Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The question of Army chief Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu's appointment as acting Indonesian Military (TNI) chief must be resolved immediately as it sets a bad precedent for the institution, analysts say.

Outgoing President Megawati Soekarnoputri appointed Ryamizard as acting TNI chief after Gen. Endriartono Sutarto resigned from the post.

The appointment of Ryamizard as acting TNI chief has raised concerns among the public as the four-star general already holds two other positions – commander of the Army and commander of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).

Analysts Edy Prasetyono of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Yahya Muhaimin of Gadjah Mada University said that the situation demonstrated poor management both in the military and the government. "It's an abnormal situation. How can a person hold three important positions?" Edy told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

According to Edy, the arrangement would put the military in a difficult situation as the three positions have different duties. "The function of a chief of staff is to train soldiers, while the function of Kostrad commander is to lead military operations under the TNI chief. It is clear that the TNI chief, who must lead all three services, should not be the same person. Otherwise it will confuse the chain of command within the military," he said.

Edy also said that the appointment of the TNI chief was a political matter as it needed the approval of the House, unlike a chief of staff, who could be appointed by the president, or the Kostrad commander, who was appointed by TNI headquarters. Under the prevailing regulations, the TNI chief is appointed by the president with the approval of the House.

According to Edy, the holding of three different positions by a single person shows that the TNI leadership had failed to groom leaders and promote outstanding officers.

Yahya concurred with Edy that the appointment of Ryamizard as Kostrad commander and acting TNI chief reflected poor management within the military. He suggested the TNI headquarters appoint another military officers to take the helm of Kostrad and the Army immediately should the House endorse Ryamizard's appointment as TNI chief. "This is an unusual situation [where a military officer holds three strategic positions]. The issue should be resolved soon," Yahya told the Post.

The House agreed on Monday to bring Endriartono's resignation and the appointment of his successor to a plenary meeting this coming Friday (October 5).

Both Edy and Yahya suggested that the government and the President keep on track in developing a truly professional military by removing it from politics. "This situation teaches us one important lesson. That is, any decision involving the military must be made based on national defense considerations," Edy said without elaborating.

Endriartono, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 55 two years ago, had reportedly tendered his resignation to Megawati just weeks before her administration officially came to the end of its term on October 20.

Neither Megawati nor TNI headquarters explained publicly the reasons behind Endriartono's resignation, which came days after the conferring of the rank of full four-star general on acting coordinating minister for political and security affairs Hari Sabarno and National Intelligence Agency chief A.M. Hendropriyono by Megawati.