Wiranto to get deputy next week

Wiranto to get deputy next week

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto
will have a second man next week when Navy chief Admiral Widodo
A.S. is installed as deputy head of TNI next week, military
sources told The Jakarta Post Thursday.

"(Widodo) will be replaced by his deputy, Vice Admiral Achmad
Sutjipto," a source said, adding that Widodo will hand over the
Navy leadership in a ceremony scheduled to take place on Monday.

The sources denied, however, that Widodo's appointment was an
indication that a coalition was being formed between the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and the military, and
that presidential frontrunner Megawati Soekarnoputri may be
considering picking up Wiranto as her vice presidential
candidate.

Wiranto, who is also defense minister, currently has no
deputy.

"(Widodo's promotion) has been planned for quite some time and
is part of the military's reform agenda. In the future, the
military leadership will no longer be a monopoly of the Army but
will rotate among the three forces, the Army, the Navy and the
Air Force," another military source said.

Sutjipto was a former commander of the Armed Forces Academy
(Akabri).(lem)