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SBY loyalists demoted in TNI shake-up
Jakarta Post - July 28, 2015
The military (TNI) announced on Monday that Army deputy chief of staff Lt. Gen. Muhammad Munir, 56, would serve as a high-ranking officer at the TNI headquarters without any commanding position for the remaining two years prior to his retirement.
The chief of the Military Intelligence Division (BAIS), Maj. Gen. Erwin Syafitri, is set to replace Munir. Munir, who served as Yudhoyono's adjutant between 2009 and 2010, is among 84 high-ranking officers assigned to new positions by newly appointed TNI Commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo.
Chief of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) Maj. Gen. Doni Monardo, 52, who only assumed the job late last year, has been assigned to lead the Pattimura Military Command, which oversees the backwater provinces of Maluku and North Maluku.
Reform-minded Doni, who is striving to insert a humane touch to the special force that is notorious for extra-judicial killings and kidnapping, served as Yudhoyono's embedded Presidential Security Details (Paspampres) officer between 2008 and 2010. He served as Paspampres commander from 2012 until 2014 when Yudhoyono was succeeded by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Oct. 20.
Doni's appointment to the Pattimura Command came less than three days after he was widely tipped to lead the prestigious Jakarta Command. While the reasons behind the reversal remain unclear, several legislators have tipped Paspamres commander Maj. Gen. Andika Perkasa as the strongest candidate for the job.
Andika is the son-in-law of former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Hendropriyono, the confidant of Jokowi's patron, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Andika's appointment as Paspamres commander in late 2014 has drawn many critics as he is widely seen as not being qualified for the job after having spent most of his military career studying overseas.
The next holder of the Jakarta Command position itself remains undecided after the TNI reassigned its incumbent, Maj. Gen. Agus Sutomo, 54, also a former Paspampres commander during Yudhoyono's administration.
Although Agus will be promoted to three-star general, he will be assigned to lead the TNI's education, training and doctrine command (Kodiklat), a position deemed less prestigious compared to territorial commands, such as that of Jakarta.
TNI spokesperson Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya said that the rotation was a normal procedure in the military institution and the officials should be ready. "Good soldiers must be ready for any situation and good soldiers should know areas in Indonesia better than anybody else. We will create more synergy and a more effective military institution in the future," Fuad said.
He rejected allegations suggesting that the shake-up would kill the careers of several officials, as they must serve in their new positions quite far from Jakarta after having previously occupied strategic positions.
"Even though an official must serve in areas far from Jakarta, he still has opportunity to get a promotion. We give the same treatment to all officials," Fuad said.
Military expert Mufti Makarim of the Institute for Defense and Peace Studies (IDPS) said that the rotation was a regular occurrence, as many of middle-rank officers need to be promoted.
"We can see whether there is a political interest or not after several months when the officers can show their achievements," Mufti said.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/07/28/sby-loyalists-demoted-tni-shake.html.
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