TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsSoldiers at House complex fuel fears of militarization, civilian intimidation
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Marines secure positions along a street on Sept. 1 outside the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
T
he deployment of Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel to guard public institutions, including the House of Representatives complex, weeks after last month’s deadly unrest raised the alarm over a dangerous precedent for military involvement in civilian affairs, amid the absence of a clear withdrawal timeline.
Soldiers and police officers remained stationed at the Senayan legislative complex in Central Jakarta, where a protest against lawmakers’ lavish perks last month spiraled into nationwide unrest after a tactical police vehicle fatally struck an online motorcycle taxi (ojol) driver, footage of which spread rapidly online.
Reports noted that tactical vehicles were still parked in the compound this week, while soldiers in uniform had set up tents and even used House facilities for daily needs, such as bathing in the building’s toilets, even on days when no protests took place.
Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said last week that the armed forces will continue guarding government installations, including the House complex, until the situation becomes more “conducive”, describing the deployment as part of the military’s duty to protect “symbols of state sovereignty.”
He did not clarify what conditions would be considered conducive enough to withdraw the troops, noting that the decision would “depend on the assessment of the situation”. The TNI, he added, prioritizes making the “public feel safe and comfortable going to work”.
Read also: Rising militarism
Civil groups under the banner “Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform” expressed alarm over the military’s involvement in guarding public institutions, warning that it signaled a troubling shift in the military’s function.
