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View all search resultsSjafrie’s new post shows Prabowo’s reliance on military figures
President Prabowo Subianto has appointed Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin as the acting coordinating political and security affairs minister following the removal of Budi Gunawan, an appointment analysts say signals Prabowo’s growing reliance on military figures and loyalists in security affairs.
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Warm greeting: Ad interim Coordinating Politics and Security Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeedin (center) shakes hands with his new colleagues ahead of a meeting on Sept. 9 with the Office of Coordinating Politics and Security Minister's undersecretaries in Jakarta. President Prabowo appointed Sjafrie as ad interim coordinating politics and security minister to replace Budi Gunawan, who was ousted in a recent cabinet reshuffle. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto has appointed Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin as the acting coordinating politics and security minister following the removal of Budi Gunawan, an appointment analysts say signals Prabowo’s growing reliance on military figures and loyalists in security affairs.
The appointment was formalized through a letter signed by State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi on Monday, which stated that Sjafrie will hold the post in an interim capacity until a definite replacement is named.
Sjafrie’s appointment came after the dismissal of Budi, a retired police general and former intelligence chief, from the post earlier that day in the first major cabinet reshuffle that followed a wave of protests and deadly unrest driven by public grievances over economic hardships.
The interim appointment marked the return of a military figure to the most senior ministership in the security portfolio, which is responsible for overseeing interagency coordination between the Indonesian Military (TNI), the Defense Ministry, the National Police and the Home Ministry, among others.
A retired Army general, Sjafrie is Prabowo’s long-time friend who graduated from the Military Academy in the same 1974 class and later served alongside him in the elite Special Forces (Kopassus), including during operations in East Timor. He once served as a bodyguard of former president Soeharto, Prabowo’s former father-in-law.
Sjafrie, who was given the rank of honorary four-star general by Prabowo in August, remains a trusted figure in the President’s circle. In addition to the defense minister post, Sjafrie has been entrusted with multiple other portfolios in the current administration, including the head of the National Defense Council and the head of the advisory board of the task force for curbing illegal plantations and mines in forest areas.
Read also: Defense Minister Sjafrie appointed acting coordinating security minister
