BUREAUCRATIC CHANGE INDONESIAN STYLE--DEPARTMENTS

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