Kasad General Andika And Kasal Admiral Yudo Become Strong Candidates For Commander Candidates To Replace Hadi

KASAD General Andika Perkasa (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Army Chief of Staff (Kasad) General TNI Andika Perkasa and Navy Chief of Staff (Kasal) Admiral Yudo Margono are considered superior candidates for TNI commander in chief to replace TNI Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto.

“In general, Andika Perkasa outperformed the other candidates for four dimensions, (namely) integrity, acceptability (acceptance), capability, and responsiveness, while Yudo Margono excelled in the dimension of continuity (sustainability). However, the difference in the scores for each candidate is not significant," said Setara Institute Law and Human Rights Researcher Ikhsan Yosari during the virtual launch of the survey results, reported by Antara, Monday, October 4.

The dimensions and scores refer to the assessment indicators used by SETARA when conducting the expert perception survey. There are at least 100 defense, security and human rights experts from universities and civil society organizations involved in the research.

The five dimensions of measurement used by SETARA are capability, integrity, responsiveness, acceptability, and continuity.

For the capability dimension, TNI General Andika Perkasa's score tops the list at 8.25, followed by TNI Admiral Yudo Margono 8.15, and Air Force Chief of Staff (Kasau) Marshal TNI Fadjar Prasetyo 8.03.

The capability dimension measures the perception of experts regarding the ability of the commander-in-chief candidates to understand geopolitical issues, regional politics, TNI reform, threat dynamics, and the condition of weapons/defense equipment.

The results of the assessment are measured in a score range of 1 to 10, which means the bigger the number, the better the assessment, explained Ikhsan Yosari.

In the survey, there were three candidates for commander-in-chief who became the research reference, namely TNI General Andika Perkasa, TNI Admiral Yudo Margono, and TNI Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo.

The three are believed to have met the requirements as candidates for TNI commanders as stipulated in Article 13 paragraph (4) of the TNI Law.

For the responsiveness dimension, Kasad again got a superior score, namely 8.20, while Kasal was 8.11 and Kasau was 7.99.

The criteria measured in the responsiveness dimension include the policies of each candidate on the welfare and development of the quality of soldiers, responses to cases of violence involving TNI soldiers, responses to disaster events, public criticism, and the need/demand for TNI weapons.

Then on the acceptability dimension, Kasad's score is still ahead of 8.04, followed by Kasal 7.78 and Kasau 7.65.

The acceptability dimension measures the relationship of the commander-in-chief candidates with other parties, including the President, parliamentary institutions, Polri, ministries/agencies, as well as civil society organizations, mass organizations, and vulnerable groups.

Kasad scores on the integrity dimension are also superior to Kasal and Kasau. TNI General Andika got a score of 7.84, then Kasal 7.83, and Kasau 7.70.

The integrity dimension measures the experts' perceptions of commitment to anti-corruption, respect and protection of human rights, issues of anti-violence and anti-discrimination, political neutrality, and respect for the rule of law.

Although Kasad's average score ranks first, Kasal's score on perceptions of anti-corruption, political neutrality, and respect for human rights is superior to that of TNI General Andika Perkasa and TNI Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo.

Finally, Kasal's average score on the expert's assessment of continuity tops the list of 7.97, followed by Kasau 7.90 and Kasad 7.75.

The continuity dimension measures the sustainability of TNI programs, increased war capabilities, increased defense equipment development, TNI reform agenda, and reforms to the Military Court Law.