Amir Tejo & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Surabaya – Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Toisutta insisted on Thursday that the selection process for his replacement was being carried out professionally, despite one of the candidates being related to the president.

"Don't talk about the president's brother-in-law," he said, referring to Lt. Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, the younger brother of the first lady, Kristiani Yudhoyono. "In the Army we don't deal with in-laws. All the candidates have the same chance of replacing me."

Military spokesman Rear Admiral Iskandar Sitompul said a selection process was currently underway to vet the three candidates being considered for the post.

The candidates are Edhie, who currently serves as commander of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad); Lt. Gen. Budiman, the Army deputy chief of staff; and Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman, the commander of the Army Education and Training Center (Kodiklat).

Edhie is widely considered the strongest candidate. However, George, who is set to retire on July 1, said the military would not give him preferential treatment just because he was related to the president.

He said all candidates would be vetted for their professionalism. He added that even if Edhie went on to be appointed Army chief, it would be on his own merits and should not be seen as a sign of nepotism.

"He started his career in the military from the rank of second lieutenant," George said. "He's very experienced in various field assignments and should be judged by his professionalism."

According to the book "Masters of Terror: Indonesia's Military and Violence in East Timor," edited by Desmond Ball, Edhie was a commander of a unit under the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) deployed to East Timor following the 1999 referendum. The book says no evidence was found linking him to the human rights violations that took place at the time.

Should he be named Army chief, he will have followed a similar career path as George. Both men served as head of the Siliwangi Military District Command, which oversees West Java and Banten provinces, before going on to head up Kostrad. From Kostrad, George went on to be appointed Army chief.

George said he hoped that whoever replaced him as head of the Army would do more in terms of internal reforms and soldiers' welfare than he had managed to do over the past two years.