Trust and Capability Key Considerations for Deputy Defence Minister Appointment
Speculation about a cabinet reshuffle under President Prabowo Subianto, predicted to take place in August 2026, has once again drawn public attention. One name widely rumoured to be joining the government is Norman Joesoef, a young entrepreneur and defence industry professional.
The CEO of Republikorp is said to be in line to fill the position of Deputy Minister of Defence, replacing retired Air Marshal Donny Ermawan Taufanto. Should the reports materialise, Norman’s appointment would attract particular attention because he comes from a civilian-professional background with a strong track record in the defence industry, rather than from a conventional military career path.
Norman has been involved in the sector of primary weaponry systems, tactical equipment and strategic technology since 2013. He is also considered to have extensive experience in building partnerships with various international networks in the defence field. However, regardless of the names circulating, the decision to appoint a Deputy Defence Minister rests entirely with President Prabowo Subianto as part of the President’s prerogative.
Defence and intelligence researcher Wawan H Purwanto assesses that the replacement of the Deputy Defence Minister should be seen as the President’s full authority to determine the figure he trusts most and who has the capacity to carry out the national defence agenda. According to Wawan, the factor of trust cannot be separated from capability in determining the figure who will assist the Defence Minister.
“The replacement of the Deputy Defence Minister position is the President’s prerogative to obtain the most trusted figure. The ideal parameters used are trust and capability in the defence sector to ensure the achievement of national interests and security,” Wawan told the media in Jakarta on Saturday (8/8/2026).
He stressed that the Deputy Defence Minister is not merely an administrative position. The chosen figure must be able to understand the President’s strategic defence vision while translating it into concrete policies and programmes. Therefore, track record, competence, integrity and the ability to build strategic networks are crucial factors that need to be considered.
The discourse on the presence of a civilian-professional figure in a strategic position at the Ministry of Defence is also considered relevant to the changing character of current security threats. The former expert staff member to the Vice President for security affairs explained that threats to the state are no longer limited to conventional military conflict.
Technological developments and geopolitical dynamics have given rise to an increasingly complex spectrum of threats, including hybrid and asymmetric warfare. “Given that the current threat posture is hybrid and asymmetric in nature, defence leadership does not always have to be dominated by military circles. The capability to master asymmetric warfare is a key component, although the Deputy Defence Minister must also understand the spectrum of military threats,” explained the author of the book ‘Terrorism: An Endless Threat’.
According to Wawan, current global conditions require a combination of various competencies. Military experience remains important for understanding conventional defence aspects, while a civilian-professional perspective can strengthen the technology, industrial, defence economics, diplomacy and innovation development sectors.
Thus, the involvement of civilian figures in the defence establishment should not be seen as reducing the military’s role, but rather as a strategic effort to expand the state’s capacity to face increasingly multidimensional threats.
A professor of international relations at the Indonesian Defence University assessed that Norman Joesoef is the right figure to become Deputy Minister of Defence.