THE selection of the commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI) to replace Marshall Hadi Tjahjanto ended in an anticlimax. President Joko Widodo went for a compromise by prioritizing political factors rather than preserving the process of quality regeneration within the military.

The president named Army Chief of Staff Gen. Andika Perkasa as the sole candidate for TNI commander on Wednesday, November 3. After passing a fit-and-proper test at the