President Decides The Name Of Kasad Next Week

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Joko Widodo will decide the name that fills the position of Army Chief of Staff (Kasad) next week.

This statement was made by President Joko Widodo after visiting the Peak of National Teacher's Day at the Indonesia Arena, Gelora Bung Karno, on Saturday, November 25, 2023.

"Not yet. I think next week we will decide," he said.

Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo also confirmed that the Commander of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Pangkostrad), Lt. Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak, was one of the candidates for Kasad.

"One of the candidates (Maruli Simanjuntak)," said Joko Widodo as quoted by ANTARA.

As is known, Kasad's position was vacant after being abandoned by General Agus Subianto who was inaugurated as TNI Commander replacing Admiral Yudo Margono.

The TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto himself had time to talk about the new Kasad figure to replace him.

He said the candidate for the Army Chief of Staff is a 3-star general who must meet the requirements or be eligible.

"Earlier, the President had conveyed it, of course it was eligible," said Agus.

Agus assessed that many 3-star TNI generals met the requirements as Army Chief of Staff. However, he said, the name of the candidate for Army Chief of Staff would be decided by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) next week.

"There are a lot of variable 3 stars that are eligible to become KASAD, the President will decide later," he said.

Previously, Commission I of the DPR revealed that there were three names that were considered strong as candidates for Army Chief of Staff. The three of them are high-ranking TNI AD officers with the rank of lieutenant general (letjen).

One of the three names is Kostrad Commander Lt. Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak. Another name is the Head of BNPB Lt. Gen. Suharyanto, and the Expert Staff Coordinator (Koorsahli) of the Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. I Nyoman Cantiasa.