Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto has broken the record for the fastest process to clinch the top job in the Indonesian Military (TNI) since the Reform Movement of 1998.

The swift process has set off speculation that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo may no longer be comfortable keeping Army Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo as the TNI commander, a position that still holds sway over the country’s political and security dynamics.

Hadi, previously the Air Force chief of staff, was sworn in as the TNI commander on Friday at the Presidential Palace, replacing Gatot, who was dismissed with honor by Jokowi more than three months before he is set to retire.

While the appointment process of a new TNI commander usually takes at least a month, from getting approval from the House of Representatives to inauguration, it only took Hadi five days to undertake the process.

Hadi’s nomination letter from Jokowi was sent to the House on Monday and lawmakers promptly held a confirmation hearing on Wednesday to approve the nomination without any opposition. The House officially gave its approval on Thursday.

Defense analyst Mufti Makarim, the executive director of the Institute for Defense and Security Studies (IDSS), said Gatot’s repeated controversial actions might be the reason why Jokowi speeded up Hadi’s inauguration.

“The President’s gesture has shown that he is uncomfortable with Gatot’s maneuvers and controversial statements,” he added.

Hadi’s swift inauguration, Mufti said, might be aimed at stopping Gatot from making further political maneuvers while he was still on the job, particularly since Gatot had been accused of harboring political ambitions for the 2019 presidential election.

Gatot was recently criticized for rotating 85 high-ranking officers shortly after Hadi’s nomination, a move that raised suspicions that he was seeking to put “his people” in strategic command positions before leaving office.

Speculation swirling in the House has indicated that Jokowi was uncomfortable with Gatot after learning of a plan to promote Sriwijaya Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sudirman, Gatot’s protégé, to command the Army’s Strategic Reserve Forces (Pangkostrad), which is capable of mobilizing a strike force of more than 40,000 personnel.

TNI spokesperson Brig. Gen. Sabrar Fadhilah denied this.

Defense analyst Al-Araf of Imparsial said the President had also delivered a signal during his previous speech that Hadi’s inauguration was to ensure the realization of TNI’s reforms, which were sluggish under Gatot’s leadership.

Gatot, who visited the Air Force Special Forces (Paskhas) headquarters in Bandung, West Java, earlier on Friday, said the timing of Hadi’s inauguration was to ensure security for next year’s elections.

Hadi, who will lead the TNI until his retirement in 2020, was sworn in before the simultaneous regional elections in June next year with the expectation that he can help maintain security and political stability at a time when there is concern over the use of religious and ethnic sentiments by election candidates to garner votes.

While the police take the driving seat to ensure security, the military had traditionally a behind-the-scenes role by keeping security intact through its “territorial function,” which includes intelligence gathering, civilian deployment and social engineering.

Speaking after his inauguration, Hadi reasserted his promise that under his leadership the military would maintain its neutrality.

“We will ensure the democratic process is secure together with the National Police and maintain our neutrality above everything else,” Hadi said.

Aside from helping to maintain security, Hadi has a grand scheme to develop the military’s capabilities under what he called “power synchronization for national development.”

Under the program, the military will assist with the development of five outermost areas; Natuna in Riau Islands; Tarakan in North Kalimantan; Morotai in North Maluku; Selaru in Southeast Maluku; Biak and Merauke in Papua. “The development strategy is in line with President Jokowi’s plan,” he said.

Hadi also promised to revitalize defense equipment in a bid to reach the so-called minimum essential force (MEF).

Hadi’s track record is not without a stain. Back in 2015, while serving as the commander of the Abdurrahman Saleh Air Base in Malang, East Java, Hadi lost a Hercules aircraft from his squadron after it crashed into a residential area in Medan, North Sumatra, killing 120 people.

The Air Force has also been plagued in the past five years by hardware malfunctions, corruption and discipline issues. The latest involved the smuggling of about 75 bottles of vodka in one of its cargo aircraft for delivery to Papua. (kmt)

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