BRIN Researcher Highlights Funding Issues in TNI Duties RPP

Executive Director of BRIN’s Centre for International Studies, Muhamad Haripin, has criticised the funding provisions in the Draft Government Regulation (RPP) on TNI Duties, which opens opportunities for financing from various sources, including those outside the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN). In the draft RPP Chapter VII on Funding, Article 143 states that funding sources for TNI duties come from three positions: the APBN, the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD), and “other legitimate and non-binding funding sources regulated by legislation.” Haripin questioned the urgency of involving regional budgets, noting that local governments have their own development priorities. He also highlighted the last point, which he believes could pose transparency issues. “Where does the funding come from? From local governments or other parties,” he said when contacted on Sunday, 26 April 2026. Additionally, he assessed that the accountability mechanism for fund usage remains unclear. According to him, there is no certainty whether the budget management will follow the general cost standards of the Ministry of Finance or through a strict audit system. “If it’s not clear, this is prone to embezzlement or mark-ups that are hard to detect,” he stated. Haripin also warned of potential conflicts of interest if funding sources come from the private sector. He believes this could foster closeness between military personnel and businesspeople, especially in the context of securing National Vital Objects. He added that without public openness, the use of such funds risks being unsupervised and potentially misused internally. “When there is private sector contribution, there is concern that certain interests will arise between businesspeople and the TNI,” said the man who once served as Coordinator of the Defence and Security Conflict Research Cluster at BRIN. Previously, the TNI Duties RPP circulated amid the ongoing material review process of Law No. 34 of 2004 as amended by Law No. 3 of 2025 at the Constitutional Court. The document, dated 9 April 2026, contains 144 articles as derivatives of several TNI Law articles. Several articles appear to have already been discussed by the inter-ministerial committee. Head of the Defence Information Bureau of the Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait, stated that the TNI Duties RPP is still in the process of inter-ministerial and institutional discussion as a follow-up to the TNI law. “It is not yet a final document nor has it been enacted,” he said on Sunday.