Widjojo backs rotation of military chief
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The position of Indonesian Military (TNI) chief should be rotated among Army, Air Force and Navy officers in order to create professionalism within the military, former military chief for territorial affairs Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo said on Monday.
However, Agus, who is now deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), fell short of outrightly saying that the post should now go the Air Force as many analysts had suggested.
"It will be a process of learning. When it comes to military operations, there is no separation between the three (Army, Navy, and Air Force). There will be only one, the defense force," Agus told the press here on Monday.
TNI is currently led by Widodo A.S., a Navy admiral whose military service has been extended twice. His appointment in 1999 as TNI chief by then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid broke the Army's dominance of more than three decades under the leadership of former authoritarian leader Soeharto.
Widodo's appointment also triggered calls for the military's top post to be rotated between the Army, Air Force and the Navy.
With President Megawati Soekarnoputri planning to reshuffle the military leadership, many observers have expressed the hope that she would appoint the Air Force chief of staff as the new TNI chief.
The Defense Law enacted in November 2001 stipulates that the TNI chief should be chosen from among the incumbent or former chiefs of staff of the Army, Air Force and Navy. As such, four high-ranking military officers qualify for the job and they are former Army chief Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, Air Force Chief of Staff Marshall Hanafie Asnan, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, and the Navy Chief of staff Adm. Indroko Sastrowiryono.
But the recent extension of military service of Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has raised speculation that Megawati would appoint the Army chief of staff as the next TNI chief.
Endriartono, whose military service has been extended for five years, will reach his mandatory retirement age of 55 years old in April, while Tyasno and Indroko will retire next year. Hanafie is over 55 and had his service extended for five years by Gus Dur in November, 2000.
The extension of the military service of the TNI chief and chiefs of staff of the Army, Air Force and Navy is signed by the President.
Agus said he did not know if the military headquarters had submitted candidates for the TNI chief post to the President.
However, he emphasized that any figures submitted to the President would definitely be professional military leaders.
The three-star general added that based on MPR Decree VII/2000, the President has the prerogative to select the military chief candidates but needs approval from the House of Representatives (DPR) before installing a military chief.
Rumors have it that President Megawati would submit one candidate to the House of Representatives (DPR) for approval this week, but deputy House Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said on Monday he had not received any letter from the President.