Indonesia - February 2025

President Prabowo Subianto appointed a currently serving general to run the state’s food procurement company on 11 February, the first time that a general has served in such a role since the military-dominated authoritarian government of Suharto of 1967-1998. Indonesian legal experts and rights activists argued the appointment violated laws that limit the appointment of military service members to government posts to a limited number of defence-related ministries. The move is part of a broader trend of relying on the military to carry out civilian government projects that has raised warnings about a “slippery slope” of return to the military-dominated government of Suharto-era Indonesia. Prabowo-allied members of parliament are also planning to introduce a bill to allow generals to be appointed to top civilian government jobs.

Sources: Reuters, Jakarta Post (1), Jakarta Post (2)

Indonesia’s parliament revised the country’s mining law on 18 February, giving religious groups, small businesses, and university-owned entities priority status in owning and operating mines. The decision was protested by student groups opposed to university participation in mining and condemned by civil society organizations for weakening governance and environmental oversight of the sector. Critics are particularly concerned about the ability of the above “nontraditional mining actors” to obtain concessions without a public tender, which would exempt them from demonstrating environmental, technical, or financial qualifications and provides significant opportunities for corruption and political clientelism. The bill’s proponents say it will distribute Indonesia’s mining wealth more equitably and that it includes stricter controls on land use.

Sources: Jakarta Post, Reuters, Monga Bay, ASEAN Briefing

Indonesia launched an annual free health screening program for all Indonesians on 10 February in an effort to improve public health through earlier detection of chronic and congenital diseases. Together with a program providing free lunch for all students, the health screenings were one of President Prabowo’s core election promises. However, civil society and legal experts have raised concerns about the practicality and legality of funding the programs through cutting expenditures in much of the public sector. The budget cuts have not been made transparently and the government has not made clear how the size or distribution of budget cuts was determined or justified. Civil servants have raised concerns about their ability to continue to effectively carry out their duties. Civil society criticism has focused on cuts at anti-corruption, law enforcement, and the judiciary in particular, raising concerns about judicial oversight and the ability to investigate or prosecute anti-corruption cases.

Sources: South China Morning Post, Jakarta Post (1), Jakarta Post (2), Jakarta Post (3), Jakarta Post (4), Indonesia Business Post

The House of Representatives (DPR) unanimously opted to revise DPR Regulation 1 of 2020 on 3 February, thereby granting itself the power to “periodically evaluate” all state officials appointed by the government and make binding recommendations for their dismissal. The agencies subject to the new oversight rules include the Corruption Eradication Commission, the General Election Commission, the Constitutional Court, and the Supreme Court. Legal experts criticized the new rules as unconstitutional and as excessive legislative interference in the operations of independent executive agencies. While by statute the DPR has the power to nominate and investigative officials, the new rules conflict with existing statutes defining evaluation and dismissal separately for each agency and delegating the decision to the executive. Constitutional law experts say the rule is a violation of the separation of powers and amounts to legislative overreach. Under the new rules, the DPR could dismiss civil servants who are not aligned with the government’s politics swiftly and without going through established procedures for legislative oversight.

Sources: Jakarta Post (1), Kompas, Jakarta Post (2)