Indonesia ATL: The Presidency of Try Sutrisno (1997-)
- Thread starter GSD310
- Start date
If you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about, then yes, a certain natural disaster will not be butterflied away. But the political circumstances in which it happens will be different from OTL and what happens in its wake will be different.
243: Free Trade and Military Reform
18th March 2003:
At the Presidential Palace today, President Try Sutrisno chaired a cabinet meeting attended by Vice President JB Sumarlin, the Eighth Development Cabinet, and all agency heads. At its conclusion, Minister of Economics and National Development Planning Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Minister of Trade Anthony Salim, Minister of Industry Siswono Yudohusodo, Minister of Agriculture Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, State Minister of SME and Cooperatives Balthasar Kambuaya, Governor of Bank Indonesia Bambang Subianto, State Secretary Edi Sudrajat, Vice-Presidential Secretary Komara Djaja, and Head of the BSN Ardiansyah Parman emerged out of the meeting to hold a joint press conference.
Opening the press conference, Edi said that the President has used the first cabinet meeting to both welcome the ministers as well as to get back and get on with the work.
Speaking next, Dorodjatun said that the President has approved of a long overdue policy package to prepare the nation for the resumption of AFTA in January 2004. The policy package included the following measures:
*Train The Trainers” workshops for agricultural extension officers to convey additional knowledge to farmers how they can add value to what they are producing. This will begin on 1st April.
*SME Training Courses which will begin on 1st April this will cover such topics such as financial planning, marketing, how to be more competitive and how to take advantage of export opportunities.
*A “National Standardization Priority List” to be formulated annually in consultation with the relevant departments and agencies for goods which are still as yet to have a national standard. The goods identified on this list are prioritized when it comes to having national standard be established for it. The goal being for all goods exported out of Indonesia, for AFTA or otherwise, to have been certified with these national standards.
*Establish a National Export Financing Agency to replace the Export-Import Bank which was merged into Bank Mandiri during the Asian Financial Crisis.
Dorodjatun summed it up by saying that the government would not leave Indonesians “exposed” to AFTA without any preparations and will continue to guide Indonesians when AFTA had resumed.
When the ministers took questions from the press, the question that seemed to get them going the most was the question about whether or not Indonesia would be “flooded by imports” if AFTA was to resume. All agreed while at the same time putting their own spin on their agreement with what wasd being done.
Sarwono pointed to tariffs being lowered on fruits in June 1991 causing the prices of fruits to fall in the country and saying that food as a whole will be cheaper if tariffs on it are lowered. He acknowledged that there will be more competition, for example more fruits from Thailand will arrive in Indonesia, but that is why he wants to encourage farmers into adding value to their produce so that they can be more competitive (more corn chips and orange juice rather than just more corn and oranges).
Anthony tried to be more encouraging. On the export side, even though Indonesia’s currency is strong, Indonesian goods can become cheaper if it does not have tariffs put on them. On the import side, imports from around the region will become cheaper and goods produced with these imports will also be cheaper.
Siswono gave a twofold answer. Looking at things merely from industry’s perspective, it was time to get serious about strengthening the structure of the industry for example by establishing more automotive and electronics components plants before tariffs are totally phased out. From a macro perspective, Siswono said the alternative was either have tariffs be lowered on Indonesian products in return to gain market access for Indonesian exports or devaluation, forcibly making Indonesian exports more competitive but the consequence will be inflation because the Rupiah has lost value.
“The Government has preferred the currency to be stronger so it is cheaper to do such things as set up factories or buy weapons, so the option taken has got to be free trade”, argued Siswono.
Dorodjatun summed it up in terms of risks and opportunities. From conversations with counterparts, he gets the impression that gaining more access to the the 200 million plus Indonesian market plus the Indonesian economy’s strong growth are some of the attractions for AFTA for nations in the region.
“I think that there are risks but also opportunities here”, said Dorodjatun “We will be contributing to their economic growth and strengthening our position as leader in the region, at least in an economic sense.”
Dorodjatun also said that tariff reductions will be announced in due course by the government.
19th March 2003:
Minister of Health Azrul Azwar came out of a meeting with the President where they discussed the the situation regarding SARS, as the virus coming of China is now known. Azrul first announced that the President has placed him in charge of the nation’s effort to contain SARS which meant that departments and agencies were to defer to the Department of Health on SARS-related matters. The second announcement was that the President was pleased with the effort to contain SARS but has approved of taking the further step of issuing travel advisories to Macau, Taiwan, and Singapore in addition to the travel advisories to China, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.
A question came from the press asking for a reaction about Malaysia’s “indirect accusation” that Indonesia was in favor of China temporarily banning its tourists from coming to Malaysia or other Southeast Asian countries and that this will be to the detriment of Southeast Asia’s economies. Azrul only smiled at this.
“The President is wise and this is exactly why I’ve been put in overall charge of our campaign against SARS” Azrul replied “Because it’s a medical fact where this virus has originated and it has nothing to do with geopolitics. Any steps the Government has taken against it has been based primarily on medical considerations, I’ll leave the geopolitics for others.”
20th March 2003:
At the Presidential Palace, the President presided over a ceremony in which the following were sworn in:
*Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Endriartono Sutarto as Governor of Jakarta
*V. Adm. (Ret.) Freddy Numberi as Governor of Irian Jaya
*Maj. Gen. Hadi Waluyo as Governor of East Kalimantan
*Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Muzani Syukur as Governor of West Java
Speaking to the press at the conclusion of ceremony, Minister of Home Affairs Sintong Panjaitan explained that the first three governors were sworn in so they could take the place of governors who had been appointed as ministers while the fourth governor is being sworn in for a second term.
21st March 2003:
At the Kalibata Heroes’ Cemetery, the President presided over the State Funeral of former Vice President Umar Wirahadikusumah who passed away this morning. In his eulogy, the President praised Umar’s integrity and low-profile style. Former Vice President Sudharmono also attended but he noticeably kept his distance from the President. When the funeral was over, the President joined some of the family members to pay their respects and pray at the tomb of Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Agus Wirahadikusumah, Umar's nephew who had pre-deceased him.
Also full of praise for Umar, though not in attendance at the funeral, was Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto. At Cendana Street, however, the press was more curious about how she was doing after the MPR General Session and what her next plan was. Tutut said that for the moment both she and the PKPB was going to do some soul searching.
“We intend to have a national congress before the year is out though the date will be announced later”, Tutut said “Remember, the PKPB holds the most seats in the DPR and that this means that we have a large stake in how things play out over the next 5 years”.
23rd March 2003:
The President accompanied by Edi Sudrajat conducted a surprise inspection of the BKPM’s office. Though a Sunday, the BKPM were filled with investor applicants both domestic and foreign alike. Head of BKPM Mari Pangestu immediately went downstairs from her office to meet the President when she heard that he was present. Mari said that in the weeks leading up to the MPR General Session, investment had slowed down not because Indonesia was no longer attractive but because investors were waiting and seeing what would happen at the MPR General Session. After the MPR General Session, however, the BKPM became so crowded with applicants and Mari has responded by having extended office hours on weekdays and opening on weekends as well until the end of March.
The President shook hands and talked with some of the investor applicants there asking them what were they investing in, wishing them luck in their venture, and encouraging them to give feedback so that the BKPM could improve even more. Applicants who were repeat investors said that the BKPM had improved leaps and bounds in the past 5 years and that they were only too glad to see the President back for another 5 years so that the BKPM could continue to improve.
24th March 2003:
At the Presidential Palace this morning, the President had a three-way breakfast with Minister of Defense and Security Wiranto and Commander of ABRI TB Hasanuddin. The two presented the President with a predicament. The 2002 ABRI Leadership Meeting had mandated expansion in the number of ABRI personnel over the next 10 years, both Wiranto and TB Hasanuddin however said that the recruitment of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and policemen would probably need to be slowed down over the next few years because “unforeseen circumstances” had caused more funds to be required. The President asked what these unforeseen circumstances were.
“Having Shwe Mann and his men arrived and then beginning the process of beginning to integrate them into ABRI, Mr. President”, replied Wiranto “They’ve graciously taken lower pay than our regular personnel, but we are also providing uniform, food, equipments, weapons, and housing. This means there’s less of everything available for new ABRI recruits.”
“If you’re recommending that personnel recruitment be slowed down, are you ready for some people to be angry at us?” asked the President “Knowing how our people work, I’m sure a lot of money’s been spent to improve chances at being recruited.”
“I’ll have to take that risk, Sir”, Wiranto said “The bulk of the Myanmarian personnel we have are light infantrymen and if they’re not at Kopassus-level capability, they’re at the very least on the same level as our Raider Battalions. Their sailors and airmen can help us with maintenance of our Navy and Air Force weaponry and if we happen to procure the same or similar weapons systems as Myanmar, we can cut on the training budget.”
“If the benefits are more evident than the drawbacks…” began the President before turning to TB “What do you think, Commander?”
“I would agree with the Minister of Defense and Security”, TB replied in his thick Sundanese accent “At the same time, I believe that it’s still necessary to expand our personnel.”
“Well, you heard what the Minister said, there’s less resources available to recruit new personnel” the President said.
“If I may, Mr. President, I’m talking about using personnel already available to us”, TB suggested.
“I don’t follow”, the President replied.
“In the Army, we’re creating new combat units whether they be infantry, artillery, cavalry, engineers or otherwise”, TB said “Rather than recruit new personnel, we can fill them up with existing personnel from the territorial commands. We retrain them so that they can fill up the new units.”
“But then what happens to the…” the President asked before trailing off and looking at both TB and Wiranto’s expressions.
TB had a look on his face that said “I am thinking exactly what you’re thinking” and Wiranto had an expression which said that the idea seemed outlandish when he first heard it but that he had begun to accept it.
“You’re thinking of abolishing the territorial commands”, the President concluded.
“If you approve, Mr. President, I intend to propose it at the ABRI Leadership Meeting next month” said TB.
The President thought it over.
“How far up the chain do you plan on making the cut?” asked the President.
“I envision that the NCOs in Villages, the Military Rayon Command, the Military District Command will eventually go, Mr. President”, TB replied “The Military Resort Command will remain.”
“I see…it’s just that I’m sure there will be a lot of bargaining involved with the officer corps”, the President said before turning to Wiranto “Any thoughts on this?”
“There’s certainly something Agus Wirahadikusumah-esque about what’s being proposed” Wiranto replied “But after some thought, at the current stage of ABRI’s development, what’s being proposed is worth exploring. At the very least, we will be expanding ABRI’s military capability by having manpower for expanded and or new units and as well as addressing the officer corps’ desire of wanting to contribute to ABRI’s defense and security functions rather than is social and political functions.”
The President thought it over for a few moments.
“All right then, refine it and get ready to officially propose it”, the President ordered to TB.
---
And we’re starting again with the “Government gets on with work” chapters after so many months of politicking chapters.
The ministers talking from the perspective of industry, agriculture, and trade about some of the reasons why Indonesia’s keen for the resumption of AFTA. But on the whole the ITTL government hear wants to prepare the economy and the people in it for free trade.
On Myanmar’s Light Infantry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar_Army#Light_Infantry_Divisions_(LID)
The Indonesian Army has what’s called the territorial commands, which still exists to this day, it comprises of units whose role is not combat but basically keeping an eye on the various levels of government. It’s not that calls have been made to reform or even abolish the territorial commands, but I think it’s so well-rooted that these are probably going to stick around for some time to come. What’s being proposed here is that the personnel in the territorial commands be retrained and converted into combat personnel rather than look for new recruits.
The mention of Agus Wirahadikusumah refers to an officer who by this time in both OTL and ITTL has become deceased. In OTL he was very aggressive and confrontative about abolishing the territorial commands that he became quiet unpopular among the TNI ranks. In ITTL, he became Chief of ABRI Socio-Political Affairs from August 2000 until his death and seems to have had a quite tenure in the position but I feel there will be more to say about him soon.
At the Presidential Palace today, President Try Sutrisno chaired a cabinet meeting attended by Vice President JB Sumarlin, the Eighth Development Cabinet, and all agency heads. At its conclusion, Minister of Economics and National Development Planning Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Minister of Trade Anthony Salim, Minister of Industry Siswono Yudohusodo, Minister of Agriculture Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, State Minister of SME and Cooperatives Balthasar Kambuaya, Governor of Bank Indonesia Bambang Subianto, State Secretary Edi Sudrajat, Vice-Presidential Secretary Komara Djaja, and Head of the BSN Ardiansyah Parman emerged out of the meeting to hold a joint press conference.
Opening the press conference, Edi said that the President has used the first cabinet meeting to both welcome the ministers as well as to get back and get on with the work.
Speaking next, Dorodjatun said that the President has approved of a long overdue policy package to prepare the nation for the resumption of AFTA in January 2004. The policy package included the following measures:
*Train The Trainers” workshops for agricultural extension officers to convey additional knowledge to farmers how they can add value to what they are producing. This will begin on 1st April.
*SME Training Courses which will begin on 1st April this will cover such topics such as financial planning, marketing, how to be more competitive and how to take advantage of export opportunities.
*A “National Standardization Priority List” to be formulated annually in consultation with the relevant departments and agencies for goods which are still as yet to have a national standard. The goods identified on this list are prioritized when it comes to having national standard be established for it. The goal being for all goods exported out of Indonesia, for AFTA or otherwise, to have been certified with these national standards.
*Establish a National Export Financing Agency to replace the Export-Import Bank which was merged into Bank Mandiri during the Asian Financial Crisis.
Dorodjatun summed it up by saying that the government would not leave Indonesians “exposed” to AFTA without any preparations and will continue to guide Indonesians when AFTA had resumed.
When the ministers took questions from the press, the question that seemed to get them going the most was the question about whether or not Indonesia would be “flooded by imports” if AFTA was to resume. All agreed while at the same time putting their own spin on their agreement with what wasd being done.
Sarwono pointed to tariffs being lowered on fruits in June 1991 causing the prices of fruits to fall in the country and saying that food as a whole will be cheaper if tariffs on it are lowered. He acknowledged that there will be more competition, for example more fruits from Thailand will arrive in Indonesia, but that is why he wants to encourage farmers into adding value to their produce so that they can be more competitive (more corn chips and orange juice rather than just more corn and oranges).
Anthony tried to be more encouraging. On the export side, even though Indonesia’s currency is strong, Indonesian goods can become cheaper if it does not have tariffs put on them. On the import side, imports from around the region will become cheaper and goods produced with these imports will also be cheaper.
Siswono gave a twofold answer. Looking at things merely from industry’s perspective, it was time to get serious about strengthening the structure of the industry for example by establishing more automotive and electronics components plants before tariffs are totally phased out. From a macro perspective, Siswono said the alternative was either have tariffs be lowered on Indonesian products in return to gain market access for Indonesian exports or devaluation, forcibly making Indonesian exports more competitive but the consequence will be inflation because the Rupiah has lost value.
“The Government has preferred the currency to be stronger so it is cheaper to do such things as set up factories or buy weapons, so the option taken has got to be free trade”, argued Siswono.
Dorodjatun summed it up in terms of risks and opportunities. From conversations with counterparts, he gets the impression that gaining more access to the the 200 million plus Indonesian market plus the Indonesian economy’s strong growth are some of the attractions for AFTA for nations in the region.
“I think that there are risks but also opportunities here”, said Dorodjatun “We will be contributing to their economic growth and strengthening our position as leader in the region, at least in an economic sense.”
Dorodjatun also said that tariff reductions will be announced in due course by the government.
19th March 2003:
Minister of Health Azrul Azwar came out of a meeting with the President where they discussed the the situation regarding SARS, as the virus coming of China is now known. Azrul first announced that the President has placed him in charge of the nation’s effort to contain SARS which meant that departments and agencies were to defer to the Department of Health on SARS-related matters. The second announcement was that the President was pleased with the effort to contain SARS but has approved of taking the further step of issuing travel advisories to Macau, Taiwan, and Singapore in addition to the travel advisories to China, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.
A question came from the press asking for a reaction about Malaysia’s “indirect accusation” that Indonesia was in favor of China temporarily banning its tourists from coming to Malaysia or other Southeast Asian countries and that this will be to the detriment of Southeast Asia’s economies. Azrul only smiled at this.
“The President is wise and this is exactly why I’ve been put in overall charge of our campaign against SARS” Azrul replied “Because it’s a medical fact where this virus has originated and it has nothing to do with geopolitics. Any steps the Government has taken against it has been based primarily on medical considerations, I’ll leave the geopolitics for others.”
20th March 2003:
At the Presidential Palace, the President presided over a ceremony in which the following were sworn in:
*Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Endriartono Sutarto as Governor of Jakarta
*V. Adm. (Ret.) Freddy Numberi as Governor of Irian Jaya
*Maj. Gen. Hadi Waluyo as Governor of East Kalimantan
*Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Muzani Syukur as Governor of West Java
Speaking to the press at the conclusion of ceremony, Minister of Home Affairs Sintong Panjaitan explained that the first three governors were sworn in so they could take the place of governors who had been appointed as ministers while the fourth governor is being sworn in for a second term.
21st March 2003:
At the Kalibata Heroes’ Cemetery, the President presided over the State Funeral of former Vice President Umar Wirahadikusumah who passed away this morning. In his eulogy, the President praised Umar’s integrity and low-profile style. Former Vice President Sudharmono also attended but he noticeably kept his distance from the President. When the funeral was over, the President joined some of the family members to pay their respects and pray at the tomb of Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Agus Wirahadikusumah, Umar's nephew who had pre-deceased him.
Also full of praise for Umar, though not in attendance at the funeral, was Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto. At Cendana Street, however, the press was more curious about how she was doing after the MPR General Session and what her next plan was. Tutut said that for the moment both she and the PKPB was going to do some soul searching.
“We intend to have a national congress before the year is out though the date will be announced later”, Tutut said “Remember, the PKPB holds the most seats in the DPR and that this means that we have a large stake in how things play out over the next 5 years”.
23rd March 2003:
The President accompanied by Edi Sudrajat conducted a surprise inspection of the BKPM’s office. Though a Sunday, the BKPM were filled with investor applicants both domestic and foreign alike. Head of BKPM Mari Pangestu immediately went downstairs from her office to meet the President when she heard that he was present. Mari said that in the weeks leading up to the MPR General Session, investment had slowed down not because Indonesia was no longer attractive but because investors were waiting and seeing what would happen at the MPR General Session. After the MPR General Session, however, the BKPM became so crowded with applicants and Mari has responded by having extended office hours on weekdays and opening on weekends as well until the end of March.
The President shook hands and talked with some of the investor applicants there asking them what were they investing in, wishing them luck in their venture, and encouraging them to give feedback so that the BKPM could improve even more. Applicants who were repeat investors said that the BKPM had improved leaps and bounds in the past 5 years and that they were only too glad to see the President back for another 5 years so that the BKPM could continue to improve.
24th March 2003:
At the Presidential Palace this morning, the President had a three-way breakfast with Minister of Defense and Security Wiranto and Commander of ABRI TB Hasanuddin. The two presented the President with a predicament. The 2002 ABRI Leadership Meeting had mandated expansion in the number of ABRI personnel over the next 10 years, both Wiranto and TB Hasanuddin however said that the recruitment of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and policemen would probably need to be slowed down over the next few years because “unforeseen circumstances” had caused more funds to be required. The President asked what these unforeseen circumstances were.
“Having Shwe Mann and his men arrived and then beginning the process of beginning to integrate them into ABRI, Mr. President”, replied Wiranto “They’ve graciously taken lower pay than our regular personnel, but we are also providing uniform, food, equipments, weapons, and housing. This means there’s less of everything available for new ABRI recruits.”
“If you’re recommending that personnel recruitment be slowed down, are you ready for some people to be angry at us?” asked the President “Knowing how our people work, I’m sure a lot of money’s been spent to improve chances at being recruited.”
“I’ll have to take that risk, Sir”, Wiranto said “The bulk of the Myanmarian personnel we have are light infantrymen and if they’re not at Kopassus-level capability, they’re at the very least on the same level as our Raider Battalions. Their sailors and airmen can help us with maintenance of our Navy and Air Force weaponry and if we happen to procure the same or similar weapons systems as Myanmar, we can cut on the training budget.”
“If the benefits are more evident than the drawbacks…” began the President before turning to TB “What do you think, Commander?”
“I would agree with the Minister of Defense and Security”, TB replied in his thick Sundanese accent “At the same time, I believe that it’s still necessary to expand our personnel.”
“Well, you heard what the Minister said, there’s less resources available to recruit new personnel” the President said.
“If I may, Mr. President, I’m talking about using personnel already available to us”, TB suggested.
“I don’t follow”, the President replied.
“In the Army, we’re creating new combat units whether they be infantry, artillery, cavalry, engineers or otherwise”, TB said “Rather than recruit new personnel, we can fill them up with existing personnel from the territorial commands. We retrain them so that they can fill up the new units.”
“But then what happens to the…” the President asked before trailing off and looking at both TB and Wiranto’s expressions.
TB had a look on his face that said “I am thinking exactly what you’re thinking” and Wiranto had an expression which said that the idea seemed outlandish when he first heard it but that he had begun to accept it.
“You’re thinking of abolishing the territorial commands”, the President concluded.
“If you approve, Mr. President, I intend to propose it at the ABRI Leadership Meeting next month” said TB.
The President thought it over.
“How far up the chain do you plan on making the cut?” asked the President.
“I envision that the NCOs in Villages, the Military Rayon Command, the Military District Command will eventually go, Mr. President”, TB replied “The Military Resort Command will remain.”
“I see…it’s just that I’m sure there will be a lot of bargaining involved with the officer corps”, the President said before turning to Wiranto “Any thoughts on this?”
“There’s certainly something Agus Wirahadikusumah-esque about what’s being proposed” Wiranto replied “But after some thought, at the current stage of ABRI’s development, what’s being proposed is worth exploring. At the very least, we will be expanding ABRI’s military capability by having manpower for expanded and or new units and as well as addressing the officer corps’ desire of wanting to contribute to ABRI’s defense and security functions rather than is social and political functions.”
The President thought it over for a few moments.
“All right then, refine it and get ready to officially propose it”, the President ordered to TB.
---
And we’re starting again with the “Government gets on with work” chapters after so many months of politicking chapters.
The ministers talking from the perspective of industry, agriculture, and trade about some of the reasons why Indonesia’s keen for the resumption of AFTA. But on the whole the ITTL government hear wants to prepare the economy and the people in it for free trade.
On Myanmar’s Light Infantry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar_Army#Light_Infantry_Divisions_(LID)
The Indonesian Army has what’s called the territorial commands, which still exists to this day, it comprises of units whose role is not combat but basically keeping an eye on the various levels of government. It’s not that calls have been made to reform or even abolish the territorial commands, but I think it’s so well-rooted that these are probably going to stick around for some time to come. What’s being proposed here is that the personnel in the territorial commands be retrained and converted into combat personnel rather than look for new recruits.
The mention of Agus Wirahadikusumah refers to an officer who by this time in both OTL and ITTL has become deceased. In OTL he was very aggressive and confrontative about abolishing the territorial commands that he became quiet unpopular among the TNI ranks. In ITTL, he became Chief of ABRI Socio-Political Affairs from August 2000 until his death and seems to have had a quite tenure in the position but I feel there will be more to say about him soon.
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Well, probably scheming for the next Presidential election. However, there's still questions on where do some of votes for Try came from last election. If Tutut finds out the deal between Try and Akbar, well, things may get dicey for PKPB in the next 5 years. That's if Akbar doesn't make his move in the next national congress.
The Tutut-Try dynamic will be interesting to see going forward. Scheming of some kind makes sense, though.
I want to ask will there ever be a non army person becoming Chief of ABRI ITTL.
I think that abolishing the regional military commands is a great idea but a greater command level of lieutenant general like one for all of Sumatra, One for Java, one for Kalimantan, one for Sulawesi and Makulu, one for Bali and southern Islands and finally one for New Guinea. 6 army commands with three for the Navy and Air Force would make the force more rational and military focus?
I also want to ask will the dual function be abolished as well and the related question is would Try have been reelected if there was no ABRI in MPR.
I also think that the idea of MPR is obsolete. You had in a previous post explained to me that MPR fis good only for inaugurating the president and for annual meets and reviewing important policies and passing constitutional amendments it's not required. Now with modern technology we can have a vote in the DPR and all the DPRDs ofcourse with different weightage to the votes of the DPRD members. Direct election is out of the question I guess.
I think that abolishing the regional military commands is a great idea but a greater command level of lieutenant general like one for all of Sumatra, One for Java, one for Kalimantan, one for Sulawesi and Makulu, one for Bali and southern Islands and finally one for New Guinea. 6 army commands with three for the Navy and Air Force would make the force more rational and military focus?
I also want to ask will the dual function be abolished as well and the related question is would Try have been reelected if there was no ABRI in MPR.
I also think that the idea of MPR is obsolete. You had in a previous post explained to me that MPR fis good only for inaugurating the president and for annual meets and reviewing important policies and passing constitutional amendments it's not required. Now with modern technology we can have a vote in the DPR and all the DPRDs ofcourse with different weightage to the votes of the DPRD members. Direct election is out of the question I guess.
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I would argue on keeping regional military commands or territorial commands would make sense on a Civil Defense and Security on the Provincial Level, only they're replaced as Territorial Combat Commands, they are the first line before activating the main Combatant Command.
💪💪💪
No more resting on the laurels.
Well, sorry, Malaysia.
Still a bit baffled about this course of development, last time Sinuhun (Hamengkubuwono) is not the governor is because he (the 9th one)'s dying.
Haha, about that.....
Certainly they're not taking Try's presidency to be granted.
Yeah, Indonesia has no shortages of patriots... or folks who wanted to have a better and secured life, on that matter....
Well, well, another reorganization, it seems?
See ya in Wamena, SBY!
Gears are running smoothly again, finally.
Damn too much surprise
Politics=
Like our earlier prediction win election but with risk
Ginanjar or Prabowo maybe become Tutut and PKPB figure to confront Pak Tri on next election. Akbar still have very little power base facing Cendana. He carry too much risk. Interesting with PKPB have major chair on parlement. Pak Tri will need to compromise. I think Shut Down will be possible.
Defence
i think debate for minimum posture for ABRI or TNI here already enough. Military reorganization, Fixing Doctrine, Weapon Modernization, Training etc already covered on earlier page.
International=
China definetely major threat and Australia cannot be ignored. Well with ASEAN unite except Kamboja against China Pak Tri have power to create opposing voice against China.
IMHO Liu Gan will have headache to conftont internal issue on mainland. Like on OTL Hu Jintao. Honestly Xi here only receive hardwork result from Hu. Xi just need prioritize international issue. Lucky guy..
Politics=
Like our earlier prediction win election but with risk
Ginanjar or Prabowo maybe become Tutut and PKPB figure to confront Pak Tri on next election. Akbar still have very little power base facing Cendana. He carry too much risk. Interesting with PKPB have major chair on parlement. Pak Tri will need to compromise. I think Shut Down will be possible.
Defence
i think debate for minimum posture for ABRI or TNI here already enough. Military reorganization, Fixing Doctrine, Weapon Modernization, Training etc already covered on earlier page.
International=
China definetely major threat and Australia cannot be ignored. Well with ASEAN unite except Kamboja against China Pak Tri have power to create opposing voice against China.
IMHO Liu Gan will have headache to conftont internal issue on mainland. Like on OTL Hu Jintao. Honestly Xi here only receive hardwork result from Hu. Xi just need prioritize international issue. Lucky guy..
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At the moment, no. Try's ABRI gives more of a role to play for the Navy, Air Force, and Police but still thinks of the Army as the premier branch of the armed force.
Believe or not, OTL Indonesia has, though not exactly, basically twice attempted what you're saying here (Between 1969-1985 and at the present time). The 1969-1985 edition was done away with for the sake of efficiency and a shorter chain of command. The present edition of this arrangement has been seen as a way to make sure that there are assignments available for "surplus" officers. This is its own topic but because it's not in politics anymore, there are a lot of officers that are left without assignments because they can no longer be appointed to "civilian" positions so the military has created new commands and units to generate assignments (ie. if there's a command let by a 3-star general, there has to be a second in command with the rank of a 2-star general, then there has to be a staff manned by 1-star generals and so on and so forth).
I have considered it for this TL. Still on the fence but tending towards skeptical about the structure that you're suggesting mostly because of how it has played out in OTL.
On dual function being abolished: at the moment no. The officer corps being restless about wanting more "professional" assignments as a opposed to "political ones" is basically them taking the situation ITTL for granted that Dual Function will continue.
I think he would still be re-elected but with a smaller margin and convincing the Group Delegates one at a time to vote for him.
Not saying I disagree with you. But just that at the moment, the impetus for political change whether Dual Function being abolished or direct presidential elections is not there.
Basically one of the things that has been butterflied away, at least for the moment, in this TL is the desire for political change. You've got Try being a new face at the top job replacing someone who's been there for 3 decades, he's taken Indonesia out of the financial crisis, he's been brave enough to take on Soeharto's cronies, the political environment is loose enough that there are multiple presidential candidates (Soeharto was the sole candidate each time he was nominated for the presidency at the MPR), I would say even if the sentiment for things such as direct elections or term limits exist, these have moved down the priority list.
I do want to emphasize the words "at least for the moment" when it comes to such possibilities.
I think you've misunderstood me. It's more like if someone wants to export their product, these products have to be certified as complying with national standards. The priority list is just that because there are a lot of goods and products that needs to be certified, some will need to be prioritized over others.
I daresay you're a Yogyakartan based on the attention you've been giving to HB X being a minister. Paku Alam IX is only Acting Governor, that is to say he's not the governor he's just going to be acting as such in HB X's stead. It's a bit different from HB IX who held on to being governor even as he became minister in multiple cabinets and became Soeharto's VP.
I've always been curious to see how HB X would do at a national level. I always see him as a regional figure that's well known nationally. During the first decade of the 2000s in OTL, whenever people were talking about alternative presidential candidates his name was always on the list. For the purposes of the TL, I always think that given the support HB X's been giving to Try and the PKPI, that Try is keen to reward him with something. And I also think there's something poetic about the guy in charge of the kota pelajar being made minister of education.
Oh, my bad! Anyways, standardization is a good practice to add value for export.
You mean you haven't already realized that when i'm talking about my joyride with New Prameks in October? Okay, but yeah, i indeed am, lel....
But just assume that i'm not, i'm just being a bit specific and technical about that aspect since the Yogyakartan Special Region Law created in 1999 has already cemented the dual nature of Hamengkubuwono as both the Sultan and the Governor of Yogyakarta.
So having Sinuhun as the Minister of Education would certainly compromised the dual nature of Sultan of Yogyakarta's position there since it's already acknowledged by the law.
At least about Sinuhun X's father, Sinuhun IX's tenure as minister and even the 2nd Vice President of Indonesia, i can excuse that since the Dual Nature has not yet cemented by law and hence Sinuhun IX's Triple Nature during that time.
Lol, indeed. Up until the 2015-present Sabdaraja Scandal, he was always pushed into a Presidential and VP candidate from Golkar here. *But political support for that dried up when UU Keistimewaan Yogyakarta (the OTL version of the Yogyakarta Special Region Law) was enacted in 2013, and certainly fizzled out after the scandal.
You know what, maybe i can help you with that one. Sabdaraja is the hint....
Yusril certainly would have made this a big scandal immediately after the inauguration, but oh boy it's indeed poetic.
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Just made some minor edits regarding the cabinet line-up because after some consultations with @Kosaki_MacTavish, it turns out Hamengkubuwono X is disqualified from becoming a minister. The ITTL Special Region of Yogyakarta Law is the ITTL version of the OTL Specialness of Yogyakarta Law which includes within it a rule that Hamengkubuwono X cannot hold a state position concurrently in addition to his dual responsibilities as Sultan of Yogyakarta/Governor of Yogyakarta.
The edits have been made in the relevant posts of the chapters but below is the summary of said changes:
*Juwono Sudarsono is the Minister of Education.
*Joyokusumo is the Minister of Culture
*Balthasar Kambuaya is the State Minister of Small Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives
*Freddy Numberi is the Governor of Irian Jaya
The edits have been made in the relevant posts of the chapters but below is the summary of said changes:
*Juwono Sudarsono is the Minister of Education.
*Joyokusumo is the Minister of Culture
*Balthasar Kambuaya is the State Minister of Small Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives
*Freddy Numberi is the Governor of Irian Jaya
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Well, well, firstly i apologized for being a bit overbearing lately considering that i just happened to know a lot about the Sultanate. But i have already smelled that Yusril would make his moves soon with the Dual Nature regarding the Sultan of Yogyakarta and Prince of Paku Alam has been acknowledged by the law much earlier than OTL.
Balthasar making it to the top feels really good, hopefully he would have a better working relationship with the new Head of BPN this time.
And finally Freddy Numberi and Pak Juwono made their entrances!
Well, a Prince of Yogyakarta leading the Ministry of Culture is just as poetic considering Yogyakarta's other moniker is Kota Budaya (and now minus potential backlash from Yusril lol). Now my expectation for earlier upgrades for the existing museums throughout Indonesia is becoming even greater.
Balthasar making it to the top feels really good, hopefully he would have a better working relationship with the new Head of BPN this time.
And finally Freddy Numberi and Pak Juwono made their entrances!
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Woah... Now we're talking
It's quite ironic that the reforming effort of the all powerful ABRI are going much MUCH more comprehensive in this ATL "renewal order" rather than the OTL reform era
Last time i saw this happened, a bunch of generals got purge never to get a position/promotion ever again unless they're willing to sell their soul to prabowo's faction *cough* R. Simbolon *cough*
But all of this are warranted considering it is our very own mighty moustache man Aki Edi who pioneered "back to barrack" policy
I guess this one is gonna be a gradual effort cause i can imagine the national police are gonna be overwhelmed with their ~200.000 personnel maintaining day to day order in a country that could spanned across the EU and with a population of 200 million people + have i mentioned its an archipelago country
Still can't believe you actually gonna go as far as doing away with District Command... You're doing God's work, i always wanna see how would Agus Widjojo's vision of only Resor and Regional Command in place would work
It is ironic but I guess because Dual Function is in place and defense spending has been increased, ABRI feels secure enough to say "Want to talk about whether or not we still need territorial commands? Sure". Whereas in OTL with Dual Function no longer in place and defense spending being cut because of the financial crisis, you can almost understand why they want to hold on to territorial commands.
244: The Medical and The Geopolitical
25th March 2003:
ABRI Headquarters today announced the first command shuffle of the present term. It was an extensive shuffle, the highlights of which are as follows:
*Tedjo Edhy Purdjiatno is appointed ABRI Chief of General Staff, a naval aviator but who went on to get experience commanding ships as he went up the ranks.
*Saurip Kadi is promoted to lieutenant general and appointed ABRI Chief of Socio-Political Affairs Staff after spending 9 months as the Military Secretary. He will be assisted by V.Mshl. Iwan Sidi, the President’s former aide-de-camp when he was vice president, as Assistant of Socio-Political Affairs Staff.
*Syarifuddin Tippe is promoted to lieutenant general and appointed Commander of the ABRI Staff and Command College.
*Edy Harjoko from the Air Force is promoted to marshal and appointed Commander of the ABRI Academy.
*Albert Inkiriwang is confirmed in his position as Governor of the Lemhanas.
*All the deputy chiefs aside from the Army changed hands. Bambang Supeno is promoted to vice admiral and appointed Deputy Navy Chief of Staff, I Gusti Made Oka is promoted to marshal and appointed Deputy Air Force Chief of Staff, and Firman Gani is promoted to lieutenant general (Police) and appointed Deputy Chief of Police.
*Among the major combat units, Djoko Santoso is promoted to lieutenant general and appointed Commander of Kostrad, Soenarko is promoted to major general and appointed Commander of Kopassus, and Nono Sampono, who had been Commander of the Presidential Bodyguards for nearly 3 years, is appointed as Commander of the Marine Corps. The appointment of Djoko Santoso, an officer close to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono but had not joined him in not voting for the President, was seen as both an olive branch and a reassurance for those in the officer corps considering leaving the President that there would be no reprisals.
*Around the Palace, Maj. Gen. Junianto Haroen becomes Military Secretary with Maj. Gen. (Pol.) Gories Mere becoming Commander of the Presidential Bodyguards.
*The expansion from 10 Regional Military Commands to 15 in the Army, 2 Fleets to 3 in the Navy, 2 Air Commands to 3 in the Air Force, and 2 Marine Troops to 3 in the Marine Corps and its resultant appointments takes effect. The 15 Regional Military Commands are manned by majors general originating from Military Academy Classes of 1975 to 1978.
*Though no repercussions had befallen his brothers-in-law and his associates, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been left with no assignment.
26th March 2003:
President Try Sutrisno met with Vice President JB Sumarlin, Minister of Economics and National Development Planning Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Minister of Finance Boediono, Governor of Bank Indonesia Bambang Subianto, State Secretary Edi Sudrajat, and Vice Presidential Secretary Komara Djaja today.
Dorodjatun confirmed the BKPM’s account to the President a few days ago by saying that there was a lot of “waiting and seeing” in January and February and then in March, after the end of the MPR General Session there’s been a lot of decisions to go ahead with new business ventures or expansion. Growth-wise, Dorodjatun said, the situation is cnducive for Indonesia to have another strong economic year and finish Repelita VII strong.
The President was happy with this though he remained concerned about Indonesia being an oil importer and the importance of securing sources of oil until new oil fields are up and running. He said that the Department of Mining and Energy has already been at work since the last few months of the previous term and are on the verge of concluding to another oil importing agreement. At the same time there needs to be more steps when it comes to making things more conducive for oil exploration in Indonesia.
Still related to mining, Boediono reported that PT Freeport Indonesia has divested 2% of its shares to the government a few days ahead of schedule. The new rates of royalties for copper, gold, and silver from Freeport, however, will start to apply on 1st April. Sumarlin said to make sure that every cent from the new rates of royalties are collected so that it can be utilized for other purposes.
Lastly, Bambang spoke of his conversations with those of the banking sector in the last few days. He said said that there are a lot of interest among those still as yet to settle their BLBI repayments not to wait until December to do so. The reason being that since they were getting “another 5 years of Try”, there was no point delaying or waiting for some kind of leniency that they hoped would come if someone else was elected president.
“We can do without the downer attitude”, the President said “But if they want to settle the BLBI repayments earlier, they’re more than welcome to.”
27th March 2003:
In the afternoon, the President chaired a cabinet meeting attended by Sumarlin and all the ministers and agency heads. It was late afternoon when Edi Sudrajat emerged out of the meeting accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Marzuki Darusman, Minister of Legal Affairs Oka Mahendra, Minister of Agriculture Sarwono Kusumaamatdja, Minister of Transportation Chappy Hakim, Minister of Manpower Muhyiddin Arubusman, and Minister of Health Azrul Azwar, Head of BARANTIN Ali Rahman and Head of the BNP2TKI Potsdam Hutasoit for a joint press conference.
Opening the press conference, Edi explained that the President had convened the cabinet meeting at short notice in the wake of Singapore’s decision the previous day to close down schools and issue quarantine orders to review the situation and ask for input from the ministers about whether there were any further steps that Indonesia can and should take.
Speaking next, Azrul said that Indonesia currently has 5 SARS cases and said that, while the steps put in place by the government to begin containing SARS in February are a bit premature when compared to other governments in the region, such steps are doing its job in containing SARS in Indonesia. Azrul also added that he is in constant coordination with other ministers of health in the region as well as the WHO.
That said, the President and the cabinet has agreed that developments in Singapore but also in such places as Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan and the steps taken by those respective governments as signifying “adverse developments”. Thus, the following measures have now put in place:
*Travel advisories to Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have now been upgraded from “exercise caution” to “avoid non-essential travel”).
*All Indonesian migrant workers scheduled for departure to “travel-advised” countries will have their departure delayed for a month.
*All visa applications from the People’s Republic of China will not be accepted and those already received from the People’s Republic of China but not approved will not be processed.
*Contact tracing to be put in place for suspected cases that had been established.
*Those who are found to have been in contact with a SARS patient to be isolated and quarantined if they are still healthy enough not to be hospitalized.
*A ban on the import of “exotic animals” originating from the People’s Republic of China, in particular bats.
“Last but not least”, read out Edi “The Minister of Health, on the instruction of the President and invoking Law no. 4 of 1984 regarding Epidemic, has hereby declared Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome as a disease that may cause an epidemic.”
28th March 2003:
The President, accompanied by Azrul and Edi, was at the Sulianti Saroso Hospital for Infectious Diseases, North Jakarta today. Wearing facemasks, full personal protective equipment, rubber gloves, faceshield, and hair cover, the President met with with the patients currently being treated in the SARS. The President also talked with doctors and nurses at the SARS ward there.
There was a lot of press waiting when the President, Azrul, and Edi emerged of the hospital. There were a lot of questions about what the President thought about such developments, particularly that the patient contracted the disease in Malaysia.
“The concern right now is medical, not geopolitical; I’m not after anyone’s economy or after anyone’s prosperity, right now we just need to handle this. Singapore’s already shutting down schools, Hong Kong’s already shutting down schools”, the President explained as he disappeared inside his car “We can’t just say “that’s not going to happen to us”, we have to ake active steps to make sure that they don’t happen to us.”
Later in the day at Vice Presidential Palace, Sumarlin was interviewed by TVRI about the announcement made at the conclusion of the cabinet meeting today. He was in particular asked whether the steps taken are “excessive” considering that Indonesia has a lot less SARS cases when compared to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan or Singapore.
“I’m going to take the Asian Financial Crisis as an example and I know an epidemic and an economic crisis are two different things”, Sumarlin began “People always say to me that we got out of the Asian Financial Crisis because I was elected vice president and I’m able to offer him advice on the economy. I always tell them that they’re wrong. Our recovery began before I was vice president in that immediate period of 3 months after President Try assumes office when he was just throwing everything so that our currency stopped losing its value. If he hadn’t done that, I think we would have been in a lot of trouble.
I think the same principal applies here. The President is throwing as many things as he can at the epidemic now rather than later so that the there’s less risk of us reaching the point that Singapore has now reached. In this instance, being called “excessive” is but a small risk.”
29th March 2003:
At the Balai Sudirman function hall, the PKPI held a slametan gathering to celebrate the results of the 2003 MPR General Session. The highlight of the ceremony was when Chairman of the PKPI Basofi Sudirman cut the top of the tumpeng rice and gave it to the President to much applause. Elsewhere in the ceremony, Minister of Defense and Security Wiranto received his PKPI membership card now that he is no longer an active duty ABRI officer.
Meanwhile, Basofi announced that Soeyono, until recently minister of tourism, will now be the Day-to-Day Chairman of the PKPI. Basofi said that doubling up between being a Vice Chairman of the DPR and Chairman of the PKPI is tiring so he will be delegating some responsibilities to Soeyono.
31st March 2003:
The President arrived at Solo, Central Java by air this morning. From Solo’s Adisumarmo Airport, the President and his entourage travelled on a still empty Toll Road to the border of Central Java and East Java for today’s ceremony. There, accompanied by Minister of Public Works Budi Susilo Soepandji, Governor of Central Java M. Ma’ruf and Governor of East Java Haris Sudarno, the President inaugurated the Solo-Ngawi Toll Road. In his speech, the President said that normally he tries to inaugurate multiple things at once but that this particular project deserved its own inauguration.
“The Solo-Ngawi Toll Road is an important milestone in the Trans-Java Toll Road, it means the only stretches of toll roads that remains to be done if we are to complete the Trans-Java are in East Java”, the President announced to applause.
The President tested the toll road in his car and drove all the way to the next stretch of toll road, the Ngawi-Kertosono. Here the President got out of his car and walked around to get a closer look at the construction site. He chatted with the operators of the heavy equipment, motivating them by telling them that what they were doing was important. He then headed back to Solo before flying back to Jakarta.
1st April 2003:
The President met with Marzuki Darusman today; the latter coming to him to report of recent developments. Marzuki said in the aftermath of the President’s decision to reject and suspend visa applications by Chinese nationals, other nations around Southeast Asia have followed suit the only exceptions being Myanmar and Cambodia. The President chuckled when he heard that even Malaysia had followed suit after Indonesia had rejected and suspended visa applications by Chinese nationals.
“Regardless of their stance towards you and what decision they have or have not taken, the word I’m hearing is that around Southeast Asia, they’re waiting to see whether or not Indonesia would “dare” to stop Chinese people from coming in and basing their own decision on this matter based on the decision we have made”, Marzuki said.
“What's Beijing’s reaction?” asked the President.
“They’re playing nice, Mr. President”, replied Marzuki “But that’s because President Luo Gan, Premier Wu Bangguo, and the rest of the Chinese Government are throwing themselves into handling SARS rather than any fond feelings for you.”
Marzuki then reported that Prime Minister of Australia Peter Costello has committed to sending more Australian military personnel to join the “humanitarian intervention” against Yugoslavia and that this personnel will depart next month. This decision has come under attack from Leader of Opposition Mark Latham who debated Costello in the Australian Parliament about this. Producing a tape, Marzuki inserted it into the VCR in the President’s office and a video played of the debate in the Australian Parliament.
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is totally misguided. Australia’s main national security threat is not in Afghanistan or Yugoslavia but nearer to home. And I don’t have to name any names because the Prime Minister can ask Minister for Defense Reith for the answer to that question, all I have to say is that this security threat is building its economy, eagerly strengthening its military, and as of April, will be helping Papua New Guinea build its roads and increasing its influence there”, argued Latham.
The President smiled though he was not shocked that Australia would be aware that Indonesia was giving aid to Papua New Guinea in building roads and even less so that there would be those unhappy about it. He continued to listen as it was then Costello’s turn to speak.
“Whatever national security threat that Australia has, whether it be near or far, can only be overcome if we have the United States of America on our side. But for the United States to stand with us, we have to stand with them and that is why we are sending more of our troops to Yugoslavia to unseat Slobodan Milosevic”, replied Costello.
The tape finished there and the President was silent in thought.
“Do we have a chance with these guys to at least have a good relationship?” asked the President.
“The word ambivalent may be overused when it comes to Australia’s attitude to us, but is apt, Mr. President, even in that parliament”, said Marzuki “The ruling Liberal-National Coalition has its share of people wanting good relations with us but as we know, they have their share of people hostile to us. The same goes with the Labor Party; some want closer ties, while some like this Latham fellow is clearly hostile to us.”
The President was quiet unsatisfied with the response and situation.
“The best we can hope for is that this relationship can survive people like Latham or Reith strutting around being anti-Indonesian, that their tourists continues to come to Bali, and that nothing happens that brings out the worst in this relationship”, Marzuki said.
“Yes, let’s hope nothing happens”, replied the President; somehow getting the feeling that something eventually will.
---
A SARS-centered chapter. This last week of March is a bad one for Singapore ITTL as in OTL. I suppose Singapore was the one that came closest to a lockdown in OTL by closing down schools for two weeks. https://mothership.sg/2020/03/sars-singapore-schools-closed/
The Epidemic Law being invoked by the government is the one from OTL https://www.bphn.go.id/data/documents/84uu004.pdf
It's an odd formulation but that's how things are formulated, the Minister of Health declares "diseases which may cause an epidemic" but not a state of epidemic itself. And then I suppose this is to be taken as a declaration of a epidemic.
Indonesia only had 2 SARS cases OTL but already has 5 cases at this stage. The difference in ITTL is that there’s more economic activity in Indonesia, more people travelling in out of Indonesia, and people being more likely to catch SARS.
The list of OTL SARS Cases:
en.wikipedia.org
Check out Chapter 203 for Try promising aid to PNG in the form of helping to construct roads there.
The situation with the Aussies having to send extra troops has been mentioned in past chapters but just to refresh: the UK House of Commons does not give its approval for Blair to send troops to Yugoslavia, Blair takes this as a vote of no confidence and resigns as PM, US turns to Australia for extra troops.
ABRI Headquarters today announced the first command shuffle of the present term. It was an extensive shuffle, the highlights of which are as follows:
*Tedjo Edhy Purdjiatno is appointed ABRI Chief of General Staff, a naval aviator but who went on to get experience commanding ships as he went up the ranks.
*Saurip Kadi is promoted to lieutenant general and appointed ABRI Chief of Socio-Political Affairs Staff after spending 9 months as the Military Secretary. He will be assisted by V.Mshl. Iwan Sidi, the President’s former aide-de-camp when he was vice president, as Assistant of Socio-Political Affairs Staff.
*Syarifuddin Tippe is promoted to lieutenant general and appointed Commander of the ABRI Staff and Command College.
*Edy Harjoko from the Air Force is promoted to marshal and appointed Commander of the ABRI Academy.
*Albert Inkiriwang is confirmed in his position as Governor of the Lemhanas.
*All the deputy chiefs aside from the Army changed hands. Bambang Supeno is promoted to vice admiral and appointed Deputy Navy Chief of Staff, I Gusti Made Oka is promoted to marshal and appointed Deputy Air Force Chief of Staff, and Firman Gani is promoted to lieutenant general (Police) and appointed Deputy Chief of Police.
*Among the major combat units, Djoko Santoso is promoted to lieutenant general and appointed Commander of Kostrad, Soenarko is promoted to major general and appointed Commander of Kopassus, and Nono Sampono, who had been Commander of the Presidential Bodyguards for nearly 3 years, is appointed as Commander of the Marine Corps. The appointment of Djoko Santoso, an officer close to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono but had not joined him in not voting for the President, was seen as both an olive branch and a reassurance for those in the officer corps considering leaving the President that there would be no reprisals.
*Around the Palace, Maj. Gen. Junianto Haroen becomes Military Secretary with Maj. Gen. (Pol.) Gories Mere becoming Commander of the Presidential Bodyguards.
*The expansion from 10 Regional Military Commands to 15 in the Army, 2 Fleets to 3 in the Navy, 2 Air Commands to 3 in the Air Force, and 2 Marine Troops to 3 in the Marine Corps and its resultant appointments takes effect. The 15 Regional Military Commands are manned by majors general originating from Military Academy Classes of 1975 to 1978.
*Though no repercussions had befallen his brothers-in-law and his associates, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been left with no assignment.
26th March 2003:
President Try Sutrisno met with Vice President JB Sumarlin, Minister of Economics and National Development Planning Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Minister of Finance Boediono, Governor of Bank Indonesia Bambang Subianto, State Secretary Edi Sudrajat, and Vice Presidential Secretary Komara Djaja today.
Dorodjatun confirmed the BKPM’s account to the President a few days ago by saying that there was a lot of “waiting and seeing” in January and February and then in March, after the end of the MPR General Session there’s been a lot of decisions to go ahead with new business ventures or expansion. Growth-wise, Dorodjatun said, the situation is cnducive for Indonesia to have another strong economic year and finish Repelita VII strong.
The President was happy with this though he remained concerned about Indonesia being an oil importer and the importance of securing sources of oil until new oil fields are up and running. He said that the Department of Mining and Energy has already been at work since the last few months of the previous term and are on the verge of concluding to another oil importing agreement. At the same time there needs to be more steps when it comes to making things more conducive for oil exploration in Indonesia.
Still related to mining, Boediono reported that PT Freeport Indonesia has divested 2% of its shares to the government a few days ahead of schedule. The new rates of royalties for copper, gold, and silver from Freeport, however, will start to apply on 1st April. Sumarlin said to make sure that every cent from the new rates of royalties are collected so that it can be utilized for other purposes.
Lastly, Bambang spoke of his conversations with those of the banking sector in the last few days. He said said that there are a lot of interest among those still as yet to settle their BLBI repayments not to wait until December to do so. The reason being that since they were getting “another 5 years of Try”, there was no point delaying or waiting for some kind of leniency that they hoped would come if someone else was elected president.
“We can do without the downer attitude”, the President said “But if they want to settle the BLBI repayments earlier, they’re more than welcome to.”
27th March 2003:
In the afternoon, the President chaired a cabinet meeting attended by Sumarlin and all the ministers and agency heads. It was late afternoon when Edi Sudrajat emerged out of the meeting accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Marzuki Darusman, Minister of Legal Affairs Oka Mahendra, Minister of Agriculture Sarwono Kusumaamatdja, Minister of Transportation Chappy Hakim, Minister of Manpower Muhyiddin Arubusman, and Minister of Health Azrul Azwar, Head of BARANTIN Ali Rahman and Head of the BNP2TKI Potsdam Hutasoit for a joint press conference.
Opening the press conference, Edi explained that the President had convened the cabinet meeting at short notice in the wake of Singapore’s decision the previous day to close down schools and issue quarantine orders to review the situation and ask for input from the ministers about whether there were any further steps that Indonesia can and should take.
Speaking next, Azrul said that Indonesia currently has 5 SARS cases and said that, while the steps put in place by the government to begin containing SARS in February are a bit premature when compared to other governments in the region, such steps are doing its job in containing SARS in Indonesia. Azrul also added that he is in constant coordination with other ministers of health in the region as well as the WHO.
That said, the President and the cabinet has agreed that developments in Singapore but also in such places as Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan and the steps taken by those respective governments as signifying “adverse developments”. Thus, the following measures have now put in place:
*Travel advisories to Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have now been upgraded from “exercise caution” to “avoid non-essential travel”).
*All Indonesian migrant workers scheduled for departure to “travel-advised” countries will have their departure delayed for a month.
*All visa applications from the People’s Republic of China will not be accepted and those already received from the People’s Republic of China but not approved will not be processed.
*Contact tracing to be put in place for suspected cases that had been established.
*Those who are found to have been in contact with a SARS patient to be isolated and quarantined if they are still healthy enough not to be hospitalized.
*A ban on the import of “exotic animals” originating from the People’s Republic of China, in particular bats.
“Last but not least”, read out Edi “The Minister of Health, on the instruction of the President and invoking Law no. 4 of 1984 regarding Epidemic, has hereby declared Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome as a disease that may cause an epidemic.”
28th March 2003:
The President, accompanied by Azrul and Edi, was at the Sulianti Saroso Hospital for Infectious Diseases, North Jakarta today. Wearing facemasks, full personal protective equipment, rubber gloves, faceshield, and hair cover, the President met with with the patients currently being treated in the SARS. The President also talked with doctors and nurses at the SARS ward there.
There was a lot of press waiting when the President, Azrul, and Edi emerged of the hospital. There were a lot of questions about what the President thought about such developments, particularly that the patient contracted the disease in Malaysia.
“The concern right now is medical, not geopolitical; I’m not after anyone’s economy or after anyone’s prosperity, right now we just need to handle this. Singapore’s already shutting down schools, Hong Kong’s already shutting down schools”, the President explained as he disappeared inside his car “We can’t just say “that’s not going to happen to us”, we have to ake active steps to make sure that they don’t happen to us.”
Later in the day at Vice Presidential Palace, Sumarlin was interviewed by TVRI about the announcement made at the conclusion of the cabinet meeting today. He was in particular asked whether the steps taken are “excessive” considering that Indonesia has a lot less SARS cases when compared to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan or Singapore.
“I’m going to take the Asian Financial Crisis as an example and I know an epidemic and an economic crisis are two different things”, Sumarlin began “People always say to me that we got out of the Asian Financial Crisis because I was elected vice president and I’m able to offer him advice on the economy. I always tell them that they’re wrong. Our recovery began before I was vice president in that immediate period of 3 months after President Try assumes office when he was just throwing everything so that our currency stopped losing its value. If he hadn’t done that, I think we would have been in a lot of trouble.
I think the same principal applies here. The President is throwing as many things as he can at the epidemic now rather than later so that the there’s less risk of us reaching the point that Singapore has now reached. In this instance, being called “excessive” is but a small risk.”
29th March 2003:
At the Balai Sudirman function hall, the PKPI held a slametan gathering to celebrate the results of the 2003 MPR General Session. The highlight of the ceremony was when Chairman of the PKPI Basofi Sudirman cut the top of the tumpeng rice and gave it to the President to much applause. Elsewhere in the ceremony, Minister of Defense and Security Wiranto received his PKPI membership card now that he is no longer an active duty ABRI officer.
Meanwhile, Basofi announced that Soeyono, until recently minister of tourism, will now be the Day-to-Day Chairman of the PKPI. Basofi said that doubling up between being a Vice Chairman of the DPR and Chairman of the PKPI is tiring so he will be delegating some responsibilities to Soeyono.
31st March 2003:
The President arrived at Solo, Central Java by air this morning. From Solo’s Adisumarmo Airport, the President and his entourage travelled on a still empty Toll Road to the border of Central Java and East Java for today’s ceremony. There, accompanied by Minister of Public Works Budi Susilo Soepandji, Governor of Central Java M. Ma’ruf and Governor of East Java Haris Sudarno, the President inaugurated the Solo-Ngawi Toll Road. In his speech, the President said that normally he tries to inaugurate multiple things at once but that this particular project deserved its own inauguration.
“The Solo-Ngawi Toll Road is an important milestone in the Trans-Java Toll Road, it means the only stretches of toll roads that remains to be done if we are to complete the Trans-Java are in East Java”, the President announced to applause.
The President tested the toll road in his car and drove all the way to the next stretch of toll road, the Ngawi-Kertosono. Here the President got out of his car and walked around to get a closer look at the construction site. He chatted with the operators of the heavy equipment, motivating them by telling them that what they were doing was important. He then headed back to Solo before flying back to Jakarta.
1st April 2003:
The President met with Marzuki Darusman today; the latter coming to him to report of recent developments. Marzuki said in the aftermath of the President’s decision to reject and suspend visa applications by Chinese nationals, other nations around Southeast Asia have followed suit the only exceptions being Myanmar and Cambodia. The President chuckled when he heard that even Malaysia had followed suit after Indonesia had rejected and suspended visa applications by Chinese nationals.
“Regardless of their stance towards you and what decision they have or have not taken, the word I’m hearing is that around Southeast Asia, they’re waiting to see whether or not Indonesia would “dare” to stop Chinese people from coming in and basing their own decision on this matter based on the decision we have made”, Marzuki said.
“What's Beijing’s reaction?” asked the President.
“They’re playing nice, Mr. President”, replied Marzuki “But that’s because President Luo Gan, Premier Wu Bangguo, and the rest of the Chinese Government are throwing themselves into handling SARS rather than any fond feelings for you.”
Marzuki then reported that Prime Minister of Australia Peter Costello has committed to sending more Australian military personnel to join the “humanitarian intervention” against Yugoslavia and that this personnel will depart next month. This decision has come under attack from Leader of Opposition Mark Latham who debated Costello in the Australian Parliament about this. Producing a tape, Marzuki inserted it into the VCR in the President’s office and a video played of the debate in the Australian Parliament.
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is totally misguided. Australia’s main national security threat is not in Afghanistan or Yugoslavia but nearer to home. And I don’t have to name any names because the Prime Minister can ask Minister for Defense Reith for the answer to that question, all I have to say is that this security threat is building its economy, eagerly strengthening its military, and as of April, will be helping Papua New Guinea build its roads and increasing its influence there”, argued Latham.
The President smiled though he was not shocked that Australia would be aware that Indonesia was giving aid to Papua New Guinea in building roads and even less so that there would be those unhappy about it. He continued to listen as it was then Costello’s turn to speak.
“Whatever national security threat that Australia has, whether it be near or far, can only be overcome if we have the United States of America on our side. But for the United States to stand with us, we have to stand with them and that is why we are sending more of our troops to Yugoslavia to unseat Slobodan Milosevic”, replied Costello.
The tape finished there and the President was silent in thought.
“Do we have a chance with these guys to at least have a good relationship?” asked the President.
“The word ambivalent may be overused when it comes to Australia’s attitude to us, but is apt, Mr. President, even in that parliament”, said Marzuki “The ruling Liberal-National Coalition has its share of people wanting good relations with us but as we know, they have their share of people hostile to us. The same goes with the Labor Party; some want closer ties, while some like this Latham fellow is clearly hostile to us.”
The President was quiet unsatisfied with the response and situation.
“The best we can hope for is that this relationship can survive people like Latham or Reith strutting around being anti-Indonesian, that their tourists continues to come to Bali, and that nothing happens that brings out the worst in this relationship”, Marzuki said.
“Yes, let’s hope nothing happens”, replied the President; somehow getting the feeling that something eventually will.
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A SARS-centered chapter. This last week of March is a bad one for Singapore ITTL as in OTL. I suppose Singapore was the one that came closest to a lockdown in OTL by closing down schools for two weeks. https://mothership.sg/2020/03/sars-singapore-schools-closed/
The Epidemic Law being invoked by the government is the one from OTL https://www.bphn.go.id/data/documents/84uu004.pdf
It's an odd formulation but that's how things are formulated, the Minister of Health declares "diseases which may cause an epidemic" but not a state of epidemic itself. And then I suppose this is to be taken as a declaration of a epidemic.
Indonesia only had 2 SARS cases OTL but already has 5 cases at this stage. The difference in ITTL is that there’s more economic activity in Indonesia, more people travelling in out of Indonesia, and people being more likely to catch SARS.
The list of OTL SARS Cases:
2002–2004 SARS outbreak - Wikipedia
Check out Chapter 203 for Try promising aid to PNG in the form of helping to construct roads there.
The situation with the Aussies having to send extra troops has been mentioned in past chapters but just to refresh: the UK House of Commons does not give its approval for Blair to send troops to Yugoslavia, Blair takes this as a vote of no confidence and resigns as PM, US turns to Australia for extra troops.