Govt prepares new defense white paper

A white paper outlining Indonesia's defense strategy for the next 15 to 20 years will be put to public debate later this year for endorsement.

Maj. Gen. Sudradjat, the director general for defense strategy at the Ministry of Defense, told The Jakarta Post his office had already completed the draft, and would submit it to various government agencies next month for a debate.

Once completed, the Ministry of Defense will organize a major seminar, bringing in outside experts and members of the House of Representatives, for their endorsement later in the year.

"Hopefully, we can start implementing the white paper early in 2003," he said.

The document, currently about 150 pages long, could still be trimmed down to about 75 pages, he said.

Concurrent with the white paper, the Ministry of Defense has drafted another document, Defense Strategic Review, outlining its defense strategy in greater detail.

This review is classified, Sudradjat said.

Indonesia needs to formulate a coherent long-term defense strategy that is adhered to by every successive government, he said.

He did not go into detail about the white paper, but said one idea for change was to bring the Ministry of Defense and the Indonesian Military (TNI) under one roof by 2009 for greater efficiency and effectiveness in policy implementation.

The white paper also presents an argument for the government to double defense spending from the present Rp 9 trillion (US$900 million) a year.

Sudradjat said with the white paper, some decisions on procurement would be made at the highest political levels, eliminating the competition between the three services for a larger share of the budget to upgrade their weaponry.

"Some decisions on defense matters cannot be left entirely to the TNI," he said. "The president, the (defense) minister, the Cabinet and the House of Representatives must be brought in." -- JP