Is Prabowo turning back the clock on reforms with new military law?

Indonesian democracy activists say new laws allowing serving military to take on civilian government roles is a ‘slippery slope’.

President Prabowo Subianto at military headquarters in Jakarta. Picture: AFP

Is Indonesia’s new President, Prabowo Subianto, dragging the country back to the authoritarian New Order era?

His critics believe so after parliament rubber-stamped legal amendments on Thursday allowing more serving military personnel to hold key civilian posts – a move they say reverses one of the most important reforms of the post-Suharto era.

Opponents of the TNI (military) law revisions say they amount to a “coup against the people’s sovereignty”, weakening democratic civilian controls over a military that was forced back to barracks only after Indonesia’s 1998 people’s revolution.

Prabowo, the former son-in-law of Indonesia’s late military ruler Suharto and an ex-special forces commander, has made no secret of the fact he believes military officers make the most efficient and incorruptible bureaucrats – a questionable theory given the rampant corruption and cronyism of the Suharto era.

The New Order regime, in which a powerful military faction controlled government with the support of a small civilian group of cronies, was marked by repression and authoritarianism.

But the President has made clear he wants the military to take the lead in flagship programs such as the $32bn-a-year free school meals program, food estates and other national strategic projects.

One after another on Thursday, MPs and cabinet ministers – including Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas – defended the amendments as necessary to meet changing geopolitical circumstances.

Even Puan Maharani, parliamentary speaker and daughter of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri whose Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle is the only one of 11 parties not inside the ruling coalition, insisted the amendment was “based on democratic principles, civilian supremacy and human rights” in line with national and international law.

Before this week’s amendments, serving soldiers could only hold posts in relevant organisations such as the defence ministry or state intelligence agency.

But the revisions mean they may now hold a broader array of civilian posts inside the attorney-general’s office, state secretariat, counter-terrorism agency and narcotics agency.

Indonesia’s Legal Aid Foundation issued a stinging condemnation of the rushed changes which it claimed served “only to fulfil the interests of the military elite and civilian politicians who are unwilling or unable to abide by democratic rules”.

It also raised concerns over the deployment yet again of military and paramilitary forces to repel protesters outside parliament this week.

“Indonesia’s future looks increasingly bleak as it falls back into the grip of authoritarianism, sinking once again into militarism and the subjugation of civilians,” the foundation’s executive board chairman, Muhamad Isnur, said.

A statement signed by 195 civil society leaders late on Thursday demanded active military officers serving in civilian roles be held accountable to civilian courts, and not military tribunals, as would be the case under the current laws.

It warned the revisions reinstated the notorious New Order-era Dwi Fungsi (dual function) by allowing active military officers to “hold civilian posts and perform excessive non-war operations without civilian oversight or political decisions by the state”.

“Implicitly, this revision constitutes a transfer of civilian authority over non-war military operations to the TNI (military), eliminating civilian oversight,” the statement said.

“It also risks returning the TNI to its past role as an internal security force confronting student movements, labour protests, farmers, and conflicts over land and the environment. This is dangerous and threatens civil freedoms of expression and opinion since civil protests will be met by military force.”

Ian Wilson, principal fellow with Murdoch University’s Indo-Pacific Research Centre and an Indonesia expert, said he did not believe the laws yet represented a wholesale return to dwi fungsi, which gave the military far more extensive powers, including guaranteed seats in parliament.

But, he added, the military was rapidly creeping back into political and civilian institutions under the Prabowo administration, which was worrying.

“Many people do think it’s a slippery slope,” he said. “It obviously provides opportunity for further expansion of military institutions. It doesn’t look good if you’re concerned about democracy in Indonesia and civilian supremacy over the military.”

Additional reporting: Dian Septiari