Criticism Of Defense Minister Prabowo, Researcher Calls The Addition Of Kodam In Each Province Its Urgency Is Not Clear

BRIN researcher Diandra Megaputri Mengko (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Researcher from the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Diandra Megaputri Mengko criticized the wishes of the Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto to discuss the military area command that was discussed to be formed in every province in Indonesia.

He suggested that the Ministry of Defense and the Army clarify the urgency of the addition of military regional command that is discussed to be formed in every province in Indonesia.

"The discourse that has developed so far still contains problems because the urgency is not clear, the plan is also not rigid, and still requires an in-depth study," said Diandra as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, February 20.

Therefore, Diandra emphasized the importance of the role of civil society such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics, and the mass media to review the discourse from various sides.

The study, he said, was important not only to be conveyed to the public but also to encourage policy makers and supervisors, especially Commission I of the DPR RI.

"That the discourse they have proposed so far is not rigid, not good, and needs to be considered more deeply. So we need to provide input," he said.

He explained that the number of Kodam and territorial command (koter) and/or troop deployments is not something static, meaning that they can increase or decrease.

Nevertheless, he said, the change in number must be in accordance with the reforms of the security sector and defense operations which must meet three important things, namely effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability.

"If we review the three problems with the discourse on adding Kodam, we still have serious problems and problems, the main problem lies in justification or urgency," he said.

He assessed that Defense Minister (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto must explain to the public regarding the statement in question that the discourse on adding Kodam is in line with the defense and security system of the universal people (sishankamrata) and encourage cooperation with local governments (Pemda) and the community.

According to Diandra, the discourse could have been good if it was placed not as a discourse on additions but as an effort to restructure territorial command.

He added that a government evaluation process was needed with detailed and firm indicators.

"If we refer to the TNI Law, the indicators that can be used are areas prone to security. Which areas are vulnerable? Okay, it means that we need how many Kodams, for example. Which ones are not vulnerable? Oh that means it can be reduced," he said.

He believes that there are several areas that do not need the presence of the Kodam because they do not have security vulnerabilities. However, at the same time, continued Diandra, remote islands that are included in the indicators of additional territorial command based on the TNI Law are relatively often ignored.

Diandra assessed that at the regional level there have been many instructors of government agencies in the security sector, especially in the ranks of the Indonesian Army with the presence of military regimental command (korem), military district command (kodim), military rayon command (Koramil), to village development officer (babinsa).

Instead, he highlighted that command development at the regional level is needed for the Navy (AL) and the Indonesian Air Force (AU).

"Moreover, the dynamics of contemporary threats requires adequate Navy and Air Force strength, actually this is more important to be encouraged and developed than some others that already exist," he said.

Previously, on February 11, 2023, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said that the plan to add Kodam was in accordance with Sishankamrata, especially since the Police had done the same thing, which had regional police in each province.

"That's our big line plan because our defense system is defense with the people of the universe, so we always need it together with local governments, civil governments," Prabowo said in Jakarta.

The discourse of establishing a Kodam headquarters in each province first surfaced from the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army (Kasad) General TNI Dudung Abdurachman when chairing the TNI AD Leadership Meeting (Rapim) on February 10, 2023 while calling the plan in accordance with orders from the Minister of Defense and the TNI Commander Admiral Yudo Margono.

"In accordance with orders from the Minister of Defense and the TNI Commander has agreed that later every province will have a Kodam," said Dudung at that time.