Indonesia military law protests signal deep fears of democratic erosion under Prabowo
Indonesia in response to parliament's approval of a revised military law that broadens the armed forces' role in civilian institutions, with students and rights groups warning of democratic backsliding.
Advertisement
The revision's swift passage has been widely viewed as a sign of President
Prabowo Subianto 's political dominance, with critics saying it reflects his intent to reassert the military's role in civilian life and roll back reforms that once separated defence from governance.
Protesters took to the streets in cities across Indonesia – from Jakarta to Aceh and South Kalimantan – after parliament, dominated by Prabowo's ruling coalition,
passed the contentious amendment on Thursday.
In Jakarta, police fired tear gas and water cannons as thousands of protesters attempted to storm the parliament building on Friday.
The situation continued to escalate on Monday, with clashes breaking out between demonstrators and police in front of a government building in Surabaya, East Java. Around 1,000 students and activists had been protesting the amended bill, holding signs that read: 'Reject the Military Law' and 'The Military Should Return to the Barracks,' according to an Agence France-Presse report.
Indonesian students display posters with a tweet of President Prabowo Subianto reading 'rallies are part of democracy guaranteed by law' during a protest against a revision to the armed forces law in Surabaya on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
Parliament fast-tracked the amendment of the 2004 law governing the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI). The move was driven by aides close to Prabowo, who is a retired army general and the country's former defence minister.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
South Korea, US kick off Ulchi Freedom Shield drills with 21,000 troops
South Korea and the United States began their annual large-scale joint military exercise on Monday to better cope with threats from nuclear-armed North Korea , which has warned the drills would deepen regional tensions and vowed to respond to 'any provocation' against its territory. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield, the second of two large-scale exercises held annually in South Korea, after another set in March, will involve 21,000 soldiers, including 18,000 South Koreans, in computer-simulated command post operations and field training. The drills, which the allies describe as defensive, could trigger a response from North Korea, which has long portrayed the exercises as invasion rehearsals and has often used them as a pretext for military demonstrations and weapons tests aimed at advancing its nuclear programme. In a statement last week, North Korean Defence Minister No Kwang-chol said the drills showed the allies' stance of 'military confrontation' with the North and declared that its forces would be ready to counteract 'any provocation going beyond the boundary line'. Colonel Lee Sung-jun (left), public affairs director for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Colonel Ryan Donald, public affairs director of the United States Forces Korea, at the press briefing of the Ulchi Freedom Shield 2025 exercise on August 7. Photo: AFP
RTHK
a day ago
- RTHK
Trump favours full peace over ceasefire
Trump favours full peace over ceasefire Trump pushing for peace accord after Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin. File photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in favour of pursuing a full peace accord – a major shift announced hours after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin yielded no clear breakthrough. Prior to the high-stakes meeting in Alaska, securing an immediate cessation of hostilities had been a core demand of Trump – who had threatened "severe consequences" on Russia – and European leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, who will visit Washington on Monday. The shift away from ceasefire would seem to favour Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal – a strategy that Ukraine and its European allies have criticised as a way to buy time and press Russia's battlefield advances. Trump spoke with Zelensky and European leaders on his flight back to Washington, saying afterwards that "it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement which would end the war." Ceasefire agreements "often times do not hold up," Trump added on his Truth Social platform. Trump notably also said the United States was prepared to provide Ukraine security guarantees, an assurance German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed as "significant progress." In an interview with broadcaster Fox News after his sit-down with Putin, Trump suggested that the onus was now on Zelensky to secure a peace deal as they work towards an eventual trilateral summit with Putin. "It's really up to President Zelensky to get it done," Trump said. (AFP)
RTHK
3 days ago
- RTHK
Tariffs on steel, semiconductors coming soon: Trump
Tariffs on steel, semiconductors coming soon: Trump Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for Alaska to meet with Vladimir Putin. Photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump said on Friday he plans to announce tariffs on steel and semiconductors in the coming weeks. "I'll be setting tariffs next week and the week after, on steel and, I would say, chips. Chips and semiconductors, we'll be setting sometime next week, the week after," Trump said on board Air Force One as he headed to Alaska for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said the levy rate would be "lower at the beginning" but "very high after a certain period of time," as a way to encourage businesses to relocate operations to the United States. The president said his policy would prompt companies in key industries like automobiles and artificial intelligence to relocate in order to "beat the tariffs," which could be 200 or 300 percent. Trump has also said he would employ this strategy with pharmaceuticals. On August 6, Trump announced a 100 percent tariff on semiconductors from firms that do not invest in the US. Trump has already instituted tariffs on steel, announcing an initial 25 percent levy that was later doubled to 50 percent. (AFP)
