Agus has been nominated as a Jakarta governor candidate by a coalition of four parties: the Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).

Agus, who ranks as a field officer in the Army, was following the mechanism and procedures to process his honorable retirement under regulations of the Army and the Indonesian Military (TNI), Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohamad Sabrar Fadhilah said.

"He will be retired with honor, because he did not commit any mistake and he requested the retirement himself. There is also no problem [with Agus' track record in the Army]," Fadhilah said on Friday.

There was no fixed period to process a retirement request, as the specifics varied from one case to another. The process could take up to a week, Fadhilah said, adding that what was importance was that Agus, the eldest son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), had fulfilled all required procedures.

Amid rumors that Agus still had an obligation to serve in the Army following his state-sponsored study at Fort Benning in the US, Fadhilah said there was no such thing, since an official contract for Army officers was only for 10 years.

Agus had graduated from Military Academy in 2000 and thus had fulfilled the minimum service duty in 2010, the spokesman added. (bbn)

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