PDIP Legislator: Position As Cabinet Langgar TNI Law, Lt. Col. Teddy Must Resign From The Military

JAKARTA - Member of Commission I of the DPR from the PDIP faction Major General TNI (Ret.) TB Hasanuddin assessed that the position of Lt. Col. Teddy Indra Wijaya as Cabinet Secretary (Seskab) violated the TNI Law Number 34 of 2004 article 47.

Therefore, Lt. Col. Teddy is said to have to resign from the military or retire early if he still wants to serve as Seskab.

In fact, said TB Hasanuddin, in the new TNI Bill Problem Inventory List (DIM), active TNI soldiers can only fill civilian positions in 15 ministries or institutions. Not including the Cabinet Secretariat.

TB Hasanuddin revealed that he was asked for an opinion by the Palace in October 2024 regarding the plan to appoint major Teddy as Cabinet Secretary without having to resign from the military.

"At that time I suggested that if you want to maintain the military status of major Teddy, then your position should be placed in the Military Secretariat. There are several positions there, such as the Head of the General Bureau, the Head of the Promotion Bureau, and the Head of the Service and Honorary Bureau. If you want, just add one Head of the Cabinet Secretariat Bureau under the Military Secretariat. That is in accordance with Article 47 of the TNI Law," said TB Hasanuddin, Wednesday, March 12.

However, he continued, on October 21, 2024, the Head of the Presidential Communication Office Hasan Nasbi stated that the Cabinet Secretariat was under the Ministry of State Secretariat, not under the Military Secretariat. The statement was also strengthened by the Head of the Indonesian Army Information Service Brigadier General Wahyu Yudhayana.

Therefore, said TB, Lt. Col. Teddy had to resign from the current position of Cabinet Secretary. The reason is, active soldiers are only allowed to fill civilian positions in 15 ministries or institutions.

"So according to the rules Teddy must resign from TNI soldiers. This is clearly not included in Article 47 of the TNI Law," said TB.

TB Hasanuddin also emphasized the need for consistency in implementing legal rules so as not to cause polemics and maintain the professionalism of the TNI.

For information, article 47 paragraph 2 states that active soldiers can occupy civilian positions which were previously only in 10 K/L. Namely, holding positions in the office in charge of Coordinator for Politics and National Security, State Defense, Presidential Military Secretary, State Intelligence, State Crypto, National Defense Institute, National Defense Council, Search and Rescue (SAR) National, National Narcotics, and Supreme Court.

Then in this new DIM it becomes 15 K/L. These five additions are KKP, BNPB, BNPT, Maritime Security, and the Attorney General's Office.