Moerdani
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Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani (also publicly known as LB Moerdani or Benny Moerdani) (2 October 1932 - 29 August 2004) was the ABRI Commander from 1983-1988 and also served as Indonesia's Minister of Defense and Security. He is famous due to his strong stance in many decisive situations in Indonesian political and social life. He was also significant as a leader who was Catholic in predominantly Muslim community.
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[edit] Early Life
Moerdani was born on 2nd October 1932 at Cepu, Central Java to R.G. Moerdani Sosrodirjo and Rochmaria Jeane, who was half German. Moerdani was raised at Solo.
[edit] Military Career
[edit] Early Military Career
At the age of 13, Moerdani joined the Republic of Indonesia Student Army (TRIP) and joined in the Indonesian National Revolution against the Netherlands. Once Indonesia's Independence was safely secured, he began his Military training. In 1950, he joined the Army Officers Education Center and after completing his course there, went on to complete another course at the Infantry Education School.
[edit] RPKAD and Kostrad
After graduating from the Infantry Education School, Moerdani joined the Army Commando Corps (KKAD), the precursor to the Army Paracommando Regiment (RPKAD) and which is now known as Kopassus. He became an RPKAD trainer before becoming an RPKAD Head Trainer and rising to a Company Commander for the RPKAD. As a member of RPKAD, Moerdani participated in the crackdowns on the Darul Islam, the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PRRI), and Permesta Rebellions.
In 1960, Moerdani was sent to the United States to receive extra military training at Fort Benning and Fort Bragg,
After the Netherlands recognized Indonesia's Independence in 1949, it had continued to occupy West Irian. President Sukarno saw West Irian as a rightful part of Indonesia and after failing to get the region diplomatically, established the Liberation of West Irian War Theater with Major General Suharto as its Commander. Moerdani made his mark on the campaign on 4th June 1962 when he and his troops parachuted down onto the city of [[Merauke] as part of operations to land Indonesian troops behind enemy lines. The campaign did not develop into full-fledged fighting as the Netherlands handed control of West Irian to Indonesia in August 1962.
In 1963, after a dispute with RPKAD Commander Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, Moerdani was transferred to Kostrad. Here, he became acquainted with not only Suharto but also with the people who formed Suharto's inner circle such as Ali Murtopo and Yoga Sugama. From these two, Moerdani expanded from being a field officer to an intelligence officer.
Moerdani joined Kostrad at a time when Indonesia was in a confrontation with Malaysia. Many within the Army, such as Suharto, were not happy that a confrontation was taking place and always made sure that the Army was never ready for an attack in Malaysia. Instead, the Army established their own covert diplomatic channels to communicate with the Malaysians and to show that the Army was not going to attack. This was Moerdani's first mission in Kostrad, establishing contact with Malaysian diplomats under the guise of a Garuda Indonesia worker in Thailand.
In addition to that mission, Moerdani also served at Kostrad as a Battalion Commander, Operational Staff member, and later on as 1st Assistant for a Battle Commando.
[edit] New Order
When Suharto came to power in 1966, Moerdani was sent to Malaysia and served as a Liaison Officer at the Indonesian Embassy. In 1971, he was transferred to South Korea to serve as Consul at Seoul.
It was in 1974, after the Malari Incident that Suharto summoned Moerdani back to Jakarta. Moerdani was then given the position of Head of Intelligence Duties Group at the Operation Command for the Restoration of Security and Order (Kopkamtib), Indonesia's Secret Police organization. Moerdani had considerable power from this position and in 1975, would be deeply involved in planning Indonesia's invasion of East Timor. Moerdani was also the Intelligence Assistant at the Ministry of Defense of Security and had authority over the Presidential Bodyguards (Paspampres).
In 1977, Moerdani's power continued to increased as he was appointed Head of the Strategic Intelligence Centre (Pusintelstrat), which was ABRI's intelligence agency as well as becoming Deputy Head of the National Intelligence Coordinating Body (BAKIN), the state's intelligence agency which was headed by his old colleague from Kostrad, Yoga Sugama. In 1978, Moerdani also received appointment as Intelligence Assistant for ABRI Commander M Jusuf.
Moerdani made a name for himself in 1981 when he commanded the operation to retrieve back a Garuda Indonesia flight hijacked by terrorists in Thailand.
[edit] Commander of ABRI
In March 1983, Moerdani reached the pinnacle of his Military career when Suharto named him as the Commander of ABRI. Moerdani reached this position with the distinction of having never commanded a unit bigger than a battalion and having not served as a Kodam Commander. In addition to the Commandership of ABRI, Moerdani was also appointed Commander of Kopkamtib, and retained his position as Pusintelstrat which was renamed Strategic Intelligence Body (BAIS). Unlike previous New Order ABRI Commanders, Moerdani did not hold the Defense and Security Ministry.
Moerdani reorganized ABRI. Under his Commandership, the 17 KODAMs were reduced to just 10. Moerdani also increased the KODAMs' political role as well updating ABRI's weaponry.
Moerdani's Catholic background would come to the forefront in 1984 when together with KODAM V/Jaya Commander, Try Sutrisno, he ordered a crackdown on Islamist protesters at Tanjung Priok, Jakarta which resulted in deaths. Moerdani insisted that he never wanted to persecute Muslim and conducted visits to Muslim schools all around Java to improve his image with Muslims.
As ABRI Commander, Moerdani was arguably the de-facto second most powerful man in social and political aspects of the Republic, after Suharto.
[edit] Political Career
[edit] 1988 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) General Session
By 1988, Moerdani's relationship with Suharto had soured. Although he was loyal to Suharto, Moerdani was assertive enough to criticize the President for the corruption and nepotism in the regime. By this time, Moerdani had also made an enemy out of Prabowo, Suharto's son in law.
1988 was an important year as it was the year of an MPR General Session, the venue in which the President and the Vice President is elected. As the General Session approached, Suharto began making signs that he wanted Sudharmono as his Vice President. According to Kivlan Zen, a close associate of Prabowo, this ran contrary to Moerdani, who wanted to become Vice President himself [1]. As such, this seemed to have been the reason for Moerdani's discharge from the position of ABRI Commander, although according to Robert Elson, this was done more because Suharto did not want Moerdani to be in control of ABRI when Sudharmono was nominated Robert Elson theorized of the possibility of Sudharmono's Vice Presidency being the final step before the Indonesian Presidency itself [2].
Moerdani did not seem to give up. The same month the top brass of Golkar met to discuss the MPR General Session. On the matter of the Vice Presidential candidate the Bureaucrats and Functional factions unanimously agreed to nominate Sudharmono. The ABRI faction's nomination was delayed, with Moerdani continuing to procrastinate by claiming that he had not discussed the Vice Presidential nomination with Suharto yet. When pressured, Moerdani expressed his concern about Sudharmono's nomination although he did not give a specific reason. At one stage, he began giving subliminal signals that Try should be nominated as Vice President. Try did not pick up on this and along with the other officers convinced a reluctant Moerdani that the ABRI Faction's Vice Presidential candidate will be Sudharmono.
Many believed that Moerdani was responsible for the controversy that continued to dog Sudharmono's nomination. It was believed that Brigadier General Ibrahim Saleh's attack on Sudharmono and the nomination of the United Development Party (PPP) Chairman Jaelani Naro as Vice President was Moerdani's work. Nevertheless, Suharto's will came through in the end and Sudharmono was elected Vice President.
[edit] Minister of Defense and Security
Despite his attempts to block Sudharmono, Suharto did not demote Moerdani and appointed him as the Minister of Defense and Security. However, Moerdani would lose most of his powers in September 1988 with the disbandment of Kopkamtib.
During his term as Minister, Moerdani was accused of planning a coup against Suharto [3]. This prompted Suharto to promise a harsh crackdown on anyone who dared to replace him unconstitutionally.
[edit] 1993 MPR General Session
Before the 1993 MPR General Session, Moerdani was seen as the engineer of ABRI's pre-emptive nomination of Try as Vice President. Suharto was displeased with the nomination and only accepted Try reluctantly. Suharto's consolation was that he did not name Moerdani to the next Cabinet.
[edit] Death
Moerdani died on 29th August 2004 in Jakarta as a result of stroke.
[edit] Reference
- (Indonesian) Various articles marking Moerdani's death
- (Indonesian) Profile on pdat.co.id
- (Indonesian) Article on ABRI's reluctance to nominate Sudharmono as Vice President
[edit] Notes
- ^ Uba (30th August 2004). Arsitek Intelijen Itu Telah Pergi. Republika. Retrieved on January 13, 2007.
- ^ Elson, Robert [2001]. Suharto: A Political Biography. UK: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, pp.258-259. ISBN 0-521-77326-1.
- ^ SIB (5th October 2006). Kivlan dan Prabowo Dukung Habibie, Cegah Benny Moerdani Jadi Presiden. Sinar Indonesia. Retrieved on January 13, 2007.
