Prabowo Asked Jokowi To Negotiate The Price Of Expensive Equipment

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto conveyed that he received an order from President Joko Widodo to save on the budget for the procurement of the TNI's main weaponry system (alutsista) system. Prabowo said that apart from saving money, Jokowi also asked him to negotiate prices.

This was conveyed by Prabowo after being involved in a closed meeting with the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD. The meeting was not long, only lasted about 15 minutes and Prabowo's arrival at the Kemenkopolhukam Office was the first time.

"Yes, defense equipment is considered perhaps too expensive. Under review, we are reviewing, reviewing. We are ordered to renegotiate by the President," said Prabowo at the Menkopolhukam Office, Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, Friday, December 13.

"Yes, we are executors, so yes we have to be clever and clever to protect national interests," he added.

In the future, in order to officially discuss the negotiations for the procurement of defense equipment, Prabowo said he would soon schedule another meeting at the Ministry of Defense. Not only that, this meeting will also discuss in detail the defense equipment system which is being reviewed by the ministry.

"There are several problems I also reported, and maybe next week I will also invite him the first opportunity to go to the Ministry of Defense and we will explain in more detail the existing conditions," he said.

Previously, Prabowo had said he was trying to increase the defense budget. This is because the current budget is less than one percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), which in 2018 reached IDR 14,837.4 trillion.

The former Danjen Kopassus even said, when compared to countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesia's current defense budget is smaller than other countries without mentioning the name of the country in question.

In fact, a large defense budget is deemed necessary, to ensure sovereignty and ensure that no state assets are stolen by other countries.

"Our budget in Southeast Asia is the smallest compared to our neighboring countries. We do not reach one percent of our GDP, from our gross domestic production. We are only around 0.8 percent," he said at the Ministry of Defense Office, Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta on Last Tuesday, December 3rd.