Juwono looks to return to campus

Juwono looks to return to campus

JAKARTA (JP): Former minister of defense Juwono Sudarsono, who
handed over his post to Mahfud MD on Saturday, has said he
intends to go back to school.

After serving under three different Cabinets in the past three
years, Juwono says he looks forward to teaching full-time again.

"I will go back to the campus. The academic year will start on
Sept. 4," he said.

Juwono will likely return to lecturing on international
relations at the School of Sociopolitical Sciences and at the
postgraduate program at the University of Indonesia.

It was in this field that Juwono distinguished himself as one
of the nation's top academics.

Juwono said he was not disappointed whatsoever at being
excluded from the new Cabinet.

He said he had no real aspirations for power and was not
overambitious about a ministerial post.

"I will leave my official residence at the Widya Chandra
housing complex (for state officials) in South Jakarta
immediately. I've been given a month to vacate the premises, but
I will do it sooner," he said.

But Juwono admitted he would now be forced to look for a house
to rent as his modest private residence in Ciputat, South
Jakarta, needed some repairs.

Juwono, who received his doctorate degree from the London
School of Economics and Political Science in 1978, said he was
proud of having served three presidents with three different
characteristics over the last three years.

Despite his short-terms, Juwono enjoyed his job as
environmental minister from March to May 1998 under former
president Soeharto, minister of culture and education from May
1998 to October 1999 under ex-president B.J. Habibie and minister
of defense from November 1999 to August 2000 under Abdurrahman
Wahid.

When asked to compare the three, Juwono gave a brief but
succinct insight: "Soeharto is assertive, Habibie is a scientist
more than a politician and Gus Dur is known as a humanist".

Further elaborations may likely follow in a book he says he
would like to write.

Without doubt, Juwono's most notable post of the three he held
was as minister of defense.

President Abdurrahman Wahid broke with tradition by appointing
Juwono as the only civilian defense minister since the 1950s.

Many saw him as the perfect man to bridge civilian interests
while still being accepted by the military.

Born in Ciamis, West Java, in 1942, Juwono said that over the
last 10 months, building the new civil-military ties had been one
of his main accomplishments.

"The most important thing is that we were successful in
establishing strong fundamentals for the civilian-military
relationship. The National Police, in charge of security, has now
separated from the Indonesian Military (TNI), which is
responsible for defending the state," he said.

He said that greater focus had also been placed on improving
the welfare of low-ranking servicemen by raising their monthly
salaries by about 30 percent.

When asked to comment on a new People's Consultative Assembly
decree which requires the president to seek approval from the
House of Representatives in appointing TNI commanders and police
chiefs, Juwono asserted his disapproval.

"This regulation will encourage military and police officers
to use money politics to win political support from legislators
to gain the top positions in the military and National Police,"
he contended.

Asked to comment on his successor, Mahfud MD, an academic who
is unfamiliar with the military world, Juwono said the top
position at the Ministry of Defense required management skills
more than military expertise.

"The military and the defense ministry have numerous experts
and qualified officials to give input to solving all problems.
The most important thing is that the new defense minister should
have the capability of managing all human resources, especially
think tanks and officials at the two institutions," he said.

Juwono recalled that even with his background in a military
think tank, he still encountered some resistance weeks after he
was posted.

Juwono was deputy governor of the National Resilience
Institute (Lemhanas) from 1995 to 1998.

But to many who frequented the Ministry of Defense, one of
Juwono's most notable contributions was making the ministry's
rigid image more human.

Many of the strict militaristic customs were softened.

One of the most remarkable was a joint media conference
earlier in July involving many of the first echelons officials,
who spoke directly to the media.

This rare experience admittedly frightened many.

The ministry's inspectorate general, Maj. Gen. Soeharto,
frankly admitted in his opening remarks: "To fellow journalists,
whom I'm scared of ...," as Juwono looked on with a smile.

Another change was the ability of people to walk across the
front yard of the ministry.

"Actually, pak Juwono even wanted to eliminate all the guards
around his office so everybody could be more comfortable entering
the compound," one of ministry's staff members told The Jakarta
Post recently.

But even if Juwono does return full-time to teaching, his days
may be numbered, as sources told the Post that the government was
likely to offer him an ambassadorial post.

When asked about the possibility, Juwono only responded with a
smile.(dja/rms)