Minister of State-owned Enterprise (SOEs) Erick Thohir has defended the appointment of Major General Novi Helmy Prasetya as President Director of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).
Speaking to the media on Monday, February 10, 2025, Erick said the decision to appoint the two-star Army general as new Bulog chief was made upon consideration that the government needs immediate action to tackle the problem of small rice absorption by the logistics agency and make significant improvement on the agency’s performance.
Ahead of the rice harvest time, Bulog is required to absorb 3 million tons of farmers’ rice until April 2025.
“Well, the rice absorption data [by Bulog] is still small, so there needs to be a refresher,” Erick said on Monday, February 10, 2025.
He emphasized that there should not be a problem to appoint an active military member for the post as long as his profile fits the requirement to sit on the post.
“Our choice on an active Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel for the post is because he fits for the [Bulog] ecosystem. It’s not about wrong or right, but how we need to see it from another perspective,” Erick said.
General Novi has had a vast experience in military operation and territorial issues throughout his 32-year military career, with the last position he held as Assistant to the TNI Chief for Territorial Affairs.
Military observer Khairul Fahmi, however, had a different perspective on Novi’s appointment as Bulog’s President Director. He was of the opinion that the appointment of an active military personnel, like Novy, could create legal ambiguity that could potentially disrupt the TNI’s neutrality.
He also suggested that this could affect TNI’s independence and objectivity in carrying out its main duties.
“The challenge is that current laws and regulations require active soldiers to resign or retire before occupying civilian positions, including in an SOE likeBulog,” Khairul spoke to Indonesia Business Post on Monday, February 10, 2025.
From a regulatory perspective, Khairul added, this appointment raises questions regarding compliance with Article 47 of Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI, which emphasizes that active soldiers may not occupy civilian positions unless they resign or retire.
“There are exceptions for active soldiers to be assigned at ministries or government institutions that have direct connection to defense duties. But Bulog is not included in this category,” he said.
Historically, the practice of placing active soldiers in civilian positions is not new. Several active officers have been placed in strategic positions in certain ministries or institutions, but in general they must go through a status change mechanism to become State Civil Servant (ASN) or retire first.
“This mechanism is important to ensure that they no longer have a structural position in the military institution so that they can carry out their duties as civil servants independently,” Khairul said.
He said further that should such practice of appoint an active military personnel for a public post continue, legal clarity is needed, including the possibility of adjusting Article 47 of the TNI Law to be more relevant to the needs of the government.
“One option is to design a more flexible mechanism, but still within the framework of TNI reform, such as clarifying the procedure or setting special criteria for officers who can be placed in certain hovernment positions outside the defense sector,” he cited.
However, he added, changes to Article 47 must remain in line with the principles of TNI reform which emphasize professionalism, neutrality in politics, and civilian supremacy.
“If the involvement of active soldiers in civilian positions outside the defense sector is to be legalized more widely, there must be a clear mechanism to ensure that this does not interfere with the TNI’s primary role in national defense,” he noted.
Major General Novi Helmy himself admitted that he was still active as a TNI soldier when he was appointed as Bulog’s President Director on Friday, February 7, 2025, replacing Wahyu Suparyono who had just taken up the position for five months.
