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Next TNI chief: No shortage of choices for Jokowi
History shows those appointed the TNI chief have had close connections with the sitting president.
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Joint security: Indonesian Military commander Adm. Yudo Margono (left) and National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo ride an open-bed vehicle on Sept. 1 during a ceremony at National Monument Park in Jakarta to form the combined military-police security detail for the 43rd ASEAN Summit. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
E
very time an Indonesian Military (TNI) chief nears retirement, the nation reverts into a discourse, if not debate, on potential candidates for the commander post. The changing of the guard issue becomes more alluring when elections are approaching.
Now that incumbent TNI chief Adm. Yudo Margono will end his term in November this year, the public is curious as to who will take over from him. The succession is deemed critical, as whoever replaces Yudo will be responsible for safeguarding democracy from external threats and helping the police maintain security and order when the nation elects the new president in February 2024.
Unlike the general public, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who will leave office in October next year, has calmly responded to the TNI chief succession issue, suggesting that there is still plenty of time to discuss the matter before Yudo turns 58, the mandatory retirement age for high-ranking officers as stipulated in Article 53 of Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI, on Nov. 26.
The law says the TNI’s top post is open to any of the four-star generals who currently serve or have previously served as chief of staff in any of the three military services − the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Article 13 of the law also suggests the rotation of the TNI leadership among the services, but this has never been rigidly implemented as in reality the selection of TNI chief depends on the president’s subjective wishes.
The TNI leadership during the transition period from outgoing president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Jokowi in 2014 is a good example. Back then the TNI chief post was held by Gen. Moeldoko of the Army, but as new president Jokowi opted to maintain Moeldoko for several months before appointing another Army general, Gatot Nurmantyo, to the post.
After more than two years on the job, Gatot was replaced by Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, who was at the helm for about four years. Jokowi picked another Army general, Andika Perkasa, as Hadi’s successor, and after 13 months named Yudo, of the Navy, as the new commander.
Yudo’s appointment was in compliance with the rotating TNI leadership clause stipulated in the 2004 law. Agus Suhartono was the first Navy officer to secure the TNI chief post under the mechanism in 2010. However, it was fourth president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid who initiated the rotation culture when appointing Navy chief Adm. Widodo Adi Sucipto the TNI chief in 1999.
