DPR seeks to end `rubber stamp' role in military budget

Djoko Susilo, Legislator, Jakarta

For many years, the military in Indonesia has enjoyed "freedom" in budgeting. They can spend the money without proper control from the parliament as stipulated in the Constitution. The government allocated the budget for the military and the amount was duly approved by the legislature (DPR).

The DPR would then be discouraged from questioning or investigating how they spend the budget. Budget control by the DPR has always been difficult to accept by the military leaders. The result have been catastrophic. In 1994, hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted in purchasing 39 ships from the former East German fleet. And according to a recent report by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), more than US$450 million was diverted from military expenditures between 1994 to 2001.

To what extent has the DPR exercised its control over the military budget? The state cannot provide 100 percent of the military budget, thus a culture of resistance within the military ranks are quite clear, and it is very unlikely that the DPR will exercise full control over the military budget.

The move would be seen as interference in internal matters of the military affairs rather than implementing democratic principles: Budget control by the legislative body.

There is strong pressure among members of the House Commission I, especially members of the budget committee, to support whatever request is made by the military. Any discussion of the military budget within the commission usually ends with this conclusion: "Commission I will fully support the military budget and we will fight (against other commissions) to secure the larger slice of the state budget for the military".

But after the commission succeeded in a securing larger budget, the military leadership (either from Navy, Air Force, Army and the police) would then be reluctant to discuss the allocations of the budget in detail. So their position is that once the DPR has approved the budget, it is up to them alone how they spend the money.

It is clearly difficult to change the military's bureaucratic mentality, even after the "reform" movement. The military wishes no change in these budget procedures that totally lack transparency. They want the players on military spending limited only to the respective military commanders or the police chief, and assistants of planning or logistics from each of the four services. In the past, billions and billions of rupiah were spent without supervision or control from civilian "outsiders", so they do not want to have any "meddling" now either, particularly from the civilian-dominated DPR.

However, since 1999, the DPR has begun to gradually scrutinize and control the military budget -- with the risk of so many "experts" accusing legislators of interference in military affairs. This attempt to scrutinize the budget is not yet fully exercised but the challenge to DPR actions are already very strong. Those who are against DPR control over the military budget are enemies of democracy.

Far from controlling the budget, the DPR is still nearly impotent against the military on the budget issue. Attempts to change the situation have been met with a stone wall of resistance. So military spending and expenditure is still business as usual. Nothing has changed. You will not get the story on how the top military leaders work hard "lobbying" the DPR as is properly done by the Pentagon officials at the U.S. Congress -- because in budgeting, the DPR is no more than "a rubber stamp" legislature for the military.

We are forced to fight for the military budget, not to criticize and control the military expenditures. It is impossible for the DPR to control the military budget without public support on various issues of the armed forces. For us, it is important to increase efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in budgeting.

Take one case regarding the Air Force. In September 2002, a delegation from Commission I visited an Air Force base in Blang Bintang, Aceh. We found that the soldiers were ill-equipped and the base lacked a power generator. A number of soldiers at the base had become casualties of the military conflict with the Acehnese. But the Air Force paid little attention. Instead it has spent $26 million for radar equipment in clear violation of the DPR and the guidelines from the Office of the State Minister of National Development Planning.

According to the guidelines, the purchase of a radar system should be an open bid to seek the lowest price possible and it must use the credit export (KE) facility. But Air Marshall Chappy Hakim, the Air Force Chief of Staff said the cheap product is not of good quality. When he was told that the purchase of Hawk fighters from Britain were too expensive compared with Russian- made Sukhoi fighters he said he was not the chief of staff at the time.

The legislature must control the budget and the military spending. The old system must be revised to be more transparent and accountable. With very limited resources, the DPR must have the ability to scrutinize the details of military expenditures, especially for large amounts of spending. Past mistakes would be avoided. There would be no more wasting of hundreds of millions of dollars for scrap metal or other futile items.

The writer is a member of the legislature's Commission I for defense, foreign and political affairs, and a member of the National Mandate Party (PAN).