Wed, 05 Feb 2003

TNI announces major reshuffle to 'promote regeneration'

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Military (TNI) is scheduled to carry out immediately a major reshuffle of 120 strategic positions, including three deputies to the chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Declining to go into detail, TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto confirmed on Tuesday that he had approved the proposed reshuffle on Monday, which, he said, was aimed at rejuvenating the Military.

"The reshuffle has nothing to do with the political or security situation. There's nothing special about it," Endriartono said during a break in a hearing with House of Representatives Commission I on political, security and foreign affairs here on Tuesday.

Current chief of the military education and training command Maj. Gen. Darsono was appointed deputy chief of the Army to replace Lt. Gen. Soemarsono. Current chief of the Navy's Eastern Fleet Rear Admiral I.W.R. Argawa was appointed deputy chief of the Navy to replace Vice Adm. Syahroni Kasnadi. Current assistant to the Air Force chief for operational affairs Rear Marshall Wardoyo was appointed deputy chief of the Air Force to replace Vice Marshall Ali Munsiri Rappe.

The outgoing deputies to the three chiefs of staff have reached their mandatory retirement age of 55.

In addition, reshuffles were also announced for five strategic positions in the Army and two others in the Navy.

The Army leadership has decided to replace five officials in five military commands. Brig. Gen. Nurdin Zaenal was appointed chief of the Trikora Military Command overseeing security in Papua, to replace Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbolon. Mahidin will be assigned as official without portfolio at the Army Headquarters in Jakarta.

Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso, current chief of the Pattimura Military Command overseeing Maluku and North Maluku, was appointed chief of Jakarta Military Command to replace Maj. Gen. Ali Yahya, appointed inspector general at Army Headquarters. Maj. Gen. Agus Tadi, current chief of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command's Division II, will replace Djoko in Ambon, capital of Maluku.

Maj. Gen. Amirul Isnaeni was appointed chief of the Diponegoro Military Command overseeing Central Java, to replace Maj. Gen. Cornelius Simbolon. Amirul was chief of the Wirabuana Military Command overseeing security in Sulawesi.

Brig. Gen. Suprapto, current chief of staff at the Diponegoro Military Command, was appointed chief of Wirabuana Military command, to replace Amirul.

Asked about possible political motives behind the reshuffle, Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ratyono insisted that the reshuffle was routine, being related to tours of duty, and was aimed at rejuvenating the Army organization.

The murder of proindependence Papua figure Dortheys "Theys" Hiyo Eluway on Nov. 11, 2001, and the bloody attack on the mine at Timika on Aug. 31, 2002, have been seen as two serious blows to the Army as the Military was allegedly involved in both cases.

So far, personnel from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) are facing charges at a military court martial for their alleged involvement in the Theys case. A team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), accompanied by the Military and police in Papua, is carrying out an inquiry into the Timika incident. Two American citizens and an Indonesian were killed in the incident.

Reliable sources at the TNI Headquarters said that Rear Admiral Slamet Subiyanto, an assistant for TNI general affairs, was appointed chief of the Navy's Eastern Fleet to replace Argawa. Rear Admiral Mualimin Santoso was appointed chief of the Navy's Western Fleet to replace Rear Adm. Djoko Sumaryono.