NEW STAFF AT PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

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