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Indonesian rights groups have decried proposed revisions to a military law that could pave the way for active-duty military personnel to hold more civilian posts and engage in business activities, a haunting hallmark of dictator Suharto’s New Order era.
Rights and pro-democracy activists fear the practice, referred to as military dual-function or dwifungsi, could potentially return as lawmakers are pushing to revise a 2004 law on the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI).
Under Suharto’s 32-year rule, the military permeated national politics, as well as domestic affairs, as it helped Suharto cling to power and maintain order during various crises.
Military chief General Agus Subiyanto has said the current law is “outdated” as it has not been amended for more than 20 years.
The 2004 military law “is considered no longer relevant” to address various problems “in implementing the fundamental norms of state policies and political decisions”, Agus said at a meeting with the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The revision bill was included by lawmakers in this year’s legislative priority bills. Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin had earlier last week revealed the government’s focus on the legal amendment, including an article that restricts military personnel from holding civilian posts.
The current law dictates that active-duty soldiers can hold civilian posts in 10 state agencies relating to security and defence, including the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs; Ministry of Defence; State Intelligence; National Defence Council and National Search and Rescue.
Jakarta is seeking to add five more agencies to the list, from maritime affairs and fisheries to disaster management, counterterrorism, maritime security and the Attorney General’s Office.
Sjamsoeddin also expressed hope the bill would be passed before the House went into recess on March 21.
The proposed expansion of military authority has sparked concern over increased militarism in the government and the potential return of military dual-function.
“The proposal to expand the civilian positions that can be held by active TNI soldiers … could blur the boundaries between the military and civilian spheres,” rights groups collective Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform said in a statement on March 6.
The coalition also warned the list could be adjusted in future, as the draft would give the president the discretion to appoint soldiers to civilian posts. “This risks eroding the principle of civilian supremacy in government and could lead to military domination in the civil bureaucracy.”
TNI chief Agus dismissed concern of a dwifungsi revival, saying that any active military officers who took up posts in ministries or state bodies “should retire early or resign from active duty”.
Sjamsoeddin told the House that President Prabowo Subianto also agreed that active-duty soldiers should “retire early” before holding civilian posts, claiming there would be tests to measure “the quality and the skills of TNI soldiers who already retire early” before they were appointed to the civilian positions.
Dwifungsi already here?
The reassurance, however, has not dampened a raft of criticism of the revision bill, which is seen as “a [piece] of one big puzzle of the return of dual-function” that has already happened, according to Hussein Ahmad, deputy director at Jakarta-based rights group Imparsial.
Hussein pointed out Prabowo had already given some civilian posts to active military officers, such as the appointment of the army’s Major General Novi Helmy Prasetya as the new head of the State Logistics Agency, or Bulog, whose main task is to control the country’s rice reserves, as well as Lieutenant General Nugroho Sulistyo Budi as head of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency.
Adding to the list is Prabowo’s choice of cabinet secretary, Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Indra Wijaya, who has been a loyal aide to Prabowo since 2019.
In a hearing with the House on March 4, Imparsial said as of 2023 there were more than 2,500 active military officers occupying civilian posts.
Hussein feared that the return of dwifungsi would be “damaging to democracy” and could lead to a “greater potential for human rights violations”.
“In theory, if the military is deeply involved in civilian [affairs], the relationship between civilians and the military will be bad. There is potential for military juntas to grow, like in Myanmar and Thailand. We cannot argue with the muzzle of a gun,” he said.
Made Supriatma, visiting fellow at the Indonesian Studies Programme at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said appointing soldiers to civilian posts could also risk scaling down the military’s professionalism.
“Active military personnel would become civilian workers with better salaries and facilities. If they were told to become soldiers again, would they want to do it? In the military, they have to train and be on alert to protect this country, that’s their job. If they are posted in civilian posts, they would lose their [military] abilities,” Made said.
Other controversial changes in the law include the removal of a ban on doing business for active-duty soldiers. A report by investigative magazine Tempo earlier this month revealed that about 200 military colonels were rounded up in Prabowo’s estate in Bogor regency in January to undergo a two-week-long training on “management, business, finance, and investment”.
Two sources told Tempo that the officers would occupy “important posts” in state-owned enterprises and regionally owned companies, as well as in firms established by the Ministry of Defence.
Made said appointing military personnel to state or regionally owned enterprises would be unfair for civil servants “who have built their careers from the bottom for decades, only to drop their positions to soldiers who don’t know anything about the company”.
“In my estimate, this is a way to seize power slowly, starting from placing the military in state-owned enterprises,” Made said.
“We’ll be back to square one, to the New Order era. The TNI is already very involved in [economic activities] at the district level. I think their goal is electoral, Prabowo is preparing for the 2029 election.”
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