Defense budget hike suspected to be support deal
JAKARTA (JP): Political analysts have hailed the increase in the defense budget in the 2002 draft state budget amid rising speculation that the 18 percent hike was to gain support from the Indonesian Military (TNI) in maintaining stability.
"The TNI (which is in charge of defense) is politically more influential than the police (in charge of security), and it carries more weight," political analyst Arbi Sanit told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
However, fellow analyst Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) regarded the bigger defense budget as nothing extraordinary.
"I don't think there is anything special in the budget rise. I don't think it's a political concession. It's only an adjustment to take account of inflation," he told the Post.
Kusnanto only questioned the absence of transparency on the part of the TNI concerning its revenues from business practices and non-budgetary funds.
The comments were made in response to President Megawati Soekarnoputri's decision to raise the defense budget from Rp 7.9 trillion (US$870.5 million) in 2001 to Rp 9.4 trillion in 2002.
By comparison, the security budget in 2002 received an allocation of only Rp 5 trillion.
Arbi, who is also a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said that the establishment of Megawati's government could not be separated from the helping hand of the military.
He suspected that the increase in the number of TNI figures recruited for executive seats in her Cabinet was a strong indication of politics at play.
The appointment of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a military figure, to deal with the political and security affairs, for example, further supported this view, he said.
"More military personnel have seats in the cabinet than personnel from the police force," he said.
Data shows that the Army has the biggest number of personnel, amounting to about 200,000, followed by the Navy with 47,000 and the Air Force with 23,000. Meanwhile, the police has 196,000 officers.
"Given these figures, it is normal that the defense budget is bigger than the police's," said Kusnanto.
According to Kusnanto, the funds in the defense budget would be allocated mostly for maintenance because that amount of money would be insufficient to purchase new defense equipment.
He said that with the endorsement of the regional autonomy law, security affairs would soon be put under the management of regional administrations. "That's why the budget received by the police is lower because the police will certainly receive funds from the regional administration too," he said.
Apart from the political motive, Arbi said the government preferred taking the military approach rather than the security approach in quelling any separatist demands from the regions.
"The fear of disintegration has prompted the current government to allocate more to the defense sector," he added.
Fellow analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences Ikrar Nusa Bakti praised the defense budget increase because it is badly needed to improve the military's professionalism in maintaining national stability.
"Without sufficient equipment and exercises, the professionalism of the military will not be optimal," he said.
Asked if there was a political motive behind the budget rise, Ikrar merely said: "Well, it could be. But, I think our military is really in need for more funds." (08)