the post of
Assistant for Operational Affairs to the Navy chief, was among
those promoted and will hold the post of deputy Navy chief.

Kiki's current post of Udayana Military Commander will be
filled by his classmate from the Military Academy, Maj. Gen
Willem Da Costa, who is currently the Kostrad chief of staff.

Another major change was the appointment of Maj. Gen. Tonny A.
Rompis in place of Maj. Gen Albert Inkiriwang as Trikora Military
Commander. Tonny is currently Deputy of Bandung's Military
Education and Training Command, while Alber will be placed as an
official at the Defense Ministry.

TNI spokesman Vice Marshall Graito Usodo in making the
announcement also said that Presidential Security Guard chief
Maj. Gen I Putu Sastra, who only held the post for six-months,
will be replaced by the chief of the intelligence unit of the
TNI's Intelligence Strategic Agency (Bais) Brig. Gen Amir Tohar.

Putu will now be assigned to the Army Headquarters.

The most notable pattern in the reshuffle involving the four
senior Army posts is that three are being filled by 1971
graduates of the Academy. Amir, as a 1974 graduate, is the most
junior.

The most prestigious promotion of deputy Army chief, to be
filled by Kiki, has been left vacant for a month following the
promotion of Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, another 1971 Academy
graduate.

Kiki began to make national headlines when he was appointed as
military commander in East Timor when Jakarta imposed a state of
emergency to quell the post-ballot violence in September last
year.

Previously Kiki, 53, was Assistant for Operational Affairs to
the Army Chief of Staff.

Wiranto

There were varying opinions from observers as to the
significance of the reshuffle, particularly Kiki's appointment.

Military observer MT. Arifin believes that they signaled a
comeback for Gen. (ret) Wiranto, claiming that the most strategic
promotions were those perceived to be loyal to the former
military chief.

"This (reshuffle) shows that Wiranto's influence is getting
stronger again in the TNI, particularly in the Army," he told The
Jakarta Post.

But Arifin denied suggestions that the reshuffle was an effort
by Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri to circumvent President
Abdurrahman Wahid's control of the TNI.

Sources have also claimed that Kiki was initially recommended
by Megawati, while Abdurrahman initially recommended other high
ranking officers such as Chief of the Army Strategic Command
(Kostrad) Lt. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu and Assistant for Personnel
Affairs to the Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen Suprapto.

Kiki's appointment was reportedly also supported by
Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs
Gen. (hor.) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and TNI Chief Adm. Widodo
AS.

Arifin also said the reshuffle was a sign that the younger
generation in the military's top brass was beginning to take over
the strategic posts from their seniors.

"It is a shift of leadership from those officers who graduated
from the Military Academy in 1970 to those who graduated in
1971."

Commenting on Putu's replacement as chief of the Presidential
Security Guard, Arifin believes there was no political motive.

"Pak Putu is being parked due to his earlier promotion which
was considered too hasty and because he doesn't have enough
territorial experience," he said of Putu who is a 1974 graduate
of the Academy.

But Kusnanto Anggoro, senior researcher at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies, stressed that it would be
too much to assume a comeback for Wiranto.

"I don't think we can consider Kiki as Wiranto's man. I think
Endriartono is closer to Wiranto because he is more senior," he
told the Post.

Kusnanto noted that Kiki was one of a few reformist officers
in the Army who could aid the reform agenda from within the TNI.

"Kiki is the one who proposed the abolition of the military's
territorial structure in 1997, earlier than Maj. Gen. Agus
Wirahadikusumah's proposal," he said. "But he did that in a
different way than Agus."

Kusnanto also discounted Megawati's alleged role in the
reshuffle, saying that it was natural given her new
responsibility of running the day-to-day affairs of the
government, that the vice president would know more about the
reshuffle which involves shifting 24 personnel in the TNI
Headquarters, 13 in the Army, 38 in the Navy and 19 in the Air
Force.

"The President doesn't need to involve himself in the
promotion of officers and posts below chief of staff," he said.
(02/44)