VP gets new deputy secretary

VP gets new deputy secretary

JAKARTA; State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra inaugurated Gembong Prijono as deputy secretary for Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Friday, replacing Prijono Tjiptoherijanto who resigned earlier this year.

"My last position was as secretary general of Komnas HAM (the National Commission on Human Rights)," Gembong said after the inauguration ceremony in Jakarta.

He said he will soon hand over his Komnas HAM post to other commission members. Gembong was also secretary general of the State Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure for the 2002-2004 period.

Gembong was installed to his current post by presidential decree dated June 27.

His predecessor Prijono resigned in January after he issued an internal memo criticizing House of Representatives members that was later leaked to the public.

The circular, which Prijono said was based on a briefing by Kalla, strongly criticized recent hearings between the House and the government. --Antara