Why Indonesia’s new military law is alarming pro-democracy activists

Indonesia’s parliament has voted unanimously to pass a revision of its military law that will allow officers to serve in more government posts without resigning from the armed forces.

The news comes despite growing opposition from pro-democracy and human rights groups who see it as a threat to the country’s young democracy.

In a plenary session, all eight political parties represented in parliament backed the bill. The house of representatives is largely controlled by parties supporting President Prabowo Subianto, a former army general with ties to the country’s dictatorial past.

The amendment to the 2004 law on the Indonesian armed forces introduces several changes that aim to broaden the military’s role beyond defence.

Once in force, the new law will allow active officers to take civilian positions without having to retire or resign from service in four more bodies, including the attorney general’s office, the supreme court and the co-ordinating ministry for political and security affairs.

Under current law, military personnel are permitted to serve in only 10 ministries and state institutions, including the ministry of defence, the national intelligence agency and the search and rescue agency. But that number will now be expanded to 14 for non-combat military functions.

The revision has raised concerns among pro-democracy activists and students who fear that expanding the military in civilian roles would restore the “dual function” of the armed services that they had in the era under the dictator Suharto.

At that time, seats in the legislature were reserved for the military, and officers occupied thousands of civilian roles from district chiefs to cabinet ministers.

The dual-function system effectively turned the armed forces into a tool for Suharto when he later became president to crush his political opponents.

“The move has the potential to restore the authoritarian system,” Mr Araf said.

Another major criticism of the law is the way it has been discussed: behind closed doors, with little public input and in a fast-tracked process.

The latest draft was introduced less than a month ago, following a letter to the house from Mr Subianto endorsing the bill. Pro-democracy activists discovered that politicians and government officials had met in secret to discuss draft revisions at a five-star hotel in South Jakarta on March 15.

Dominique Nicky Fahrizal, a researcher at Indonesia’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said on Thursday that the way in which the law was drafted could prompt a backlash.

Defence minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, a former three-star army general, defended the new law, saying that politicians had considered it properly and that it would make the military more effective.

In a speech after the parliament passed the bill into law, he said the amendments were necessary because the geopolitical changes and global technology required the military to transform “to face conventional and non-conventional conflicts”.

“We will never disappoint the Indonesian people in maintaining the sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia,” he said.