BALI, KOMPAS.TV – The inauguration of Major General (Mayjen) TNI Maruli Simanjuntak as Commander of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Pangkostrad) has been controversial.
Some people accused that the inauguration was spiced up by Maruli’s closeness to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
Responding to the accusation, Maruli immediately denied it and emphasized that there was not the slightest conversation regarding the position, even though he did know each other with President Jokowi.
“What’s wrong if I’m close (to the president)? It wasn’t me who appointed me,” said Maruli when he was in Denpasar, as quoted from Kompas.com, Monday (24/1/2022).
“To be honest, I personally know exactly how the President (Jokowi) works. Incidentally, I have known him for years,” he continued.
Despite knowing the number one person in Indonesia well, Maruli added, he also never had the desire to serve as Pangkostrad.
In fact, when he received the mandate as the Commander of the Udayana IX Regional Military Command, Maruli did not know anything about the election process.
“I didn’t have a single word about what I wanted to be. I was given the command at the Udayana Military Commander, I didn’t even know first,” said the former Danpaspampres.
Also Read: TNI Commander General Andika Said About Luhut’s Mantu, Maruli Becomes Commander of Kostrad!
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