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Retreat for new regional heads raises recentralization concerns

Yerica Lai (The Jakarta Post)
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Jakarta
Sat, January 18, 2025

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Retreat for new regional heads raises recentralization concerns President Prabowo Subianto shakes hands with a cadet during a visit to the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, during a retreat with his cabinet ministers in this undated handout photo. (AFP/Gerindra Party) (AFP/Gerindra Party)

P

resident Prabowo Subianto plans to hold a military-style retreat for incoming regional heads elected in last November’s elections, garnering mixed reactions from the public, with some critics raising concerns over the possible recentralization of governance.

Days after he took office in October of last year, Prabowo hosted a similar three-day retreat for his Red and White Cabinet at the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, where they slept in tents and took part in a military-style parade and unconventional team-building exercises.

The retreat was aimed at strengthening bonds and instilling discipline among ministers and their deputies, a diverse group of party politicians, technocrats, former military officials and religious leaders.

Prabowo is not the first Indonesian president to have a military background. His one-time father-in-law, New Order leader Soeharto, was also a military man, as was the country’s sixth president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. But Prabowo was the first to stage such a retreat for newly appointed cabinet members on military grounds.

Prabowo described the retreat initiative as embodying “the military way", but insisted that he did not intend to impose a militaristic mindset but rather to inspire discipline and loyalty among cabinet members.

Read also: Prabowo introduces 'Military Way' to cabinet in Magelang bootcamp

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Now, the President plans to send hundreds of incoming governors, mayors and regents from across the country on a similar military-style retreat, which his aides say will instill a shared understanding of Prabowo’s vision for the next five years among the local leaders.

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Retreat for new regional heads raises recentralization concerns

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  • Palmerat Barat No. 142-143
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