Indonesia approves controversial law expanding role of military in government

Indonesia’s parliament on Thursday passed contentious revisions to the country’s military law, which will allocate more civilian posts for military officers, and street protests against the changes are expected to take place.

The revisions have been criticized by civil society groups, who say it could take the world’s third-biggest democracy back to the draconian “New Order” era of former strongman president Suharto, when military officers dominated civilian affairs.

Speaker Puan Maharani led the unanimous vote in a plenary council and officially passed the law, saying that it was in accordance with the principle of democracy and human rights.

President Prabowo Subianto, who took office last October and was a special forces commander under Suharto, has been expanding the armed forces’ role into what were considered civilian areas, including his flagship program of free meals for children.

Rights groups have criticized the increased military involvement because they fear it may lead to abuses of power, human rights violations, and impunity from consequences for actions.

The government has said the bill requires officers to resign from the military before assuming civilian posts at departments such as the Attorney’s General Office and a lawmaker has said officers could not join state-owned companies, to counter concerns the military would be involved in business.