As Minister Of Defense, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin Appointed As Coordinating Minister For Political, Legal And Security Affairs Ad Interim

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs ad interim Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin (right) together with Deputy Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus (left) while chairing an internal meeting of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs at the Coordinating Minister's office in the Central Jakarta area, Tuesday (9/9/2025) (ANTARA/Walda Marison)

JAKARTA - Minister of Defense (Menhan) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin was officially appointed as Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs (Menko Polkam) ad interim replacing Budi Gunawan.

Quoting Antara, the dismissal of Budi Gunawan was based on the Presidential Decree (Keppres) of the Republic of Indonesia Number 86P of 2025 concerning the Dismissal and Appointment of the Ministers and Deputy Ministers of State of the Red and White Cabinet for the 2024 '2029 Period on September 8, 2025.

Today Sjafrie is chairing the inaugural meeting as Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs ad interim at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs office, Central Jakarta, Tuesday.

Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin is one of Prabowo Subianto's closest people. This closeness has existed since Sjafrie and Prabowo received military academy education in 1974.

At that level of education, Sjafrie managed to pass by winning the title of Adhi Makayasa or the best graduate.

The man who was born in Makassar, October 30, 1952, has held many strategic positions while serving in the Indonesian Army.

Graduated from military academy education, Sjafrie immediately entered the Sandhi Troop Command Corps Yudha (Kopashanda) which is currently called Kopassus.

While in the Kopashanda corps with Prabowo, Sjafrie has carried out various assignments in conflict areas such as Timor-Timor, Aceh, Irian and Jaya.

Sjafrie was later trusted as Commander of Group A of the Presidential Security Forces (Paspampres), who was tasked with guarding and maintaining the safety of the 2nd President of the Republic of Indonesia Suharto, including in 1995 when Suharto visited the war zone in Bosnia, Herzegovina.

After holding the rank of middle-ranking TNI officer while guarding President Suharto, Sjafrie finally won the position of regional leader with a higher rank, namely one star or Brigadier General TNI.

He had held several strategic positions including the Commander of the Military Resort (Danrem) 061/Surya Kencana (19951996), then the Chief of Staff of the Permanent Garrison (Kasgartap) 1-Main City (1996), the Chief of Staff of the Military Command (Kasdam) V Jaya (1996), and the Military Regional Commander V Jaya.

One of the peaks of Sjafrie's career was when he became Pangdam Jaya in the midst of a wave of mass action that tried to bring down President Suharto, namely in 1998.

At that time, Sjafrie was one of the parties that played an important role in maintaining public security in the midst of an unfavorable mass situation.

After the Suharto era was over, Sjafrie's career did not necessarily stop. Sjafrie still follows several strategic positions, namely the Territorial Assistant (Aster) of the Chief of General Staff (Kasum) of the TNI, Expert Staff (Sahli) of the TNI Commander, Expert Staff Coordinator (Koorsahli) TNI Commander, Head of Information Center (Kapuspen) TNI (2002), and Secretary General (Sekjen) of the Department of Defense or who has now changed to Ministry of Defense (20052010).

After the retired duties of the Indonesian Army institution, Sjafrie is still trusted to occupy several strategic positions in the government, especially in the defense sector.

Sjafrie was immediately trusted to help the government, including during the second period of the 6th President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) as Deputy Minister of Defense (20102014), then as Assistant Minister of Defense for Defense Management (20192024).

Now, the oldest minister in the Red and White Cabinet must hold two strategic positions at once, namely the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs and the Minister of Defense. Two important positions that greatly affect the stability of politics, security and national defense.