Jakarta – Indonesia's once all-powerful military yesterday announced the replacement of 122 commanders and staff officers in a reshuffle aimed at modernising the forces.
The reshuffle, the second major one this year, covers 20 posts at military headquarters, 60 in the army, 16 in the air force and 26 in the navy. The documents of transfer were signed on Wednesday by armed forces commander Admiral Widodo Adisucipto, making the new appointments effective immediately.
In the most important change, the key post of commander of the army's special forces, Kopassus, went from Major-General Syahrir to Brigadier-General Amirul Isnaini, previously an assistant to army chief General Tyasno Sudarto. General Syahrir, linked with old hardline military policies, was assigned to the operational assistant position in the army.
The move also saw changes or transfers in five regional military commands, including the commanders of the restive provinces of Maluku and Aceh. Maluku commander Brigadier-General Max Tamaela, who has been criticised by both Muslim and Christian communities in the riot-torn province, was replaced by Colonel I Made Yasa, a Hindu from Bali province.
Major-General Affandi, of the Bukit Barisan military command which oversees separatist-troubled Aceh, was replaced by Major-General I Gede Purnawa, also a Balinese Hindu. The military commanders of Central Java, West Java and the four provinces of Kalimantan on Borneo island were also replaced.
The military's first major reshuffle this year was conducted on February 28 and saw reformist officers taking several key positions, including the vital army strategic reserve command (Kostrad).
Military spokesman Air Rear Marshal Graito Usodo, before releasing copies of the reshuffle documents yesterday, said that the revamp should be seen as a "very ordinary move". Marshal Usodo added the reshuffle was carried out to conform with the military's "organisational needs and personnel development".
Commenting on the reshuffle, the former Indonesian Armed Forces' (TNI) chief of socio-political affairs, Hasnan Habib, told the Jakarta Post that outside elements might have tried to "influence [the changes] by feeding information" to personnel officers.
"But if all members of the TNI promotional council participate in the council's meeting, usually led by the TNI chief, decisions cannot be based merely on that information because participants will use professional considerations in their arguments," he said.
But Indonesian newspapers have reported on an alleged secret meeting between officers and civilian officials before yesterday's reshuffle aimed at promoting certain reform-minded generals. One of those believed to have attended, the army chief's territorial assistant, Major-General Saudi Karip, has been demoted to the army's Kartika Eka Paksi foundation.
General Karip and high-ranking officials are believed to have endorsed a plan at the meeting to expel high-ranking officers linked to disgraced former military chief General Wiranto. Those who backed the move are believed to have included former state secretary Bondan Gunawan, army chief Sudarto and Kostrad chief Lieutenant General Agus Wirahadikusumah. The documented plan was apparently code-named "Bulak Rantai", after the army's residential district where the alleged meeting was held.
General Wiranto was replaced as armed forces chief when President Abdurrahman Wahid formed his new cabinet last October. He was then named co-ordinating minister of defence and security, but was suspended after being named by a national human rights probe as responsible for the military-backed militia violence in East Timor last year.