JAKARTA - The approval of the DPR for the appointment of General Andika Perkasa as a candidate for the Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces has been inaugurated through a Plenary Meeting. Previously, Andika was proposed as the sole candidate by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). Now Andika is just waiting for his inauguration to take office. Andika has approximately 400 days. What should he do?
Before being brought to the plenary session, Commission I of the DPR had already conducted a fit and proper test on Andika, Saturday, November 6. In the agenda Andika explained his vision and mission, which he outlines in five minutes.
"Departing from the vision statement, I chose the TNI as us. It is very short. But here I want the Indonesian people, the international community to see the TNI as us or part of them," said Andika.
Andika said that he would prioritize all performance based on Law (UU) No. 34 of 2004 concerning the TNI. In general, there are three things: upholding the sovereignty of the state, maintaining the territorial integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution and protecting the entire Indonesian nation.
Andika explained that the derivatives of the three missions consisted of military operations for war and military operations other than war. First, Andika wants to restore the TNI's duties according to the laws and regulations. According to him, so far the TNI has carried out its duties according to the law. It's just that there are some weaknesses in its implementation.
"And that is my first priority, how to return the tasks that we are doing by strictly adhering to the laws and regulations. Don't overdo it, and I hope that I will not take the sector from other ministries or institutions," Andika.
The next thing is to increase security operations at the border and increase the preparedness of TNI units. In addition, what Andika will focus on is improving cyber capabilities, especially for intelligence. Areas with security problems and areas of conflict will be of particular concern.
Another mission described by Andika is to increase the interoperability of the land, sea and air forces (AD, AL, AU). Andika will also strengthen integration in organizational arrangements. Lastly, Andika upholds the mission of military diplomacy in accordance with foreign policy.
400 days Andika Mighty
Andika Perkasa only has about 400 days to serve as TNI Commander. Law 34/2004 explains that the retirement age for an officer is 58 years. Meanwhile, Andika will turn 57 years old on December 21, 2021. What should Andika do in a little over a year?
Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said he was sure Andika would bring change to the TNI organization. "Because for us, actually, it's not a matter of one year, two years, three years. But how someone is given a mandate and can make the best use of the time. How day by day is meaningful for the organization," said Moeldoko.
Moeldoko also explained that in general there are three main jobs that the Palace mandated to Andika: TNI regeneration, strength building, and soldiers' welfare. Specifically regarding the development of strength, Moeldoko explained that this includes the development of intelligence, operations, logistics, personnel and territories.
Moeldoko said he was sure that Andika could take the steps well. "So after developing capabilities, now it is the task of building strength. That is the realm of the commander.
Military observer Salim Said said that the Palace should be the party that understands the most about what tasks Andika needs to do. But as an observer, he saw several crucial issues that Andika had to deal with from his position as TNI Commander. First, about the lack of defense equipment.
"There is still some work to be done because it is our army, the Indonesian army is still short of funds, a lot of equipment has not been fulfilled. Yes, that is the task that Andika is doing," said Salim Said to VOI, Monday, November 8.
The problem of defense equipment has become a classic matter, which now seems to be trying to be fixed. As said by Salim Said, the TNI has been short of funds so far. Meanwhile, in the Draft State Revenue and Expenditure Budget or the 2022 RAPBN, a total budget of IDR 2,708.7 trillion is set.
"This includes Central Government spending of Rp. 1,938.3 trillion as well as Transfers to Regions and Village Funds of Rp. 770.4 trillion," said Jokowi at the DPR Plenary Meeting, Monday, August 16.
The Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan) is the institution with the largest budget, which reached 133.9 trillion. This figure increased from this year's outlook, which was Rp. 118.19 trillion. After the Ministry of Defense is the Indonesian National Police (Polri), which receives a budget allocation of Rp. 111.02 trillion. This figure is up from the 2021 outlook, which is Rp. 96.88 trillion.
Despite being a top priority, this figure is actually still relatively small. Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said the ideal budget for his ministry should be in the range of Rp300 trillion. With that amount, modernization, rejuvenation, maintenance and maintenance of defense equipment can be optimized.
Dahnil explained that so far what his party had been doing was maximizing the annual budget. Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto, "together with TNI Headquarters and three forces (Land, Sea, and Air) made schemes for spending on defense equipment."
"For example, planning for the next 25 years. Because of this, shopping for defense equipment or modernizing defense equipment is not like buying a car at a dealer, because it takes time," said Dahnil.
"Besides budget needs, there are also geopolitical and geostrategic aspects that must also be considered. What is clear, up to this moment, Pak Prabowo's concern is how to place defense equipment rejuvenation, maintenance and care at the highest level for the needs of the TNI at this time," Dahnil was quoted as saying by Liputan. 6.
Apart from defense equipment, Andika has other tough jobs to deal with. One of them is about the Papuan armed group (KKB). This was revealed by member of Commission I of the DPR Syarief Hasan to VOI last week.
"The most important challenge is to solve Papua, the KKB. That's the most important thing," said Syarief Hasan.
Andika, in the middle of the due diligence mentioned this. Andika promised not to go to war in Papua. He offered a humanist approach, what Andika called a "win heart and mind" strategy in front of the board members.
"So what was conveyed by the Commander-in-Chief, the approach was not to consider them as enemies, but to win hearts and minds. That's the term," said Member of Commission I from the Golkar Faction, Bobby Adhityo.
Andika .s appointment controversyThe appointment of Andika Perkasa as the sole candidate for the TNI Commander previously received criticism. The Civil Society Coalition, which consists of many NGOs, such as KontraS, LBH Jakarta, Setara Institute, and several others, wrote a number of notes.
In a press release released Friday, November 5, there are three serious problems arising from Jokowi's decision to appoint Andika as the sole candidate.
The President of the Republic of Indonesia has ruled out the pattern of dimension rotation that prevailed in the Reformation era in the regeneration of the TNI Commander as the norm that applies in Article 13 Paragraph (4) of the TNI Law Number 34 of 2004. The President of the Republic of Indonesia proposes a name whose track record still needs to be tested by state institutions independent in the fields of law, human rights, and corruption eradication. In this case, Komnas HAM and the KPK. The development of maritime-centric regional security threats today requires greater attention in the maritime sector.Regarding the basis for Andika's appointment, Director of LBH Jakarta Arif Maulana said that political factors were thicker than strategic considerations of defense here. Jokowi, according to Arif, has a special relationship with AM Hendropriyono, Andika's father-in-law.
"I think the public can judge that the candidacy of KSAD Andika Perkasa as TNI Commander is based on pragmatic politics, not a strategic reason for defense, let alone talking about advancing democracy and human rights," Arif said in KompasTV's coverage.
"We know that there is a special closeness between the in-laws of the candidate for commander-in-chief and the party and government regime in power today," he added.
This, according to Arif, is a violation of the law by Jokowi. If referring to the TNI Law, Jokowi should have appointed a figure from the Navy because the law mandates the rotating appointment of the TNI Commander in Chief.
Meanwhile, the track record of human rights violations referred to by the coalition includes, among others, Andika's alleged involvement in the murder of a Papuan leader, Theys Hiyo Eluay. The coalition also highlighted the position of commissioner that Andika occupied in one of the State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN).
"The entry of the TNI into civilian spaces is tantamount to betraying the spirit of security sector reform," KontraS wrote in a Twitter post.
Another thing that is in the spotlight is Andika's wealth. Based on the Corruption Eradication Commission's (LHKPN) State Organizers Wealth Report (LHKPN), Andika has a wealth of up to IDR 179 billion, to be exact, IDR 179,996,172,019.
Most of Andika's assets are in the form of cash and cash equivalents, with a value of Rp126,985,922,019. In the report Andika also recorded ownership of 20 plots of land and buildings worth Rp. 38,164,250,000. In fact, between the land and the building are overseas.
One plot of land he owns in Australia, which is valued at Rp. 1,500,000,000. Meanwhile, in the US, Andika owns three plots of land, each of which is worth Rp.4,500,000,000, Rp. 500,000,000 and Rp. 5,500,000,000.
Andika also owns two luxury vehicles, namely the Landrover Sport 3.0 V 6 AT for IDR 800,000,000 and the Mercedes Benz Sprinter 315 for IDR 1,800,000,000. If the total value of the two vehicles reaches Rp. 2,600,000,000. Andika also has other movable property, which is worth Rp. 10,100,000,000 and securities worth Rp. 2,146,000,000.
Andika Perkasa's Profile
Andika Perkasa is a general who graduated from the 1987 Military Academy. Born on December 21, 1964, Andika started his career in the ranks of the Special Forces Command (Kopassus). There he served in the Counter-Terror Unit-81 and Group 3 Sandhi Yudha.
Andika has also served as Commander of Battalion 32 Group 3/Sandha Kopassus in 2002, Commander of Rindam Jaya (2011), and Commander of Korem 023/KS (2012). Andika was also noted to have been involved in operations in East Timor in 1990, territorial operations in East Timor (1992), and military service operations in Aceh (1994).
Andika's next journey was to become the Commander of the Military Resort (Danrem) 023/Kawal Samudera, Kodam I/Bukit Barisan. In 2013, Andika was appointed Head of the Information Service of the Indonesian Army (Kadispenad).
In 2014, Andika assumed the post of Commander of the Presidential Security Forces (Paspampres) accompanying Jokowi. He replaced TNI General Doni Monardo. Then, in 2016, Andika served as Commander of the XII/Tanjungpura Regional Military Command (Pangdam).
Two years later, Andika was again promoted to the position of Commander of the Indonesian Army Military Command and Training Center in January 2018 and became Commander of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Pangkostrad) in July of the same year. Finally, before being appointed as the TNI Commander, Andika was appointed by Jokowi as the Chief of Staff of the Army (KSAD) replacing General Mulyono in November 2018.
In addition to a brilliant record in his military career, Andika also recorded achievements in the realm of education. He earned a Bachelor of Education degree and earned his doctorate from George Washington University, United States (US). In the US, Andika also studied military, ranging from The Military College of Vermont, Norwich University to the National Defense University.
*Read other information about the TNI or read other interesting articles from Nailin In Saroh and Yudhistira Mahabharata.
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