Wiranto installed, Prabowo promoted
JAKARTA (JP): New Indonesian Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto vowed to get tough on any attempts to disrupt national development yesterday.
Wiranto also warned the nation that certain groups wanted to manipulate the current economic hardship to endanger national stability and continuity of development.
"The Indonesian military's next move is to take stern steps against anyone who tries to pull any unconstitutional act or any act which endangers the country", Wiranto told reporters after he and new Army Chief of Staff Gen. Subagyo HS were sworn in by President Soeharto in a brief ceremony at the State Palace.
"National stability at the moment is good. All national systems are operating undisturbed. Only in several places are there problems which could disrupt the country's recovery process", he said in reference to unrest that has hit more than 20 towns and cities across Indonesia over the past month.
He urged the public not to believe rumors and material in pamphlets supplying information about the unrest, saying they should be treated as "garbage".
"If the public becomes restless, they will be more easily coaxed into unrest", Wiranto said.
Wiranto and Subagyo were promoted last week in a reshuffle announced during the annual meeting of military chiefs.
Wiranto replaces Gen. Feisal Tanjung, who has been Armed Forces Commander since April 1993.
The ceremony took place less than two hours after 48 high- ranking military officials reported their promotion to Feisal at the Armed Forces Merdeka Barat headquarters yesterday.
Subagyo was promoted to four-star general.
Newly appointed Commander of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), Prabowo Subianto, was promoted to three-star general.
Prabowo, President Soeharto's son-in-law, is the outgoing commandant of the Army Special Forces (Kopassus). He will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Muchdi P.R.
Other new three-star generals are the newly appointed Armed Forces Chief of General Affairs Fachrul Razi, the newly appointed Armed Forces Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and chairman of the Armed Forces faction at the House of Representatives Hari Sabarno.
Lt. Gen. (ret) Achmad Tahir, chairman of Indonesian War Veterans Association received honorary four-star status.
Twenty eight of the promoted officers were from the Army, 14 from the Navy, three from the Air Force and the remaining three from the National Police.
Feisal will officially hand over his position to Wiranto, who turns 51 in April, on Friday.
Wiranto graduated from the National Military Academy (AMN) in 1968. His career took off after he served as Soeharto's adjutant from 1989 to 1993.
In 1993, as a one-star general, Wiranto served briefly as the chief of staff of Jakarta Regional Military Command. One year later he was appointed as its commander.
"The President has mapped Wiranto's career since he served as Pak Harto's adjutant," Palace officials said yesterday.
In 1996, Wiranto was promoted to three-star general and given command of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).
In June last year he was promoted to a full four-star general and appointed Army chief of staff replacing R. Hartono, the incumbent minister of information. (prb/imn)