Yerica Lai, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday led a large anniversary celebration of the Indonesian Military (TNI), marking its 80th year with a grand parade, even as fears mount that the military's growing influence could bring the nation back to an authoritarian, military-dominated era.
In his address at the celebration held at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta, Prabowo hailed the TNI as "the backbone" of national defense and "the guarantor" of the country's sovereignty, saying that the military continues to play an important role in protecting natural resources that are vital for Indonesia's development.
"Our natural wealth is immense. For hundreds of years, our archipelago has been disturbed and invaded by foreign powers seeking to seize our riches," Prabowo said. "The TNI must assist both the central government and regional administrations in safeguarding our wealth and natural resources."
To this end, the President called on the TNI to keep pace with advances in science and technology, including in cyber defense and artificial intelligence, while reforming outdated organizational structures to better serve the nation's interests.
"The TNI must never fall behind and be complacent," Prabowo added.
Sunday's festive celebration, which also featured a grand parade of the TNI's main weapons systems and demonstrations of cavalry, artillery and fighter aircraft capabilities, came amid growing unease of military overreach under Prabowo's presidency.
"More than two decades since the Reform Era in 1998, the public hopes that the TNI will become a professional defense force, subject to civilian supremacy and free from practices of violence against civilians. That hope is still far from reality," Annisa Yudha from human rights group Imparsial, a member of the Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform, told a press conference on Saturday.
She went on to say that the military's expanding role in civilian affairs, coupled with violence against civilians and weak legal accountability, has instead "pushed the military further from the principles of democracy and the rule of law."
Since taking office in October last year, Prabowo, a former special forces commander, has presided over a broad expansion of the military's role in governance, bringing military figures, both active-duty officers and retired generals, into his cabinet and top government posts.
Prabowo has also deployed the military for various tasks like running much of his flagship free nutritious meal program and handling food security initiatives to delivering agricultural products and manufacturing medicines.
Most recently, the TNI's involvement in the seizure of palm oil plantations has sparked human rights concerns after a task force established by Prabowo in January – of which the TNI is a member – announced plans to forcibly evict 40,000 people living in Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau who the task force has accused of being illegal settlers.
The groundwork for the TNI's expanded roles was laid in March, when the government-controlled House of Representatives approved an amendment to the TNI Law that expanded the number of posts active military personnel can hold in government and broadened the military's noncombat operations, despite strong public opposition.
Prabowo has also presided over the largest peacetime military expansion in decades, inaugurating six new regional Army commands (Kodam), 100 territorial development battalions and new units within the naval, air and special forces. The battalions are tasked not only with strengthening national defense but also with supporting farming, fisheries and livestock programs to boost local livelihoods.
Dimas Bagus Arya of rights group KontraS warned that these moves signal not only a revival of the military's dual function, but also a deepening into a "more dangerous" multifunction role, where the military "is becoming involved in every aspect of public life".
"We are witnessing a reversal of TNI reform," Dimas said. "Military's involvement in non-defense programs, including government national strategic programs, blurs the boundary between civilian and military roles."
Zainal Arifin from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) stressed the need for the TNI to refocus on its defense duties, noting that the appointments in civilian posts and roles in the President's strategic projects could risk not only "undermining civilian governance" but also "harming the TNI's own professionalism".
"The TNI must return to its proper role as a defense institution," Zainal said. "The military's duty is not to farm or manage rice fields, but to protect our border territories and uphold the country's sovereignty."
In a move that critics said was aimed at normalizing the presence of the military in everyday life, the Defense Ministry has issued a full-page advertisement in the country's largest newspaper, Kompas, detailing and defending the military's growing involvement in civilian programs under Prabowo.
The advertisement, which specifically mentioned 10 programs in which the military was playing a role, including the free nutritious meal program and the establishment of 100 new battalions, said the ministry was helping to "build national resilience."