Indonesia’s New Leader Expands Military’s Role Amid Fragile Democracy

Close to three decades after the fall of Indonesia’s authoritarian leader, General Suharto, the nation’s new president is causing unease among liberals and others by increasingly turning to the once-all-powerful military to carry out his governing vision.

Oppositions of President Prabowo Subianto point to the former defence minister’s early actions as a worrying sign of his tendency to replace civilian functions with the military, raising comparisons to a Suharto-era doctrine called “dwifungsi” (dual function) that allowed the armed forces to crush dissent and dominate public life.

Just three months into office after sweeping to a landslide election victory last year, Prabowo has quickly expanded the armed forces’ roles in several public areas – including running much of his flagship project to serve free school meals.

His allies in parliament are also preparing legislation that would allow Prabowo to appoint active military officers into senior government positions, dismantling some of the safeguards put in place after Suharto was overthrown in 1998 following an economic crisis and popular uprising.

Prabowo’s resounding victory in last year’s election was largely driven by younger voters, polls showed, a generation with little or no memory of Suharto’s military-backed “New Order” regime.

A former son-in-law of Suharto, Prabowo was a special forces commander under his repressive 32-year reign and was later dismissed from the military amid unproven allegations of human rights abuses.

Supporters of Prabowo, who has denied past rights abuses, say tapping the military for important projects offers efficiencies.

But critics see in Prabowo’s moves, including a recent expansion of military command structure, a worrying lurch towards re-militarisation in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.
“He’s not abiding by civil supremacy,” said analyst Yanuar Nugroho of Prabowo.

“He instead wants to restore the glory of military … where various kinds of civic-works can be done by the military, arguing it will be faster, more effective,” said Yanuar, a former deputy chief of presidential staff to Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo.

Prabowo’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment on military deployment for government projects.

Although not replicating the “dual function” of the past, Prabowo’s early reliance on the military is raising concerns among Indonesian observers about the undoing of democratic reforms that sprang up after Suharto was ousted.

“There’s a lot of aspects of the Prabowo administration that are seeking to replicate what existed under his former father-in-law Suharto,” said political analyst and author of the Indonesia-focused newsletter Reformasi Weekly, Kevin O’Rourke. “Restoring military roles in politics is one aspect.”

Reuters/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma