Presidential candidate number one, Anies Baswedan, stated that the large Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan) budget is unable to address cyber security issues.
He made this statement during the third 2024 Presidential and Vice-Presidential Debate, themed "Defense, Security, International Relations, and Geopolitics," held at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on Sunday (7/1/2024).
In the second question session, Anies questioned why the large budget allocated to Kemenhan over the past five years has failed to address Indonesia's cyber defense system vulnerabilities.
“The problem lies there; when such a large budget is allocated, it's not used to defend against the most modern attacks,” said Anies.
So, what is the detailed breakdown of Kemenhan's budget allocation? Does it include provisions for Indonesia's cyber defense system?
Anies' statement contradicts data from the Ministry of Finance. There is no allocation for cyber defense because that sector falls under the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), established in 2017.
According to the 2024 Financial Note, Kemenhan received a budget allocation of Rp139.26 trillion in the 2024 State Budget (APBN).
The budget for the ministry led by Prabowo Subianto is down approximately 3.46% from the 2023 outlook of Rp144.26 trillion.
Based on allocation items, the largest budget is allocated to management support, amounting to Rp77.56 trillion.
The second largest budget item is for the modernization of main weapon systems (alutsista) and non-alutsista, as well as defense infrastructure (sarpras), totaling Rp43.01 trillion.
Next is the program for the professionalism and welfare of soldiers, which is budgeted at Rp12.37 trillion.
Here's the detailed breakdown of Kemenhan's budget allocation in the 2024 APBN:
* Management Support: Rp77.56 trillion
* Modernization of alutsista, non-alutsista, and defense infrastructure: Rp43.01 trillion
* Professionalism and welfare of soldiers: Rp12.37 trillion
* Implementation of TNI tasks: Rp4.04 trillion
* Research, industry, and defense higher education: Rp1.65 trillion
* Development of defense human resources: Rp597.40 billion
* Defense policy and regulation: Rp24.7 billion