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Jokowi swears in new TNI commander, Army chief of staf

Andika replaced the now-retired Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto. While Dudung, who garnered controversy when serving as the Jakarta Military commander, took the position left vacant by Andika.

Dio Suhenda (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, November 18, 2021

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Jokowi swears in new TNI commander, Army chief of staf

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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo swore in on Wednesday his sole nominee for the post of new Indonesian Military (TNI) commander, Gen. Andika Perkasa, along with Gen. Dudung Abdurrachman, previously the Army’s Strategic Reserves commander (Pangkostrad), as the Army’s new chief of staff.

Andika replaced the now-retired Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto. While Dudung, who garnered controversy when serving as the Jakarta Military commander, took the position left vacant by Andika.

Human rights activists say the onus is now on Andika, who may have only 13 months to serve in the TNI’s top position before his mandatory retirement, to peacefully resolve conflicts in Papua amid increasing tensions and human rights violations in the region.

During his confirmation hearing at the House of Representatives last week, Andika promised to take a “softer approach” to handling a recent uptick in the Papuan conflict, and to restore the TNI to its proper role in accordance with prevailing laws.

“We can no longer act arbitrarily, as if we have the authority [to take certain actions when we do not]. We will carry out our duties in accordance with the law,” he said at the time.

He said the TNI would now use territorial units, such as district military commands (Kodim), enlisted officers (Tamtama) and noncommissioned officers deployed as village supervisory officers (Babinsa), instead of a more combat-centric approach, which has been the norm for his predecessors and which has been marred by human rights violations.

But rights activists are not convinced that Andika will keep his promise of a softer approach in Papua given Andika’s questionable track record on human rights.

Andika, who served in East Timor (now Timor Leste), Aceh and Papua in the 1990s, was reportedly linked to the killing of Papuan activist Theys Hiyo Eluay in 2001. Amid mounting pressure from activists calling for the investigation into Theys’ death to be reopened, Andika had previously said that he was “not afraid” should such an investigation take place.

Dudung, meanwhile, was sworn in as the Army chief of staff to replace the outgoing Andika on Wednesday, right after the latter's inauguration.

A graduate from the class of 1988 at the Military Academy, Dudung served as the Jakarta Military Command (Kodam Jaya) chief from August 2020 until June this year, after which he was appointed as Pangkostrad -- a position once held by Andika.

During Dudung’s time at Kodam Jaya he became known as a controversial figure. For instance, in November last year he instructed his personnel to tear down banners supporting the now-defunct Islam Defenders Front (FPI). The banners had been illegally put up across the capital by FPI members to welcome the arrival of their leader Rizieq Shihab.

But the main controversy at the time was his statement about the dissolution of the FPI should it continue to skirt the law. At the time FPI had yet to be disbanded.

“[The FPI] cannot do as it pleases,” he said in November last year. “Don’t even try [to test the TNI]. If the FPI needs to be dissolved, just dissolve it.”

Dudung later clarified that his calls for the dissolution of the FPI were his personal opinion, and not the military’s official stance.

His statement immediately led to accusations that he had overstepped his authority, but at the same time, it won support from others who wanted to see the FPI dissolved. It was eventually banned in January this year.

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