Jakarta – Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has made a deft move in nominating the country's airforce chief as the next boss of the powerful but reforming armed forces, analysts say.
Air Marshal Joko Suyanto, 55, would be charged with continuing to reshape the image-tainted military of the world's most populous Muslim nation as Indonesia cultivates closer security ties with the United States and Australia.
Analysts say the move to appoint the first airforce chief to the position since the 1960s allows Yudhoyono to consolidate his image as a reformer, while preparing the role for a trusted confidant down the track.
The nomination of US-trained Suyanto, who hits retirement age at the end of 2008, will be debated by parliament on Wednesday.
"This is a move that will benefit the president domestically and internationally," National University political analyst Hermawan Sulistyo told AFP, noting that it would polish his reformist image.
Yudhoyono, a former army general, swept to power in October 2004 pledging reform, in particular vowing to clean up the notorious military as well as rampant corruption in Southeast Asia's largest economy – both often linked.
Under autocratic former president Suharto, the military for decades exerted enormous influence over civil affairs, ran its own sometimes illicit cash-generating businesses, and was accused of blatant human rights abuses.
The extrication has only gradually begun, with reforms instituted a year after Suharto's downfall nearly eight years ago resulting in the military and police being ejected from parliamentary positions in 2004.
Yudhoyono eschewed the choice of conservative General Ryamizard Ryacudu, the most senior officer eligible for the posting, upsetting supporters of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose party still dominates parliament.
Ryacudu, viewed as a brash and outspoken general, has claimed Indonesia is riddled with spies bent on destabilisation and courted controversy by hailing as heroes soldiers jailed for killing a Papuan separatist leader.
"From the start, both Yudhoyono and Ryamizard have no close ties and the fact that Ryamizard is a close friend of Megawati does not exactly make him a favourite of Yudhoyono," the National University's Sulistyo said. "Ryamizard is not exactly a darling of the United States either, who sees him as an ultra-nationalist general," he added.
The United States, eager for assistance in its "war on terror", renewed full military ties with Indonesia last November after severing them over alleged rights abuses committed by the armed forces in East Timor in 1991.
The analyst noted that Suyanto would hit retirement age at the end of 2008, allowing Yudhoyono to choose his successor – with army chief of staff Joko Santoso a clear favourite. The 53-year-old lieutenant general is Yudhoyono's close confidant.
Under Indonesian military law, officers must retire at 58, although the government can extend their service until 60. The law also suggests that the position of armed forces chief be rotated among branches.
The nomination of Suyanto, who would replace Endriartono Sutanto – a straight forward general and strong supporter of civilian supremacy – also gives the airforce prestige after years in the military wilderness, said political analyst Maswadi Rauf.
Suharto ended the airforce's 1960s heydays by severing its links to its counterparts in the then-Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries.
Rauf warned that Suyanto would face a challenge keeping the military at arm's length from politics. "I sense that the armed forces, particularly the powerful army, still has interests in returning to politics in Indonesia," he said, adding that Suyanto "must exercise a strong stance" to prevent this.
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said he saw Yudhoyono's choice of Suyanto as a bid to keep the armed forces politically neutral. "One sure thing about the president is that in the 2009 election, he wants the military to be neutral in politics," he told AFP.