TNI chief resigns, Ryamizard takes over

TNI chief resigns, Ryamizard takes over

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Gen. Endriartono Sutarto resigned from his post as Indonesian
Military (TNI) chief Friday, days before the current government
formally comes to an end.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who will be replaced by
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Oct. 20, appointed Army chief Gen.
Ryamizard Ryacudu as acting TNI chief.

No official explanation was given as to why Endriartono, who
reached the mandatory retirement age of 55 two years ago,
resigned from the administration of Megawati, who lost in the
election runoff on Sept. 20 to Susilo, her former coordinating
minister for political and security affairs.

Endriartono himself was in Surabaya, East Java, on Friday to
officially launch the a program for the construction of corvette
patrol vessels at the state-owned shipbuilder, PT PAL.

News of Endriartono's resignation was first revealed by House
of Representatives speaker Agung Laksono, who said that he had
received a letter from the President informing him that she had
accepted the four-star general's resignation and appointed
Ryamizard as acting chief of the TNI.

"I received the letter about his resignation today in my
capacity as House Speaker," Agung told reporters here. The
appointment of a new TNI chief needs the approval of the House.

The news came just two days after President Megawati promoted
interim coordinating minister for political and security affairs
Hari Sabarno and National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief A.M.
Hendropriyono to full general without complying with the standard
procedures applied by the TNI.

According to Agung, Endriartono had told the President that he
wanted to resign late in September, but Megawati had refused to
allow him to do so as it would have created a leadership vacuum
in the TNI.

He said that there was nothing unusual about Endriartono's
resignation as he had already passed the mandatory retirement
age. "He is already 57 years old, which means he is 2 years past
the mandatory retirement age of 55," he said.

When asked about Endriartono's replacement, Agung said that
Ryamizard would only serve as acting TNI chief pending the
appointment of a new commander.

"Besides, Ryamizard is capable of doing the job," he said.

He added that the House would convene a meeting on Monday to
discuss the change in TNI leadership.

Meanwhile, TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said
that TNI headquarters would await the outcome of the proper
procedures for replacing Endriartono, which were in the hands of
the House and the government.

"We just follow the processes that are now in the hands of the
President and the lawmakers. If Ryamizard has been appointed to
the top post, we have no comment as it is in accordance with the
Defense Law," Sjafrie told The Jakarta Post, referring to Law No.
3/2002 on defense, which stipulates that only high-ranking
officers who have served as the chief of staff of one of the
armed forces can hold the TNI's top post.

In the military bill the House endorsed on Sept. 30, the post
of TNI chief should be rotated among the chiefs of the Army, Navy
and Air Force. As a result, the top post should have gone to the
Air Force.

With his appointment as acting TNI chief, Ryamizard now holds
three key leadership posts in the military. Besides his current
job as Army chief of staff, after the retirement of the former
chief of the Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), Lt. Gen. Bibit
Waluyo, Ryamizard also took charge of the elite force.

Endriartono was installed as TNI chief in May 2002 to replace
Adm. Widodo AS, the only TNI chief to have come from outside the
Army in the past three decades.

He was Army chief of staff before taking over command of the
TNI. He served as commander of the presidential guard during the
administrations of former president Soeharto and his successor
B.J. Habibie.