Impeachment call, abortive reshuffle hint at internal TNI tension

JakartaPost-May 5

An abortive order to transfer Lt. Gen. Kunto Arief Wibowo, the son of former vice president Try Sutrisno, on his tour of duty has fueled rife speculation of an emerging rift within the military, following calls by a group of retired generals to impeach Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The Indonesian Military (TNI) faces bubbling tensions after calls for the impeachment of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka led to an attempt to reshuffle the roster of high-ranking officers, potentially exposing a political rift previously not seen in an otherwise disciplined institution. Last week, President Prabowo Subianto relayed a cautious response through Special Presidential Advisor on Political and Security Affairs Wiranto to appease demands from the group to remove “corrupt ministers” and unseat the vice president. The group said Gibran’s nomination in the last election, paved by a last-minute controversial Constitutional Court ruling, violated procedural rules. Shortly thereafter, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Agus Subiyanto, who rose to power under Prabowo’s predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Gibran’s father, issued an order to reassign more than 200 senior officers, including Lt. Gen. Kunto Arief Wibowo. Kunto, who is among the retired generals demanding Gibran’s removal. However, a day after the announcement, Agus abruptly canceled Kunto’s reassignment from his position as the commander of First Joint Defense Regional Command (Kogabwilhan I), which covers the land, water and air areas from Sumatra to Kalimantan. The swift correction of the reshuffle, on top of the retirees’ demands, has since drawn scrutiny toward the military, long seen as an organization with unwavering support for each of the country’s sitting administrations. “For an organization that is so well organized and well planned, the walk back from reassigning high-ranking officers did indicate that there are competing interests within the TNI,” military analyst Aditya Batara Gunawan of Bakrie University said on Sunday. On Friday, another group of military retirees pledged their full support for the current government in an apparent effort to counter the demands of the first group of retired officers. Read more at:

https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2025/05/05/impeachment-call-abortive-reshuffle-hint-at-internal-tni-tension.html.