Mahfud Remembers Juwono Sudarsono: A Great Scholar Who Mastered Defence

Former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD remembers the figure of former Minister of Defence Juwono Sudarsono as a great scholar. “I succeeded Prof. Juwono at the beginning of Gus Dur’s administration (Indonesia’s 4th President Abdurrahman Wahid). Honestly, he is a great scholar who masters defence issues from a global geopolitical perspective,” said Mahfud when confirmed on Saturday (28/3), quoted from Antara. Mahfud served as Minister of Defence after Juwono in 2000. He views Juwono as the right person to be Minister of Defence in his time. “He is the right person to be Minister of Defence in his era. He is gentle, his speech is not explosive, but his appeal is extraordinarily strong,” he recalled. He then hoped that Juwono would receive Allah SWT’s paradise. “May he receive His paradise,” he prayed. Previously, news of the passing of the Minister of Defence during the tenure of Indonesia’s 4th President Abdurrahman Wahid alias Gus Dur and 6th President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), Juwono Sudarsono, circulated in short message groups. Head of the Defence Information Bureau of the Ministry of Defence’s General Secretariat Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait confirmed the news of the passing. Rico stated that the Professor of International Relations at the University of Indonesia passed away on Saturday (28/3) at 13:45 WIB at Pondok Indah Hospital, Jakarta. The burial of the Minister of Education and Culture during the tenure of Indonesia’s 3rd President BJ Habibie is scheduled for Sunday (29/3) at the Heroes’ Cemetery Kalibata, South Jakarta. In addition to serving as Minister of Defence and Minister of Education and Culture, Juwono once served as State Minister for the Environment ahead of the fall of Indonesia’s 2nd President Soeharto.