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Andika to face key challenges with Papua, maritime security: Experts
Incoming Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Andika Perkasa may have only 13 months to serve in the TNI’s top position before his mandatory retirement, but experts say he will have a number of security challenges to overcome.
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (second right) jogs with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Andika Perkasa (first right), Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono (second left), and Air Force Chief of Staff Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo (first left) at Bogor Palace in West Java on July 14, 2020. Jokowi is expected to inaugurate Andika as the next Indonesian Military (TNI) chief after the House of Representatives confirmed him for the position. (Courtesy of Presidential Press Bureau/Lukas)
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ncoming Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Andika Perkasa may have only 13 months to serve in the TNI’s top position before his mandatory retirement, but experts say he will have a number of security challenges to overcome.
Andika is set to succeed retiring TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, having been confirmed for the position at a House of Representatives plenary session on Monday. He was President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s sole nomination for the post.
Prior to the plenary session, Andika was grilled by lawmakers from House Commission I overseeing defense, foreign affairs, information and intelligence in a confirmation hearing on Saturday.
At the hearing, Andika outlined a “softer approach” to handling a recent uptick in Papuan separatist activity, one of the key topics discussed in the closed-door, three-hour hearing, said Commission I member and House Deputy Speaker Lodewijk F. Paulus.
He added that Andika would move away from deploying combat units and would instead use territorial units such as district military commands (Kodim), enlisted officers (Tamtama) and non-commissioned officers deployed as village supervisory officers (Babinsa).
[RA::/news/2021/11/07/andika-vows-to-sort-out-tnis-role.html]
While he welcomed a more humanitarian approach to resolving the Papuan conflict, Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) researcher Andi Muhammad Rezaldy said Andika’s commitment was overshadowed by his questionable track record on human rights.
