Hoping to restore closer links with the west, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appears to be preparing to block the rise of a hardline general to the country's top armed forces job.
In a move likely to pave the way for closer defence ties with Australia and the United States, Yudhoyono last week sidelined the ultra-nationalist army commander General Ryamizard Ryacudu in a reshuffle of the three armed forces chiefs.
Ryamizard, who last year claimed more than 60,000 foreign spies were working to destabilise Indonesia, has raised hackles in Washington and Canberra with his flat refusal to accept accusations of human rights abuses in the army.
He has also made veiled warnings of a foreign plot to divide Indonesia and described a group of seven special forces soldiers convicted of murdering Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay as "national heroes".
But, as Yudhoyono seeks to reverse a freeze on defence ties with Washington imposed after Indonesian troops killed more than 270 East Timorese pro-independence supporters during a rally at the Santa Cruz cemetery in 1991, Ryamizard's four stars have fallen.
He has been replaced by the US-educated army chief-of-staff Djoko Santoso, while Vice-Admiral Slamet Soebijanto takes over the navy. Vice-Marshal Djoko Sujanto becomes commander of an air force hobbled by a long-standing US arms embargo.
But while Yudhoyono – himself a former four-star general turned reform champion – reportedly favours Santoso to lead the military, or TNI, Ryamizard has not taken the setback lightly.
A camouflage-clad Ryamizard invited retired and serving senior army officers to a closed-door meeting to brief them on his "achievements" just a day before he was officially to pass on the army command baton.
"I guess we all need to maintain the relationship with our elders," he said. "It should not be seen that I'm making an effort to look for support.
"Only God and the president know who the best candidate is to lead the TNI." Among those present was former armed forces chief and failed presidential hopeful general Wiranto – defeated by Yudhoyono during presidential elections last year – and Santoso himself, along with several other serving generals.
Ryamizard, who has been moved to an unspecified headquarters role, is still eligible to replace the retiring current TNI commander General Endriartono Sutarto as Indonesia's top military chief.
Yudhoyono must wait at least three months before he can appoint Santoso, while the air force is also lobbying for the top job, which usually goes to the army. He also faces opposition in the fiercely-nationalist parliament, where Ryamizard has strong backing.
If Santoso gets the nod, it may accelerate Australian efforts to restore defence ties drastically pared back after the army-backed slaughter by pro-Jakarta militia in East Timor in 1999.
It could also smooth the way for the full restoration of links to the US military, which the Bush administration backs but which still faces significant opposition in the US Congress.