Regent political appointment, not a career: Feisal
Regent political appointment, not a career: Feisal
JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said
yesterday the appointment of regents had nothing to do with
military rank.
"We will not automatically relate the political position (of
regents) with rank," Feisal told reporters shortly before a
cabinet meeting at the Bina Graha presidential office.
"We will seek the best people for political positions. This
has nothing to do with rank," Feisal said.
It would not be necessary to appoint brigadier generals to
hold the posts of regents, said Feisal.
He made the remark in reply to suggestion made by State
Minister of Administrative Reforms TB Silalahi that regents of
certain areas, if they were from the military, must be brigadier
generals or those of higher ranks.
A high-ranking military officer is well educated, qualified
and experienced, Silalahi argued.
He said at the same occasion yesterday the appointment of
high-ranking military officers as regents would help implement
the government's policy on regional autonomy.
Law No.5/1974 on regional autonomy gives regents the power to
manage their territories. However, most regencies are not able to
exercise this power and they still depend much on provincial
administration mainly because of financial problems.
If the law is fully implemented, a regent will supervise heads
of agencies of high echelon. So it would be necessary for the
regent to be high ranking, said Silalahi, himself a retired Army
major general.
Asked if he had discussed his idea with the other departments,
he said: "It is the Minister of Administrative Reforms who
decides the echelon. The rank is adjusted with the echelon. This
is our requirement to the Armed Forces (ABRI) headquarters."
"If ABRI headquarters says no and considers a colonel
lieutenant sufficient, it's all up to them..." Silalahi said.
Criticism
Silalahi's suggestion has drawn criticism from the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) which pointed out the regent is elected by
the local legislative assembly and therefore anyone should be
allowed to run for the regent seat, irrespective of his or her
background, in the military or otherwise.
In practice, many regent appointments have gone to military
figures.
Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie SM shared Feisal's view
that it was not necessary to relate the position of a regent, and
even a governor, with the rank in the military.
"If a region needs ABRI to hold a certain position, that will
be fine. I will just ask the Pangab (ABRI commander). Who will be
appointed depends on him. That's the rule (of the game)," he
said.
He said it would not be a problem if a regent's subordinates
had higher ranks.
He underlined that not only ABRI members, but any Indonesian
citizen who is qualified can become a regent.(sim)