Wiranto (born 4 April 1947) is an Indonesian politician and retired army general, who was the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council, from December 2019 to October 2024. Previously, he was the Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces from February 1998 to October 1999 during Indonesia's transition from authoritarian rule to democracy. He ran unsuccessfully for President of Indonesia in 2004 and for the vice-presidency in 2009. On 27 July 2016, Wiranto was appointed Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, replacing Luhut Binsar Panjaitan.
Wiranto played a significant role in facilitating severe human rights violations by the Indonesian army and Jakarta-backed militias, during Indonesia's withdrawal from the occupied territory of East Timor in 1999. Both the United Nations and domestic groups have gathered evidence on this, but he continues to deny the charges. In January 2000, an Indonesian commission placed general responsibility for these injustices on Wiranto. In May 2004, the United Nations-backed Special Panels of the Dili District Court indicted Wiranto and charged him with war crimes. Wiranto claimed the move was an effort to discredit his political ambitions.
Some claim that Wiranto played a key role as a moderating influence during the turbulent times of 1998 when Suharto resigned. He had the power to impose military rule, but refused to do so, thereby allowing the civilian process to develop. Taufik Darusman labeled him a "military reformist" because Wiranto reduced the military's role in Indonesian politics. He initiated the reduction of their seats in parliament and separated the police from the military. Nonetheless, more than 2,000 East Timorese were killed in violence under his watch, as well as 500,000 forced into displacement. The security forces of Indonesia also perpetrated the Biak massacre in July 1998, when Wiranto was the Minister of Defense of Indonesia.
Early life, family, and education
Wiranto was born on April 4, 1947, in Yogyakarta to R.S. Wirowijoto, a primary school teacher and Suwarsijah. He was the sixth out of nine children. Only one month old, Wiranto and his family moved from Yogyakarta to Boyolali near Surakarta for safety reasons as the Dutch were planning to launch an attack on Yogyakarta. At Surakarta, Wiranto completed his primary and secondary education.
When he was a child, Wiranto dreamed of a military career, but as he grew up, he developed the desire to become an architect. However, training to become an architect was not feasible financially, so Wiranto decided to join the Indonesian Military Academy in Magelang in Central Java, now known as Akademi Militer or Akmil.
Wiranto graduated from the Indonesian Military Academy in 1968 and spent the early part of his military career in North Sulawesi, far from the centers of power in Indonesia. There he worked his way up from being a Platoon Commander to a Battalion Commander in 1982. From there he worked in the Armed Forces headquarters (formerly known as ABRI HQ, or headquarters of the Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia) for two years before joining the high-profile Kostrad (a corp-level and well-equipped command within the Indonesian armed forces) in 1985 as a Brigade Chief of Staff in East Java. In 1987, he was transferred to Jakarta where he became Deputy Operations Assistant to the Kostrad Chief of Staff.
In 1989, his career had a major break when he was selected to become an aide-de-camp to President Suharto. The position of presidential aide-de-camp was a prestigious one during the New Order, as it became a launching pad for officers to have successful military careers. By Wiranto's own accounts, 2 Army Commanders, 3 Armed Services Chiefs of Staff, and 2 Chiefs of Police, had served as presidential aide-de-camp during their career.
In 1993, Wiranto became Chief of Staff in the Jakarta regional military command (Komando Daerah Militer for Jakarta, or KODAM Jaya) and became commander of KODAM Jaya in 1994. Two years later, he became commander of Kostrad and in 1997, was appointed Army Chief of Staff. At this stage of his career, it was speculated that Wiranto, together with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Agum Gumelar, A.M. Hendropriyono, and Farid Zainuddin were the top five officers from ABRI's secular/Nationalist "Red and White" faction.
Wiranto's appointment as Commander of ABRI in February 1998 came at a crucial time. Indonesia was suffering from the effects of the Asian Financial Crisis and there was widespread opposition to Suharto. Nevertheless, Suharto was re-elected for a seventh term as president by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) as the situation continued to deteriorate. In Suharto's new Cabinet, Wiranto was named as the Minister of Defense and Security.
As the situation worsened, Wiranto tried to calm the situation down through dialogue. On 18 April 1998, together with 17 ministers, Wiranto held a meeting with prominent members of society and student organizations. Wiranto took a cautious stance towards the social unrest that was brewing around Indonesia at the time and warned against it descending into anarchy.
Wiranto's involvement with the events of May 1998 began by ordering most senior military commanders to go to Malang in East Java (850 km from Jakarta) for a ceremonial party, during the riot in the capital Jakarta. Later he authorized Commander of KODAM Jaya Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and Chief of Jakarta Regional Police Hamami Nata to take care of the situation in Jakarta. That was the day when four students of Trisakti University were shot dead. Wiranto responded on 13 May by ordering the Military Police to mobilize. Wiranto also sensed that the condition was about to spiral out of control and ordered reinforcements in the form of Marines and Kostrad personnel.
On 15 May, Wiranto met with Suharto who had gone to Egypt to attend an economic summit but was forced to come back to attend to the situation back home. Suharto brought up the idea of reinstating the Command for the Restoration of Security and Order (Kopkamtib) to deal with the situation. Finally, on 18 May, Suharto issued a Presidential Instruction (Instruksi Presiden No 16/1968) to Wiranto. Wiranto was to be made Commander of the National Alertness and Safety Operation Command (KOPKKN). This presidential instruction has been compared to the Supersemar, a key letter of authority which former president Sukarno issued in March 1966 providing the then-Major General Suharto with wide authority over government in Indonesia. Suharto's Presidential Instruction in May 1998 was seen as providing Wiranto with wide authority to choose whether to use his new power or not.
On 21 May 1998, Suharto announced his resignation as president. Vice President BJ Habibie took over as president. Wiranto took the opportunity to state that ABRI would be ensuring the personal safety of the now former President Suharto and his family. Wiranto subsequently admitted the involvement of Kopassus special forces in the 1997–98 activists kidnappings in Indonesia.
Wiranto was retained as both the Commander of ABRI and Minister of Defense and Security in Habibie's Cabinet. He immediately began working towards reforming ABRI and on 11 June, gave to Habibie and Head of People's Representative Council/MPR Chairman Harmoko a manifesto entitled "The Fundamentals of ABRI's Philosophy on Reform Towards Achieving the National Goal". In August, Wiranto made a move to appease the people of Aceh by withdrawing the status of Military Operations Region (DOM) from the Province.
The Special Session of the MPR was held in November 1998 and Wiranto cracked down on protesters who were against the Special Session, killing 8 and injuring 226. Despite this setback, Wiranto continued to build an image as a reformer. In January 1999, he met with reformist leaders and in April 1999, supervised the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia Police (POLRI) as an autonomous entity rather than subordinate to ABRI. ABRI also went through a name change and became known as TNI. Wiranto also supervised security during the 1999 Legislative Elections during which TNI and POLRI adopted a neutral role rather than support Golkar as had been the case during Suharto's regime. As Commander of TNI, Wiranto was also involved with the withdrawal of troops from East Timor when the Province voted to become an independent nation. In the process he became accused of being behind or at least condoned the human rights abuses committed by TNI soldiers during the retreat from Timor.