Military Mandatory Can Be Implemented In Indonesia, Ministry Of Defense: But Needs Big Budget

Illustration of the army or military. (Unsplash-Philip Andrejevic)

JAKARTA - Head of the Defense Information Bureau of the Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan), Brigadier General Frega Ferdinand Wenas Inkiriwang, stated that the mandatory military program is possible to be implemented in Indonesia, but its implementation requires great budget support.

"If later we already have a much larger budget, it is not impossible that we can implement more advanced policies, such as military service. But of course, it requires a very large amount of money," Frega said, quoted from ANTARA, Friday, April 18.

The statement was made by Frega when answering participants' questions in a webinar regarding the involvement of citizens in the event of a war situation.

He emphasized that if the military service is implemented, it does not mean a form of militarization, but a responsibility in line with the constitution.

"This is a form of citizen responsibility. In accordance with the constitutional mandate, defense is the right and obligation of every citizen," he said, referring to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

Currently, Frega continued, the obligation to defend the country is voluntary and accommodated through the Reserve Component (Komcad) and State Defense programs.

With the existing budget constraints, we have only been able to produce several thousand personnel through the selection process. They are prepared and can be mobilized at any time in the event of an emergency," he explained.

Frega also explained that in an emergency condition, the main component in the defense and security system of the people of the universe (sishankamrata), which will first be deployed, is the TNI as the core power of the national military.