Navy chief Gen Gatot Nurmantyo has stirred controversy previously month with warnings of a renewed communist menace to Indonesia and a declare non-military organisation was attempting to import hundreds of weapons.
In a speech to a parade marking the navy’s 72nd anniversary, Jokowi mentioned the armed forces are a nationwide establishment that ought to keep above politics and never be fragmented by slim pursuits.
The navy “ought to all the time guarantee its political neutrality within the present democratic period,” he mentioned.
Indonesia’s military retreated from politics after the autumn of dictator Suharto in 1998 ushered in democracy, however almost 20 years later, a job restricted to nationwide defence isn’t absolutely accepted amongst officers or the rank-and-file. The military has tried to inch again into civilian areas and resented the police’s main position in counter-terrorism.
Jokowi’s predecessor as president was a former basic, as was his major rival within the 2014 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto.
Nurmantyo, who native media say may harbour ambitions to run for president in 2019, final month attended an Islamic political celebration occasion the place he warned that communists, a boogeyman often invoked by Indonesian conservatives, had been a renewed menace.
Earlier within the month, the four-star basic claimed authorities establishment tried to import 5,000 weapons “on behalf” of Jokowi. The president’s high safety minister, nevertheless, mentioned that the nationwide intelligence service had ordered a number of hundred rifles from a state-owned weapons firm for coaching functions.
Thursday’s parade within the coastal West Java metropolis of Cilegon comprised almost 6,000 troopers and Indonesia’s most trendy imported weaponry.
In a speech on the parade, Nurmantyo mentioned troopers are sworn to guard the Indonesian individuals and obey the president.
“Don’t doubt our loyalty,” he mentioned.
