Maraden Panggabean

Maraden Panggabean

Maraden Saur Halomoan Panggabean (* 29. June 1922 in Tarutung , North Sumatra , Dutch East Indies ; † 28. May 2000 in Jakarta , Indonesia ), known as Maraden Panggabean was an Indonesian General (in the early years of the dictatorship of the New Order Orde Baru ) by General Suharto .

Career

Beginning of the military career

After finishing school, Panggabean initially worked as a teacher and later became the director of the Tarutung School. When the Japanese occupied Sumatra in 1942 , Panggabean was retrained to become an official in the Japanese government. In 1943 she founded the Pembela Tanah Air PETA ( German  Defender of the Fatherland ), an Indonesian volunteer army that was supposed to support the Japanese army in the battle against the Allies. Like many of his military contemporaries, Panggabean joined the PETA. He had just completed basic education and training when Japan surrendered in 1945 and Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed Indonesia's independence.

On October 5, 1945, the People's Security Army (TKR), the predecessor of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI, later TNI), was established. Panggabean was a military instructor in Sibolga , then on Sumatra until 1949 Chief of Staff of the 1st Battalion, 4th Regiment, 10th Division. After the end of the Indonesian War of Independence against the Netherlands (1945-1950) Panggabean was for ten years the regimental chief of staff in Tapanuli ( North Sumatra ) and sector commander in the military territory (TT) North Sumatra . In 1957, Panggabean received an advanced training course for infantry officers in the United States . In 1959 he became battalion commander before becoming department commander of TT II / Sriwijaya.

After that, Panggabean received a post outside Sumatra for the first time. He became a military judge in Makassar , Sulawesi . As the confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia intensified, Panggabean was appointed commander of the second war zone (2nd War Theater) , with the supreme command of the troops in Borneo . There he made friends with Suharto [1] when the then commandant of Kostrad had stationed troops in Borneo. Here he made friends with Suharto , the future President of Indonesia, who was then the commandant of the Kostrad .

After the failure of the movement on September 30, 1965, Suharto became Commander-in-Chief of the Army and appointed Panggabean as his second deputy on the staff. According to witnesses, Panggabean was involved in the preparation of the Supersemar decree , which effectively handed power to Suharto. Panggabean is said to have been one of two generals who forced the previous ruler to sign at gunpoint.

Career in the Orde Baru

In July 1966, Panggabean received the newly created post of Deputy Commander of the Army to relieve Suharto. In 1967 he was promoted to commander of the army. During this time the armed forces (ABRI) were reorganized. The commanders of the armed forces were reduced in their status to chiefs of staff below the ABRI commander. In 1969 Panggabean was replaced as army chief by Umar Wirahadikusumah and commander of the Kopkamtib , the secret police in the New Order. In 1971, Suharto reorganized the government cabinet and Panggabean became Minister of State on September 9th, with the task of assisting the president on matters of defense and security. In parallel, Panggabean remained deputy ABRI commander. Eventually, Panggabean became Minister of Defense and Security and Commander of the Armed Forces in 1973. In this role he got into a dispute with Foreign Minister Adam Malik over the question of how Indonesia should shape its foreign policy in Southeast Asia. Malik preferred ASEAN as a means of economic cooperation, while Panggabean also wanted to give it a security function. Panggabean also wanted to send troops to support South Vietnam in the Vietnam War . Here he agreed with Malik. The invasion and occupation of East Timor from 1975 onwards also fell during Panggabean's tenure as ABRI chief .

On March 29, 1978, Panggabean was replaced as ABRI commander and minister by Mohammad Jusuf . Instead, Panggabean received the newly created Ministry for the Coordination of Politics and Security, which he led until March 19, 1983. The ministerial office then took over Surono Reksodimedjo , while Panggabean succeeded Idham Chalid as chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council ( Dewan Pertimbangan Agung DPA). He held the office until 1988, when he retired politically.

In Suharto's Golkar party , Panggabean became a member of the party executive committee in 1973, from 1974 to 1978 its chairman. After Suharto removed him from the chair, Panggabean remained vice chairman until 1988.

In 1985, Panggabean became advisory chairman of the United Organization of Batak Tradition and Culture (LPAFB) and in 1989 patron of the Bona Pasogit Foundation, which is responsible for the reconstruction of earthquake-affected regions in his homeland, Tarutung.

Panggabean died of a stroke in Jakarta on May 22, 2000.

Others

Panggabean was married to Meida Seimima Tambunan. The couple had four children together. Panggabean belonged to the Batak ethnic group and was a Protestant Christian.

Honors

• Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (1971).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ INDONESIA NEWS] JKTP - Maraden Panggabean Dies at 78
2. ↑ INDONEWS archives - August 1998, week 4 (# 652)
3. ^ Robert Elson: Suharto: A Political Biography . The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, UK 2001, ISBN 0-521-77326-1 , p. 201.
4. ^ Robert Elson: Suharto: A Political Biography . The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, UK 2001, ISBN 0-521-77326-1 , pp. 213-214.
5. ↑ Senarai Penuh Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 1971 .