General (Ret.) Gatot Nurmantyo (born 13 March 1960) is an

Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), ) is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its ...

general who was

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

(

Panglima Panglima is a military title used in Indonesia and Malaysia, and historically in the Philippines. It means 'a commander of a body of troops'. In the past it is used to call some prominent military leaders in several kingdoms, such as Panglima Polem ...

) of the

Indonesian National Armed Forces , founded = as the ('People's Security Forces') , current_form = , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Cilangkap, Jakarta , website = , commander-in-chief = Joko Widodo , ...

(TNI) from 8 July 2015 until 8 December 2017. Previously, he was the 30th Army Chief of Staff from 25 July 2014 after being appointed by President Yudhoyono to replace General Budiman. From 2013 to 2014, he was Commander of Army Strategic Command (Kostrad), replacing Lieutenant General Muhammad Munir. In June 2015, he was nominated by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to replace TNI commander General

Moeldoko Moeldoko (pronounced uldoko born 8 July 1957) is an Indonesian government official, businessman, and retired general serving as the current Chief of Staff of Presidency for President Joko Widodo, previously serving as Commander of the Indone ...

, who was nearing retirement age. His appointment was then confirmed by the DPR. In December 2017, as Nurmantyo neared retirement age (in March 2018), the president announced his intention to replace him with Air Force Chief-of-Staff Air Chief Marshal

Hadi Tjahjanto Air Chief Marshal (Ret.) Hadi Tjahjanto (born 8 November 1963) is the Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning of Indonesia under President Joko Widodo's Onward Indonesia Cabinet. He is a former officer in the Indonesian Air Force who previous ...

as TNI commander. Nurmantyo joined government officials and social activists in a march to support religious tolerance during the

November 2016 Jakarta protests November 2016 Jakarta protests (also called Protests defending the Quran or 4 November peace protests) refer to an Islamist mass protest which took place on 4 November 2016 in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was attended by an estimated 50,000–200,000 pr ...

. Alongside Social Affairs Minister

Khofifah Indar Parawansa Khofifah Indar Parawansa (born 19 May 1965) is an Indonesian politician who is the current Governor of East Java. Previously she served as the 27th Minister of Social Affairs. She resigned from the position in January 2018 in order to run in the ...

Indonesian National Police '' , mottotranslated = (Serving the Nation) , formed = , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = 440,000 (2020) , volunteers = , budget = , nongovernment ...

chief

Tito Karnavian Muhammad Tito Karnavian (born 26 October 1964) is an Indonesian politician and retired police general who is currently serving as Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia since 23 October 2019. Previously, he was Chief of the Indones ...

and Islamic activist

Yenny Wahid Zannuba Ariffah Chafsoh, or more popularly known as Yenny Wahid (born 29 October 1974) is an Indonesian Islamic activist, journalist, and politician. She is currently the director of The Wahid Institute, an Islamic research center founded by he ...

, he led public support of interfaith unity as a counterbalance to protests against Jakarta's Christian ethnic-Chinese governor

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (, Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Chûng Van-ho̍k''; born 29 June 1966) is an Indonesian businessman, politician, and former governor of Jakarta. He is also known by his Hakka Chinese nickname Ahok (). He was the second minority gover ...

which included elements of intolerance and

Sinophobia Anti-Chinese sentiment, also known as Sinophobia, is a fear or dislike of China, Chinese people or Chinese culture. It often targets Chinese minorities living outside of China and involves immigration, development of national identity in ...

Presidential aspiration

Nurmantyo officially retired from military service on 31 March 2018 amid rising speculation he would run for the presidency in 2019. On 6 April 2018, a group called Gatot Nurmantyo for the People (GNR) nominated Gatot as a candidate for Indonesia's 2019 presidential election. In an interview published by Tempo magazine in April 2018, he responded positively to calls for him to run for the presidency, saying: "If the Republic calls and the people wish, I will be ready no matter what." He said democracy is in the hands of the people, "but it is Allah who has the final say. So, anyone who becomes the president is by the will of Allah and we must support him or her." Asked if he was interested in becoming President Jokowi's running mate, he responded: "I'm not a political whore." He admitted Jokowi's rival, opposition leader

Prabowo Subianto Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman and former army lieutenant general who is the currently-appointed Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia. He is the son of Sumitro Djojoh ...

, had invited him to join his

Gerindra Party The Gerindra Party (acronym for , ) is a political party in Indonesia. Formed in 2008, Gerindra serves as the political vehicle of former general Prabowo Subianto. It is presently the third-largest party in the People's Representative Council, Ho ...

Ties to Tomy Winata

Gatot has acknowledged he is close to tycoon and banker

Tomy Winata Tomy Winata (pronounced and sometimes misspelled as Tommy Winata; born Guo Shuo Feng, zh, 郭說鋒 on 23 July 1958) is an Indonesian businessman with interests in banking, property, gambling and infrastructure, whose wealth comes from his busine ...

. “People say that I have a close relationship with Tomy Winata. That’s true. I will never be ashamed of that because I personally know his commitment,” he said. Their relationship started in 1997, when Winata's Artha Graha Bank acquired Arta Prima Bank, which was then renamed Pratama Bank. At the time, Gatot was Secretary Commissioner of Artha Graha Bank. The Indonesian media has speculated Winata might be providing financial backing for Gatot to run for the presidency in 2019.

Honours

Gatot is the recipient of the following honours:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nurmantyo, Gatot 1960 births Living people Indonesian generals Indonesian National Military Academy alumni Javanese people Commanders of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Chiefs of Staff of the Indonesian Army