Old Prabowo speech misrepresented as response to new military law
"President Prabowo is pro-people!! President Prabowo (delivers) his comment after the passing of the Military Law, and he warns the Military (that they) will be eliminated if they make the people suffer," reads Indonesian-language text over a TikTok post uploaded March 22.
The video, viewed more than 900,000 times, shows Prabowo giving a speech in front of the nation's military and police leaders. He says they should serve the people because their funding and resources come from them.
"The people (are the ones) who equip you from head to toe, the people feed the army and police, and the people give the army and police the power to hold the monopoly on weapons," Prabowo says.
"And with such great trust, by handing over the power to you, you are expected, demanded (to give your) highest devotion."
The same claim has also circulated on Facebook and Snack Video.
The posts emerged after the parliament amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticism that it would expand the armed forces' role in civilian affairs (archived link)
The revision, pushed mainly by Prabowo's coalition, aimed to expand the military's role beyond defence in a country long influenced by its powerful armed forces. The amendment sparked protests and fears of a return to the era of late dictator Suharto, whom ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent (archived link).
However, the video circulating online is unrelated to the newly amended law.
A reverse image search on Google led to a longer video uploaded January 30 to the official YouTube account of the presidential secretariat (archived link).
"President Prabowo Gives Direction at the 2025 Indonesian Military and Police Leadership Meeting, Jakarta, January 30, 2025," the title says.
Prabowo did not mention anything about the military law, nor did he threaten the army or the police.
As of April 16, there were also no official reports that the former military general said he intended to "eliminate the army and the police."
Prabowo first spoke publicly about the amended military law on April 6 during a roundtable interview with seven Indonesian journalists. He dismissed the public's concern about the return of the military's "dual function," which refers to the historic role of the armed forces during Suharto's era in both national defence and civilian governance (archived links here and here).
He also insisted that "the main point of the amendment is only to expand the retirement age for TNI commanders," arguing that an organisation cannot develop if the leaders change every year because of their age.
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