Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's decision to award Soeharto the national hero title could be challenged in the State Administrative Court (PTUN).

President Prabowo Subianto designated Soeharto as a national hero through Presidential Decree of the Republic of Indonesia (Keppres) Number 116/TK/Year 2025 concerning the Awarding of National Hero Title at the State Palace on November 10, 2025.

The decree states that Soeharto is considered to have contributed to the struggle for independence. He is regarded as the deputy commander of the Yogyakarta People's Security Agency (BKR) and led the disarming of Japanese soldiers in Kotabaru, Yogyakarta, in 1945.

However, the awarding of the national hero title to Soeharto could be annulled. Herdiansyah Hamzah, a Constitutional Law lecturer at Mulawarman University, stated that there are essentially two ways to revoke the bestowal of the national hero title. First, the decision to confer the national hero title can be revoked by the decision-maker, in this case, the president.

"However, this is somewhat pessimistic. Will the president be willing to correct it? I think not. Because regardless, the proposal for Soeharto as a national hero refers to the president's agenda or that of his ministers. Therefore, it's quite difficult to fulfill," Herdiansyah said when contacted by Tempo on Tuesday, November 11, 2025.

The second way is to revoke or annul the Presidential Decree through the courts. Herdiansyah stated that the president, as a state administrative official, the presidential decree or Keppres can be annulled through a state administrative decision in the PTUN.

Meanwhile, Yance Arizona, a Constitutional Law lecturer at Gadjah Mada University, stated that Law Number 20 of 2009 concerning Awards, Decorations, and Honorary Titles, and Government Regulation Number 35 of 2010 concerning the Implementing Regulations do not specifically regulate the procedure for revoking the national hero title. However, according to Yance, the regulations do govern the revocation of decorations and honorary titles.

"The procedure involves a request to the council for decorations, awards, and honorary titles to review the bestowal of decorations and honorary titles," Yance told Tempo on November 11, 2025.

If it can be proven that the recipient of the decoration and honorary title no longer meets the requirements, the council provides recommendations to the president for revocation. "Although not specifically regulated, I believe that a similar mechanism can also be pursued for the national hero title," he added.

Nevertheless, Yance stated that in administrative law, state administrative decisions can be revoked by the issuing official if there is evidence of procedural and substantive errors. "However, if this process is not pursued, then the decision can be challenged in the PTUN," Yance said.

Yance stated that victims of human rights violations and victims of the policies of Soeharto's government could file lawsuits in the PTUN. The deadline for submitting applications is no later than 90 days after the Presidential Decree for the national hero title is issued.

"In this case, I believe that from the outset, Soeharto did not meet the requirements as a national hero because there were numerous state crimes that occurred during his administration, including the post-1965 massacre, human rights violations at Tanjung Priok, Talang Sari, Petrus, Semanggi I and II," Yance said.

Furthermore, according to Yance, compounded by the issues of corruption, collusion, and nepotism during Soeharto's government. Yance called it ironic that an authoritarian leader was given the national hero title.

Yance mentioned that the plaintiffs could use the argument of various serious human rights violations that have never been brought to trial because ad hoc human rights courts have never been established. Thus, awarding the national hero title strengthens impunity and closes the door to seeking the truth about past crimes.

"Additionally, the plaintiffs could include MPR Decree Number XI of 1998 which called for a process to examine Suharto and his family, but was never carried out," he said. Herlambang P. Wiratraman, Chairman of the Center for Legal Studies and Social Justice (LSJ) at the Faculty of Law, UGM, stated that the bestowal of the national hero title could be challenged in the PTUN if there was maladministration in the process.

Herlambang said that maladministration occurred due to the nomination process not following the legal provisions. According to Herlambang, maladministration could occur when the nomination bypassed the stages of the Central Award Research and Study Team (TP2GP) of the Ministry of Social Affairs. He mentioned that Soeharto had been nominated twice before, so it should not have failed in the third nomination. "But the method used did not follow TP2GP procedures," Herlambang told Tempo.

Soeharto's nomination was suspected to have bypassed the rightful procedure. In a report by Tempo Magazine entitled "Those Who Persist in Making Soeharto a National Figure" published on Sunday, November 9, 2025, it was mentioned that Soeharto's nomination did not go through TP2GP.

Bonnie Triyana, a member of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, said he heard from internal TP2GP sources that they did not recommend Soeharto as a candidate for the national hero title. Commission X is the working partner of the Ministry of Culture led by Fadli Zon.

According to Bonnie, the procedure should have involved the proposal entering the regional government in the candidate's birthplace, selection at TP2GP, submitting it to the Minister of Social Affairs, and then to the chairman of the council for awards.

Secretary of TP2GP, Kurniawati, stated that their team was only informed in a plenary meeting that Soeharto had met the requirements since 2010. "I have never seen the documents," Kurniawati said via WhatsApp on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

As of the writing of this article, Saifullah Yusuf has not responded to Tempo's request for confirmation. However, a response came from Mira Riyati Kurniasih, the Director General of Social Empowerment at the Ministry of Social Affairs. Mira explained that TP2GP did not issue a recommendation for Soeharto to be awarded the national hero title. The reason being, Soeharto was deemed to have met the requirements when proposed in 2010 and 2015. "Automatically it reentered based on the existing documents," Mira said on Thursday, November 6, 2025.

Herlambang P. Wiratraman, a Constitutional Law lecturer at Gadjah Mada University Faculty of Law, mentioned that many parties could file lawsuits and had the legal standing to challenge the awarding of Soeharto's national hero title. "Those who were victims of human rights violations can step forward regarding human rights violations involving Soeharto," he said.

Additionally, journalists could also file lawsuits due to the suppression of the media during the New Order era. Herlambang also mentioned that all those imprisoned without trial could also file lawsuits.

Herlambang stated that a lawsuit against the Presidential Decree for awarding the national hero title to Soeharto could be made through a citizen lawsuit mechanism. A citizen lawsuit is a lawsuit by citizens against the government or state institutions for alleged negligence in fulfilling obligations and protecting the rights of citizens.

"The citizen lawsuit mechanism can be filed, not just by individuals," he said.

In addition to citizen lawsuit, Herlambang mentioned that lawsuits could also be filed through a class action mechanism. Class Action is a civil lawsuit filed by one or more individuals to represent the interests of a large group of others who have similar issues or damages.

– Daniel A. Fajri and Hendrik Yaputra contributed to the writing of this article.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2064962/how-to-revoke-soehartos-national-hero-titl