INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: New Staff at Presidential Palace

Published: Mon 23 Nov 2009 08:01 AM
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OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHJA #1929/01 3270801
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 230801Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3898
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001929
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, EAP/INR
NSC FOR D. WALTON
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ID PINR
SUBJECT: NEW STAFF AT PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
REF: JAKARTA 01862 AND PREVIOUS
1. (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified --
Please handle accordingly.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The President's Office has appointed six
new staff members. Julian Adrian Pasha will be in a
particularly prominent position as Spokesperson for Domestic
Affairs. Two key staff positions which remain unchanged are
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson (Dino Djalal) and the Chief of
Presidential Household (Setia Purwaka). Djalal reportedly
may receive an ambassadorial appointment early next year.
Para 5 contains bio information on the six new staff. END
SUMMARY.
PRESIDENT'S OFFICE APPOINTS NEW STAFF
3. (SBU) On November 20, the President's Office appointed
six new staff members. Julian Adrian Pasha will replace
former domestic spokesperson Andi Mallarangeng, now Minister
for Youth and Sports Affairs. Pasha is a former academic.
Andi Arief, a member of the President's Partai Demokrat, will
serve as staff member for social aid and natural disasters.
Colonel (ret'd) Ahmad Yani Basuki will serve as staff member
in charge of communication and information. Basuki is a
former Army spokesperson and head of the information center
at Army Headquarters. In 2003, he was Spokesperson for the
Aceh Military Operations Command. Bio sketches on these
picks and the others are contained in para 5.
TWO KEY STAFF MEMBERS STAY ON (AT LEAST FOR NOW)
4. (SBU) Two key staff members will stay on. The foreign
affairs spokesperson (Dino Djalal) and the chief of
presidential household (Setia Purwaka) are slated to remain
in place. Djalal reportedly may receive an ambassadorial
appointment early next year, perhaps for Washington.
Purwaka, a former military officer, heads up a staff of over
1,000. He takes care of foreign visits by President
Yudhoyono and makes protocol arrangements for foreign
visitors to Indonesia. He also manages all presidential
offices in Indonesia, including the ones in Jakarta, Bogor,
Yogyakarta and Bali.
BIO DATA
5. (SBU) Bio data re the six newly-appointed staff
follows:
--Julian Adrian Pasha, Spokesperson for Domestic Affairs:
Pasha replaces outgoing Spokesperson Andi Mallarangeng,
who was just appointed as Minister of Youth and Sports.
Pasha is Deputy Dean of the School of Social and Political
Science at the University of Indonesia. He got both his
Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of
Indonesia, and his Ph.D. from Hosei University, Japan, in
2006. He is originally from Lampung, Sumatra. His father,
Professor Asyid Akrabie, is a law professor at Lampung
University Law School.
--Andi Arief, Special Staff for Social Aid and Natural
Disasters:
Arief is a Partai Demokrat (Yudhoyono's party) member
and was a student activist and kidnapping victim during the
final days of the Suharto regime in 1998. Arief is
originally from Lampung, Sumatra. He is the son of a
prominent political figure in Lampung. President Yudhoyono
appointed him Commissioner of PT Pos Indonesia, the
state-owned postal company, in 2006. He ran but lost in the
gubernatorial election in Lampung in 2008.
--Velix Wanggai, Special Staff for Regional Development and
Autonomy Affairs:
Wanggai worked at the National Development Planning
Agency (BAPPENAS) from 1996 to 2002. He headed up the
Subdivision of Underdeveloped Regions in the Regional Affairs
Directorate, then the Subdivision of Special Regions of
Eastern Indonesia. He also founded and served as Executive
Director of a think tank, the Institute for Regional
Institutions and Networks (IRIAN Institute). He is a young
Papuan scholar who converted to Islam. Born and raised in
Jayapura, Papua, he got his Bachelor's degree in
international relations from Gadjah Mada University in
JAKARTA 00001929 002 OF 002
Jogjakarta in 1996. He finished his Master's degree in
public policy and administration at Flinders University,
Australia in February 2005. He is currently a long distance
Ph.D. student in public policy at Flinders, working to
complete his thesis on "The Politics of Formulating Regional
Development Policy: The Case of Papua Indonesia 1998-2006."
--Colonel (ret'd) Ahmad Yani Basuki, Special staff for
Communication and Information:
Basuki is a former Army spokesperson and head of the
information center at the Army Headquarters. In 2003, he was
Spokesperson for the Aceh Military Operations Command.
Basuki received both his Master's and Ph.D. degrees from the
School of Social and Political Science at the University of
Indonesia, graduating in 2007. His Master's thesis was on
the sociology of community development and his Ph.D. thesis
was on military reform. In 1982, Basuki graduated from the
Islamic State University in Surabaya as a preacher. Basuki
was born March 5, 1956, in the same hometown as President
Yudhoyono: Blitar, East Java.
--Daniel Sparringa, Special Staff on Politics:
Sparringa has been professor of political science at
Airlangga University, Surabaya, since 1983. He specializes
in political communication. He got his Bachelor's in
political science from Airlingga University and his Master's
and Ph.D. degrees in sociology in 1991 and 1997 from Flinders
University, Australia. His dissertation topic was
"Discourse, Democracy and Intellectuals in New Order
Indonesia." He is a frequent media commentator and is well
known as a political analyst, having written extensively on
democracy, conflict and military issues since 1997.
Sparringa was born in Surabaya on June 25, 1959.
--Jusuf Jangkar, Special Staff for Food and Energy Security:
Jangkar is a lecturer at the National Resilience
Institute (Lemhanas). His name has also been spelled by the
media as "Wangkar".
HUME
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