Andi Widjajanto, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has nominated Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto to be the next Indonesian Military (TNI) commander. There are several explanations as to why the President picked Suyanto as his sole candidate.
From an organizational perspective, the President is attempting to initiate an organizational transformation in the military by accelerating the regeneration process. This transformation is crucial since the 2004 TNI Law extends the mandatory retirement age for military officers from 55 to 58. This has created a huge gap between the number of officers with structural positions available within the military organization.
By accelerating the regeneration process, Susilo must deal with a number of high-ranking military officers – especially from the Army, who will have to stay at the same level for several years. These officers will have to face several horizontal rotations before they are promoted to a higher position.
Based on this organizational requirement, although seen as the President's preferred choice, as the youngest chief of staff, Army chief Gen. Djoko Santoso will most likely be able to assume the TNI commander post in 2007 or 2008. By nominating the marshal, the President will have an opportunity to nominate another marshal from the class of 1974 or 1975. Similar opportunities are now open up for Susilo to nominate a new Navy chief.
A transformation of the military organization for each branch can also be used to explain the President's decision.
The chief of the Navy, Adm. Slamet Soebijanto, is yet to complete a naval transformation. There are two cases in point. First, since 2002, the Navy has proposed its new naval strategy, "Nusantara Naval Defense Strategy". This new strategy is implemented by strengthening the naval presence in Indonesia's territorial waters by constructing several new naval bases, especially in the eastern part of Indonesia.
Second, as the Navy chief, Adm. Soebijanto still has to decide what kind of weapons system will be used by the Navy. Under Soebijanto's predecessor Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh, the Navy decided to have a mid-term military cooperation with the Netherlands. The Dutch will provide a supplier's credit for Indonesia to buy several corvette-class warships, fast patrol boats and submarines.
This procurement plan has been postponed by Soebijanto, so now the Navy is still waiting for his decision on a future weapons system. Several states have already stated their willingness to assist the Navy on a weapons system. Some of these are Australia, South Korea, China, India, Germany and Russia.
Similar to Soebijanto, Gen. Santoso is yet to finish consolidation within the Army. For example, many strategic positions in the Army organization, such as commander of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), regional territorial commanders, and the commander of the Army's Staff and Command School have not yet been replaced.
More work is needed in the restructuring of the Army. The strategic plan to create Kostrad's 3rd Division in Sorong, Papua, has been postponed; the plan to create brigade units under each regional territorial command (Kodam) is on hold; and the expansion and strengthening program for rapid reaction units is current being reassessed by Army Headquarters.
For the Army, the nomination of Marshal Djoko has decreased the possibility of internal friction among Army officers. This nomination has effectively ended the "competition" between Gen. Djoko Santoso and Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu. The postponement of the replacement of Gen. Sutarto from October 2004 to January 2006 has reduced significantly former Army chief Ryacudu's opportunity to be nominated, since he has only a few months before he retires in April 2006.
The restructuring of the Army's posture is also related to the possible involvement of the Army in the political arena. The Army was the backbone of the survival of Soeharto's political regime for more than 30 years. However, based on the 2004 TNI Law, this political factor must be removed so Indonesia can have a professional Army with zero political activities.
Gen. Santoso must conduct a structural transformation of the Army organization to make sure that in 2009, the Army will become a nonpolitical organization that stays neutral in political struggles in the next general elections.
The nomination of Marshal Djoko is likely to be approved by the House of Representatives, mainly because it symbolizes Susilo's strong commitment to strengthening the military reform agenda. The President's decision is based on Article 13 of the TNI Law, which states that a rotation mechanism should be considered to give more opportunities for Navy and Air Force officers to lead the TNI.
This mechanism hopefully can transform Indonesia's defense strategy, which currently relies on a land-based defense strategy, to a more integrative defense strategy that relies on the employment of joint military operations. The nomination of the marshal is also symbolized by a commitment to adopt an advanced technology-based defense posture to replace a patriotic and romantic manpower-based posture.
The nomination of the marshal will generate a new hope that the TNI will continue and strengthen military reform. Under Djoko, the TNI is expected to strengthen the professional character of the armed forces by a complete abandonment of the involvement of the military in the political and economic arenas.
One of the most important tasks for the new TNI commander is to initiate a policy of organizational consolidation with the Defense Ministry. This consolidation is needed to strengthen the implementation of the democratic principles of civilian supremacy, as well as more comprehensive and well-coordinated mid-term and long-term defense plans to create an integrated defense posture.
[The writer is a lecturer at the School of Social and Political Science, University of Indonesia. He can be reached at andi_widjajanto@yahoo.com.]