JakarrtaPost-Feb 20
President Prabowo Subianto’s decision to press forward with a revision to the 2004 Indonesian Military (TNI) Law has raised concerns about a possible return to the dwifungsi (dual function) system that prevailed in the New Order era, which granted the military significant influence over civilian affairs. A letter from the President calling for the revision was read out by House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Adies Kadir of the Golkar Party at a plenary session on Tuesday. Lawmakers approved the request to put the bill on this year’s National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) priority list. House Commission I overseeing military and foreign affairs was then assigned to handle the deliberation. Commission I member Dave Laksono of Golkar said lawmakers would schedule the deliberation after they received the problem inventory list (DIM) from the government. “The deliberation should not take long, considering there will not be many articles that will be changed,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. Last year, a plan to revise the same law surfaced. Among the many focuses of the revision at that time was expanding the TNI’s non-combat authority to Indonesian cyberspace. Another change would allow the appointment of active TNI personnel to high-level positions in state institutions according to the sitting president’s wishes. But the plan saw pushback from critics and the public, who said the amendment would pave the way for the return of the dwifungsi system under former president Soeharto’s authoritarian regime, which allowed military personnel to hold simultaneous military and civilian posts, granting the institution major sway over the country. Lawmakers ended up halting the bill’s deliberations in response to the opposition. The sudden decision to resume the bill’s deliberation has alerted analysts, who say changes to the TNI Law could bring back a system that trampled on human rights. Read more at:
https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2025/02/20/tni-law-revision-raises-dwifungsi-fears.html.
