Observer says Cabinet Secretary's network-building approach should be emulated by politicians

Political observer Hendri Satrio, also known as Hensa, believes the way Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya nurtures his network with peers from his cohort should be emulated by politicians. Observing Wijaya’s message during a 15-year reunion and thanksgiving event for the 2011 Armed Forces and Police Academy cohort at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta, he assessed it as a neatly packaged, long-term strategic manoeuvre within a moment of camaraderie. “At a time when many political elites are busy seeking the limelight, putting up billboards everywhere, and making promises to garner support, Cabinet Secretary Teddy is instead giving a masterclass on how to build genuine loyalty, starting from a network he already knows, namely his cohort friends,” Hensa said in a statement in Jakarta on Monday. The founder of the KedaiKOPI survey institute believes Wijaya is acutely aware that the strength of the future state apparatus and bureaucracy will gradually shift to younger cohorts, such as his own 2011 Military Academy class. Rather than allowing his peers to become trapped in individual ambitions or cutthroat competition for rank, Hensa assessed that the Cabinet Secretary is uniting them to struggle together without the need for political transactions. “Through the reunion and the message ‘those above help those below’, he has locked in the solidarity of the 2011 cohort across all branches of the military without any political transaction. This is a beautifully orchestrated friendship, simultaneously securing power without appearing to manoeuvre,” Hensa stated. He considers Wijaya’s flexible communication style to be far more effective than a formal command approach. He judged this move to be more natural, grounded in the emotional bonds of friendship, compared to the often costly manoeuvres of civilian political elites. “Our politicians should really learn from Teddy’s way of maintaining a network; it’s elegant and not cheap. He doesn’t force people to submit using the instruments of power,” he concluded.