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

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).