Ministry of Defense (Indonesia)

The Ministry of Defense (Indonesian: Kementerian Pertahanan abbreviated Kemhan) is an Indonesian government ministry responsible for the defense of Indonesia. The ministry was formerly known as the Department of Defense (Departemen Pertahanan Republik Indonesia; Dephan) until 2009 when the nomenclature changed based on Act Number 39 of 2008 on State Ministries, the name of the Department of Defense was changed to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia. The currently-appointed minister is Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, replacing Prabowo Subianto, who was elected President, on 21 October 2024.
The ministry is one of the three ministries (along with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs) explicitly mentioned in the constitution of Indonesia, which means that it cannot be dissolved by the president.
If both the president and vice president were to die, resign, or are unable to perform their duties, the minister of defense, along with minister of foreign affairs and the minister of home affairs will jointly execute presidential duties until the succeeding president and vice President are elected by the People's Consultative Assembly within thirty days.
After the proclamation of Indonesian independence on 17 August 1945, the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) immediately set up the first presidential cabinet which in the first cabinet didn't have a Minister of Defense. The function of the State Defense at that time was at the Minister of Public Security. On 6 October 1945, Supriyadi was declared Minister of Public Security. However, he never appeared, and was replaced on 20 October by interim minister Imam Muhammad Suliyoadikusumo.
During the time of the First Sjahrir Cabinet, the function of the state defense was also under the authority of the Minister of Public Security, held by Mr. Amir Sjarifuddin. However, in the Second Sjahrir Cabinet, the People's Security Minister was renamed as the Minister of Defense which was still held by Amir Sjarifuddin. At the time of Mr. Amir Sjarifuddin became prime minister, the defense minister is also held by the prime minister. In the period of the First Hatta Cabinet, when the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia was in an emergency state due to the pressure of the Dutch forces, the Vice President Mohammad Hatta served as interim minister of defense.
In the First Development Cabinet, the Minister of Defense and Security was held by the Indonesian President Gen. Suharto. 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 (Panglima ABRI) (this was the case four times during Suharto's presidency). In 1985, as part of a wide reorganization of the armed forces, military appointments to the 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.
On 1 July 2000, the Ministry of Defense reformed itself with the separation of the TNI and the Polri and also a separation of positions, in which the Minister of Defense can be of a civilian background and can no longer concurrently serve as the TNI Commander (Panglima). 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:
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.
Previous nomenclatures and their time period were:
The Ministry of Defense has the task of carrying out government affairs in the defense sector to assist the President in administering the country's government. In carrying out its duties, the Ministry of Defense performs the functions of:
The Minister of Defense, by Presidential Decree No. 94/2022, is 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 according to Defense Ministerial Regulation No. 1/2024 is as follows: