VZCZCXRO9505
PP RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHJA #0237 0531013
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221013Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4538
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS JAKARTA 000237
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP
NSC FOR D.WALTON
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ID
SUBJECT: BUREAUCRATIC CHANGE INDONESIAN STYLE--DEPARTMENTS
BECOME MINISTRIES
1. (U) In late 2009 President Yudhoyono signed Presidential
Regulation No 47 that formally transformed GOI Cabinet
departments into ministries. Ministries have begun slowly
implementing the new regulation since the start of 2010.
Under the new regulation the Department of Foreign Affairs
has become the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of
Defense is now the Ministry of Defense, Department of Trade
the Ministry of Trade, and so on. The change comes despite
the fact that for many decades the head of each department
has held the title minister.
2. (U) The change also brings a new set of shortened names
by which most Indonesians--and Indonesia watchers--know the
ministries. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs'
well-known moniker DEPLU has become KEMLU, the Ministry of
Defense goes from DEPHAN to KEMHAN and the Ministry of Trade
becomes KEMENDAG. Some entities retain the old versions of
their short names--the Ministry of National Development
Planning is still BAPPENAS. Others have given up entirely on
something pronounceable, such as KPP--otherwise known as the
Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. (Note: Mission has sent
the full list of new names to EAP/MTS via email.)
3. (SBU) Officials are at a loss to explain what the new
names mean. "I guess I'll have to get new cards printed,"
one KEMLU official told us when pressed to explain the
significance of the Ministry's new name. Several officials
told us that the name change does not reflect any change in
the ministries' relative positions or roles in the Cabinet.
Nor does it presage any internal reorganization or
restructuring of the bureaucracy.
HUME