Sumitro - Transition To The New Order and First Years of The New Order

Transition To The New Order and First Years of The New Order

In late 1965, Sumitro was transferred from East Kalimantan to Jakarta, where he became a staff member for Major General Suharto, the Commander of the Army. Suharto, who at this stage was on the path to an imminent power struggle with Sukarno, was wooing the support of Army Officers by appointing officers of different ethnicities as part of his staff. Sumitro, alongside Basuki Rahmat represented the East Javanese contingent. For his part, Sumitro stuck by Suharto and did not waver in his support.

By March 1966, the political situation had grown extremely tense. Sumitro recalled a meeting held by Suharto and attended by other Army Officers. During the meeting, Suharto told those who were present that there was a need to separate Sukarno from certain ministers in his cabinet such as Minister of Foreign Affairs Subandrio. Suharto decided to use a cabinet meeting on 11 March 1966 as the occasion in which the arrests could be made and delegated the task of making the arrests to the Army Paracommando Regiment (RPKAD).

For his part, Sumitro was given the task of putting the orders on paper and passing it down to the troops. On 11 March 1966 as the cabinet meeting was held and the RPKAD, masquerading as unidentified troops made their approach, Sumitro was at home. That morning, he received a call from Alamsyah Ratu Prawiranegara, a member of Suharto's personal staff. Alamsyah called on behalf of Suharto, who changed his mind about the arrests and was now ordering Sumitro to withdraw the troops. Sumitro responded that he cannot obey Suharto's orders because it was too late and the operation was already under way. A chain of events then went underway, culminating in Sukarno handing over de facto power to Suharto via Supersemar.

Suharto now sought to further weaken Sukarno's power and began appointing trusted allies as Regional Commanders. In mid-1966, Sumitro returned to East Java after being appointed as Commander of Kodam VIII/Brawijaya. In this position, Sumitro was responsible for the security of East Java. A task of considerable significance when taking into account the political situation at the time and the fact that East Java was Sukarno's home province. Nevertheless, Sumitro once again proved successful, eliminating pro-Sukarno sentiments within his command in late 1966.

After Suharto was appointed Acting President in 1967, Sumitro was transferred back to Jakarta. This time he became Operations Assistant to the Commander of the Army, a position that he held for two years. In 1969, Sumitro became Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defense and Security, a position which was then held by Suharto. A year later, he then became the Deputy Commander of the Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order (Kopkamtib), the New Order's Secret Police organization.