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)