(tempo.co)

Defense experts have called on the government to clarify its plan to recruit 100 million personnel for Indonesia'€™s Defending the State program within the next 10 years.

According to Muradi, a political expert at Padjadjaran University, the government should clarify a number of points, including the program's goals, legitimacy, required infrastructure, funding and endorsement from the reserve component bill.

He added that the government should consider reducing its organic military forces, since warfare of the future would be asymmetric and irregular and fought by proxy, in addition to physical battles.

"If discipline is the issue, the Defending the State program is not the solution. There are many ways to boost discipline and they all start from the very basic step of leaders providing a good example by not being corrupt," said Muradi.

Another defense expert, Mufti Makarim, executive director of the Institute for Defense and Security Studies (IDSPS), told thejakartapost.com that the idea of increasing citizens' discipline, as previously stated by Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, related to the mental revolution proposed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

"Some ingredients of a revolution include a strong work ethic and honesty. This concept is not directly associated with defending the state," said Mufti.

Discipline and ethics, he added, could be socialized through family and education instead.

Mufti said that it was important to fix Indonesia's education system as well as to teach children about honesty and respecting diversity.

"It's not about teaching them to line up and salute," said Mufti.

He further explained that the Defending the State concept could be interpreted with both a broad and a narrow view. The broad view sees it all as an effort to defend the nation, which is not merely related to military activities. The narrow view, on the other hand, sees it as physical activities related to warfare, which leads to wamil (compulsory military service), or the establishment of a reserve component.

Head of human rights group Setara Institute, Hendardi, said that the program was not in line with the constitution and that the state budget would not be able to cover it.

"The Defending the State program is not a project for the ministry. It is an educational strategy of the national education system to produce citizens with character and good spirits to defend the nation," said Hendardi.

"The reasons for the initiative are absurd because the roots of the nation's problems lie in the education system," he added. (kes)

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