President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo swore in new Army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak, a family member of a close ally to the President, on Wednesday, despite concerns among civil groups that the outgoing president was trying to retain power by installing loyalists in top positions.

Maruli’s promotion to the Army’s top post marks the rise of yet another of Jokowi’s former aides and loyalists to one of the country’s most strategic institutions ahead of the February presidential election, in which his eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka is running as a vice presidential candidate.

Maruli, 53, is the son-in-law of Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, a long-time ally of Jokowi who has often been dubbed as “super minister” because of his key role in shaping and implementing Jokowi’s policies.

Maruli succeeded Agus Subiyanto, who became the shortest-serving Army chief of staff – serving only 27 days in office – before he was promoted to the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) highest post earlier this month. Maruli previously led the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad), the 40,000-strong main strike force of the army.

In his first official statement after his inauguration at the State Palace, Maruli reiterated his commitment to ensuring that the Army’s rank and file would remain neutral in the lead up to next year’s presidential and legislative elections.

“I personally would not gamble with the well-forged reputation of the Army for such a thing as [being impartial]; I have no desire for such a thing. If we, particularly in the Army, are not neutral in the general election, this will cast a long shadow in our history,” he said.

He claimed that maintaining the army’s neutrality was one of the tasks that the President had assigned to him before he assumed the post to maintain public approval of the military.

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