New TNI chief to be installed on Friday

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The uncertain future of former Army chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto may well be short-lived as President Megawati Soekarnoputri has decided to install him as the new Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander on Friday.

Endriartono said on Tuesday the President herself had informed him the date of his inauguration as TNI chief replacing Adm. Widodo A.S., who is retiring.

"As far as I know, the President will install me as the TNI chief on Friday," Endriartono told reporters on the sidelines of a rehearsal of a ceremony to mark the official transfer of duty from him to his successor Lt. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu at the Senayan parking lot in Central Jakarta.

A presidential protocol official said on Tuesday Megawati was slated to install Endriartono at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Earlier in the day Endriartono attended the swearing-in of Ryamizard by Megawati as the new Army Chief of Staff at the State Palace. Ryamizard is the outgoing chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).

Breaking the usual practice, Widodo issued on Monday a decree to withdraw Endriartono to TNI Headquarters as a senior officer without portfolio, pending his inauguration by the President as the new TNI chief.

It remains unknown why Megawati left Endriartono, who the she had named as the sole candidate for TNI chief post, waiting. The House had unanimously approved Endriartono's nomination for the military's top job.

Meanwhile, the TNI High Ranking Promotions and Duty Rotation Board (Wanjakti) decided on Monday night to appoint Jakarta Military commander Maj. Gen. Bibit Waluyo, a 1972 Military Academy graduate, the new Kostrad chief and Maj. Gen. Sumarsono, the incumbent Kostrad chief of staff, the deputy Army chief replacing Lt. Gen. Kiki Syahnakrie.