In the First Development Cabinet, the Minister of Defense and Security was held by the Indonesian President Gen. Soeharto. Only later on the Second Development Cabinet and subsequently, the function of state defense was always united with the security function and was under the Ministry of Defense and Security where the Minister of Defense and Security would if needed serve concurrently as Commander of the Armed Forces . In 1985, as part of a wide reorganization of the armed forces, military appointments to posts of ministers and below began to phased out, allowing retired officers and civilians to serve in the ministry and operational control over the Armed Forces was passed directly to the office of the President.
Reformation
On the 1st of July 2000, the Ministry of Defense reformed itself with the separation of the TNI and the Polri and also separated the positions in which the Minister of Defense can be of a civilian background, and can no longer concurrently serve as the TNI Commander. Regulation through defense is regulated through Law no. 3 of 2002 on State Defense and Law no. 34 of 2004 on the Indonesian National Armed Forces. Law no. 3 of 2002 on State Defense Article 16 further stipulates the responsibilities of the Minister of Defense, as follows:
Minister leads the Ministry of Defense.
The Minister assists the President in formulating the general policy of state defense.
The Minister shall stipulate a policy on the implementation of state defense based on the general policy set by the President.
The Minister compiles the defense white paper and establishes bilateral, regional and international cooperation policies in its field.
The Minister formulates a general policy of using the power of the Indonesian National Armed Forces and other defense components.
The Minister shall determine the policy of budgeting, procurement, recruitment, management of national resources, as well as the development of technology and defense industries required by the Indonesian Armed Forces and other defense force components.
The minister works with the heads of ministries and other government agencies and develops and implements strategic planning for the management of national resources for defense purposes.
Pursuant to Article 18 Paragraph 4, the Commander of the National Armed Forces shall be responsible to the President in the use of the state defense component and cooperate with the Minister in meeting the needs of the Indonesian National Armed Forces.
Task and Duties
The Ministry of Defense has the task of organizing defense affairs in the government to assist the President in organizing state administrations. In carrying out its duties, the Ministry of Defense performs the functions of:
Formulation, determination, and implementation of policies in the field of defense
Management of state property which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense
Supervision on the implementation of duties within the Ministry of Defense
Implementation of technical activities from central to regional
Organizational structure
The Minister of Defense, appointed by the president, is by national law the head of the Ministry of Defense, the principal assistant to the president in all matters concerning national defense, and has authority and control over the Ministry of Defense. Because the Constitution vests all military authority in the People's Representative Council and the president, the statutory authority in the Minister of Defense is derived from their constitutional authorities. Since it is impractical for the People's Representative Council and the president to participate in every piece of matters relating to national defense, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister's subordinate officials generally exercise national defense authority. The organizational structure of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia is as follows:
