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Editorial: The spy who didn't love me
Public perception that President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo tends to reserve strategic posts in his government for political parties that supported his election last year is difficult to deny, although anyone who assumes power would most likely do the same
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ublic perception that President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo tends to reserve strategic posts in his government for political parties that supported his election last year is difficult to deny, although anyone who assumes power would most likely do the same. A president will prefer people he or she can trust and work with to fill posts in order to govern effectively.
Jokowi's choices of Sutiyoso as State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief and Army chief of staff Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo as the new Indonesian Military (TNI) commander should stem from his subjective consideration that the two could translate his vision of state security and defense into reality, apart from their technical qualifications for the jobs.
Still, the nominations of Gatot and especially of Sutiyoso have raised many eyebrows.
Gatot's promotion marks a departure from the tradition of rotating the TNI chief post between the three branches of the armed forces, which was initiated by the late President Abdurrahman Wahid, the first head of state in the reform era. The pattern continued until the term of Jokowi's predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as president, albeit with a revision in favor of the Army.
No less controversial is the candidacy of Sutiyoso to replace Marciano Norman as the new BIN chief. Sutiyoso, a retired Army general and former Jakarta governor, is the incumbent chairman of the Indonesian Unity and Justice Party (PKPI), one of five political parties that supported Jokowi in the 2014 presidential election.
Jokowi's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Nasdem Party, the National Awakening Party and the Hanura Party have all received their slices of cake as their members fill almost half of the 34-strong Working Cabinet, plus the Attorney General's post.
'The smallest member of the ruling coalition has finally got a reward,' Democratic Party politician Ulil Abshar Abdalla tweeted, as if to represent the many who questioned Jokowi's pledge to not follow the power sharing formula his predecessors had practiced.
Rather than being a politician, Sutiyoso is in fact a military man whose postings have included the intelligence unit within the Army's Special Force. He was the Jakarta military commander when the July 27, 1996 bloodshed that marked the forcible takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (now PDI-P) office in Central Jakarta occurred. Strangely, PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, then the president, endorsed Sutiyoso's reelection as Jakarta governor in 2002.
History shows that BIN, formerly Bakin, has always been led by an Army general since the New Order era, except in 2009 to 2011 when former National Police chief Sutanto took charge. The militaristic style of BIN is therefore unavoidable, but in this era of democracy any abuse of human rights involving state intelligent operatives under the pretext of national security is unacceptable.
As an espionage authority, BIN's image as an adversary of human rights has remained intact. Perhaps Sutiyoso can make a difference.
