Indonesian govt faces mounting criticism for tapping senior TNI official as interim regent

A worker arranges the ballot papers for the 2020 Makassar regional elections at the Celebes Convention Centre in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Nov. 24, 2020. - Jakarta Post/ANN

JAKARTA, May 30 (Jakarta Post/ANN): Indonesian president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration is in hot water after appointing a senior Indonesian Military (TNI) official as interim regent in Maluku despite swelling criticism, fuelling further speculation of a “hidden agenda” and prompting concern over a “prolonged polemic” on the opaque process to replace hundreds of outgoing regional heads.

Home Minister Tito Karnavian recently appointed the State Intelligence Agency’s (BIN) Central Sulawesi bureau head Brig-Gen Andi Chandra As'aduddin as the acting regent of West Seram in Maluku, assuming leadership of the elected regent whose term expired last week.