General Andika Perkasa's Chosen Kostrad Commander Fell Into The Hands Of Luhut's Son-in-law, Maruli Simanjuntak

JAKARTA - TNI Commander General Andika Perkasa has officially appointed TNI Major General Maruli Simanjuntak as Commander of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Pangkostrad).

Maruli's appointment as Pangkostrad was determined through the Decree of the Position of 328 TNI High Officers through Decree number 66/I/2022 dated January 21, 2022 concerning Dismissal from and Appointments in Position within the TNI.

"Pangkostrad is held by Major General TNI Maruli Simanjuntak," said Head of the TNI Information Center Major General TNI Praantara Santosa in an official statement, Saturday, January 22.

Maruli is the son-in-law of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. He is also a former Commander of the Presidential Security Forces (Paspampres) in 2018-2020. Maruli currently serves as the Commander of the Udayana Regional Military Command.

Apart from Maruli, Andika also appointed hundreds of high-ranking TNI officers. Of the total 328 high-ranking TNI officers who received these new positions, 28 of them entered the positions of new TNI units as mandated in Presidential Decree no. 66 of 2019 concerning the Organizational Structure of the TNI such as the Navy Fleet Command, the Indonesian Air Force National Air Operations Command, the TNI Psychology Center, the TNI Procurement Center and the TNI Bureaucratic Reform Center.

TNI Major General Nyoman Cantiasa as Pangkogabwilhan 3, then Danjen TNI Academy was held by Lt. Gen. Bakti Agus Fajari, Deputy Chief of Staff was held by Major General TNI Agus Subiyanto.

Then Dankodiklatad was held by Major General TNI Ignatius Yogo, Pangkoarmada was held by Admiral TNI Agung Prasetiawan, and Pushidrosal was held by Admiral TNI Nurhidayat, and Kodiklatal was held by Major General TNI Mar Hartono, Pangkoopsudnas held by Marsdya TNI Andyawan Martono, and Kodiklatal or Nanang Santoso was held by Marsdya TNI .

To note, TNI Major General Maruli Simanjuntak will replace General Dudung Abdurachman as Pangkostrad. Currently, Dadung is the Chief of Army Staff (KSAD).

Maruli is the son-in-law of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, who is now the Commander of the IX/Udayana Regional Military Command.