Growing Rivalry Between Indonesia's Police and Military
Complex ties between Prabowo and Jokowi play out in competing forces
Jun 20, 2025
- under Jokowi Indon police unprecedented privileges and power
- numerous high-ranking police officers appointed to key ministries
- under general Prabowo police influence waning
- overshadowed by resurgent military
- Prabowo’s military-rooted leadership
- struggle for power between police and military elites
- competition between police and military
- erupting into violent confrontations
- between 2014 and 2024, 37 instances of military-police conflict
- institutional arrogance, culture of superiority, sectoral egotism, festering jealousies
- Under Prabowo 12 of 17 ministers, deputy ministers 12 from military
- only five are former police officers
- Military Law rushed through Parliament
- President can assign active-duty military officers to civilian posts
- “dual function” or Dwifungsi doctrine from Suharto’s authoritarian rule
- revives military political influence of Suharto
- Suharto – Prabowo’s former father-in-law – 32 years dictator propped up by military
- army to recruit 24,000 personnel for “Territorial Development Battalions"
- tasked with agriculture, plantations, livestock, and health services
- completely beyond the military’s primary mission of national defense
- The Jokowi Era: Police Dominant
- police enjoyed unparalleled influence during Jokowi’s tenure
- Under Jokowi’ police budget soared from US$2.69b in 2014 to US$7.72b in 2024
- Jokowi’s favoritism toward police
- military and police have become instruments of political power
- they serve the interests of political elites
- public suffer repression, silencing dissent, criminalization of opposition
My Comments:
Folks does that very last line sound familiar: public suffer repression, silencing dissent, criminalization of opposition ?
My view is Indonesia is a solidly Third World country. Not too far from a banana republic. Just listen to the million Indonesians that we have in our country.
One of the defining features of a Third World country is that the fate of an entire country depends almost entirely on the personal character, intellectual capacity, honesty etc of the individual leader. The personal traits of the individual who happens to occupy the no. 1 spot.
Meaning the society as a whole (300 million Indonesians) is of little relevance in advancing and progressing their own future. Almost everything depends on just one person - the leader. If he is good the country prospers, if he is not good the country goes backwards.
There is little institution building. Freedom of speech is what the "leader" allows in the country. There is little institutionalisation of freedom of speech - through solid constitutional guarantees and just laws. Laws are designed to oppress and repress freedom of speech. This is typical Third World.
Oppression - can be direct police action, use of force by the state.
Repression - other methods, discourage dialogue, control newspaper licenses, enforce censorship (under various camouflage: religion, culture, race, "harmony").
Compare this with a First World society for example like Italy and Japan which can function even without a prime minister (they used to change their prime ministers so often, like changing their underwear everyday - which is a very, very good thing).
So their institutions (government machinery, Civil Service, judiciary, legal system, the market economy, banking system, education system, health services, police) can basically run the country even without a prime minister. Toyota is still a mega car manufacturer and Italy exports more Lamborghini and Ferrari than ever. Of course molto bella Gorgiosa Meloni (below) is the prime minister of Italy but who knows the name of the Japanese prime minister?
So folks, what type of a country are we living in?
