Hadi Tjahjanto (Antara)

Air Force chief of staff Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto is likely to take over the controls of the Indonesian Military (TNI) soon, replacing Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo who will retire next March.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo submitted a letter to the House of Representatives, through State Secretary Pratikno, on Monday, proposing Hadi undergo screening. The letter was signed by the President on Dec. 3, informing the House of the plan for Gatot to step down and be replaced with Hadi.

According to the letter, the President took into account Hadi’s capability to lead the TNI and Hadi met all the
requirements.

Factions at House Commission I, overseeing defense, applauded Jokowi for returning to the tradition, which had existed since the fall of the New Order regime, of rotating the leadership of the TNI among the services, the Army, Navy and Air Force.

However, the Army has been in command for the previous two terms as Jokowi appointed Gatot, the former Army chief of staff, as TNI commander in 2015, to replace the Army’s Gen. Moeldoko. Preceding Moeldoko was former Navy chief of staff Adm. Agus Suhartono.

It had been expected that then Air Force chief of staff Air Chief Marshal Agus Supriatna would have received the position if the rotation tradition had been maintained.

“[Hadi’s appointment] shows that the rotation system is working. Moreover, he is an eligible candidate to be TNI chief,” Commission I deputy chairman Asril Hamzah Tanjung of the Gerindra Party said.

The 53-year-old Hadi, who was sworn in as Air Force chief of staff a year ago, will have a relatively long term as chief of the TNI as he is not due to retire until 2022.

When he was first promoted to air marshal, Hadi was touted as the strongest candidate to replace Gatot, who will enter his mandatory retirement age on April 1, 2018.

Hadi became the Air Force spokesman in 2013. Two years later in 2015, he was assigned to be the commander of the Abdurrahman Saleh Air Base in Malang, East Java. In the same year, a Hercules aircraft from his squadron crashed into a residential area in Medan, North Sumatra, killing approximately 120 people.

Hadi, a 1986 Air Force Academy graduate, is no stranger to Jokowi. He served as head of the Adi Sumarmo Air Base in Surakarta, Central Java, in 2010 and 2011 when Jokowi was mayor.

A year after taking office as president in 2014, Jokowi promoted Hadi to presidential military secretary. In 2015, Hadi received another promotion to become the Defense Ministry’s inspector general and the State Palace increased his rank from two-star to three-star Air Force marshal.

Jokowi then increased Hadi’s rank to four-star marshal when he inaugurated him as the Air Force chief of staff earlier this year.

The 2004 TNI Law stipulates that candidates for the TNI’s top post must be the chief of staff of one of its three services. Therefore, Hadi’s new rank and experience as Air Force chief makes him eligible to be nominated as the next TNI chief.

Muradi, the director of the Political Studies and Security Center (PSPK) in Bandung-based Padjadjaran University, said proposing Hadi could help rejuvenate the military.

“Hadi will have enough time to achieve internal consolidation in the TNI. The far off date of his retirement should allow him to strengthen the integration of the defense system,” he said.

The House is expected to speed up the replacement process. On Tuesday, it will hold a plenary meeting where the President’s letter will be read out. After that, Commission I can hold a confirmation hearing, with the whole process completed before the legislative body goes into recess on Dec. 13.

“The replacement should be decided on before the recess. Maybe we’ll [hold the hearing] this week,” said Commission I deputy chairman TB Hasanuddin of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The lawmakers, however, have the right to reject Hadi should they find him ineligible after the hearing.

“If we don’t approve of Hadi, then the President must give us another name,” Hasanuddin said.

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