CaliToday (17/9/2025): Indonesia's Constitutional Court is set to deliver a critical verdict on Wednesday regarding controversial amendments to a military law that grants the armed forces a significantly larger role in civilian affairs. The ruling comes as a groundswell of public anger fuels widespread anti-government protests, marking the first major test for President Prabowo Subianto's administration.
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| FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's State of the Nation Address and annual budget speech |
The court will decide on five separate petitions challenging the legal revisions, which were passed by parliament in March. Plaintiffs, including human rights groups, student activists, and the daughter of a former president, argue the law was rushed through without adequate public consultation and threatens to unwind decades of democratic reforms by expanding the military's reach into civilian life.
Fears are mounting across the world's third-largest democracy that President Prabowo, a former special forces commander, is increasingly leaning on the military to execute his ambitious agenda just 11 months into his term. This has revived painful memories of the authoritarian, military-dominated "New Order" regime, which ruled Indonesia with an iron fist from 1966 to 1998.
Since taking office, President Prabowo has appointed numerous former generals to key government posts and has deployed military personnel for a range of non-defense tasks. These include managing street protests, implementing his flagship free school meal and food security initiatives, producing medicine, and even seizing palm oil plantations for a new state-owned enterprise. Critics view these moves as a creeping militarization of the state, undermining civilian institutions.
The court's decision is being delivered against a backdrop of intense social unrest. For two weeks, demonstrators have taken to the streets in sometimes violent protests, incensed by a range of issues from perks for lawmakers and state budget priorities to police conduct and the perceived return of military influence in daily life.
The petitions before the court argue that the legislative process for the military law amendments lacked transparency and meaningful public participation before being passed by a parliament overwhelmingly supportive of the president. They are demanding the changes be annulled entirely.
"We hope the court will revoke the military law because the process was not in line with another law that regulates the legislative process," petitioner Ardi Manto Adiputra told Reuters. He added that lawmakers had discussed the amendments behind closed doors and fast-tracked their passage.
Among the prominent petitioners are respected human rights organizations, student bodies, and Inayah Wahid, the daughter of the late Indonesian President and democracy icon Abdurrahman Wahid.
The Indonesian Law Minister has publicly maintained that the legislative process was open and that public input was sufficiently considered.
The court's ruling on Wednesday is expected to focus on the procedural flaws in how the law was passed, rather than the substance of the amendments themselves. However, the decision will be closely watched as a bellwether for the judiciary's independence.
Ardi stated that his group plans to file a separate judicial review challenging the content of the law at a later date, signaling that the legal battle is far from over.
In a move reflecting the current tense climate, the court announced its verdict will be delivered online, with neither the plaintiffs nor the public permitted to attend the session in person.
