Clashes in Indonesia as protesters oppose new laws allowing military officers bigger role in govt

Violent clashes erupted across several cities in Indonesia on Monday, Mar. 24, between police and demonstrators protesting the country's changes to the military law.

The protests took place in the cities of Sukabumi, Surabaya, Palangka Raya, Lumajang, and Malang, Jakarta Globe reported.

Amended law

Indonesia's parliament last Thursday (Mar. 20) passed revisions to the legislation that will give its military a bigger role in government, BBC and Reuters reported.

Critics argued that the revisions could take Indonesia back to the New Order era of former President Suharto, when military officers wielded control over civilian affairs.

The amendments, which permit military officers to assume civilian posts without first retiring or resigning from the armed forces, were supported by President Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces commander during the New Order era and Suharto's son-in-law.

"Reject military law"

Police in Sukabumi used water cannons to confront protesters attempting to enter the city's legislative council office in protests against the revised military law.

A similar scene was observed in Surabaya, where around 1,000 students and activists gathered in protest in front of an East Java government building, according to Jakarta Post, citing AFP.

They held posters that said "reject the military law", among other things, and threw rocks, sticks, and Molotov cocktails towards the police guarding the demonstration.

At 7pm (local time), the police eventually used water cannons to disperse the protesters.

Human rights activists from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) told AFP that at least 25 people have been detained.

Meanwhile, a demonstration held in Malang on Sunday (Mar. 23) evening ended in chaos, with a government building breaking out in fire as a result of Molotov cocktails being thrown, Kompas reported.

At least six protesters were rushed to the hospital due to injuries, and contacts were lost with at least 10 protesters.

At least three protesters were arrested by the police.

Declining rupiah

Indonesia's rupiah fell to its weakest rate in 27 years on Tuesday (Mar. 25), with SCMP noting that the plunging currency "spotlights Prabowo policy concerns".

The rupiah fell as much as 0.54 per cent to 16,640 against the U.S. dollar, not far from its historic low of 16,800 in June 1998, the same year Suharto fell from power, Financial Times wrote.

Executive director of Jakarta-based Centre of Economic and Law studies think tank Bhima Yudhistira said that the declining rupiah shows the market's "distrust" towards Prabowo's leadership and economic policies, SCMP reported.

“[The weakening of rupiah] is also the effect of mass action that occurred in many cities because they protested against the revision of the [military] law that was passed in a hurry [by the parliament]. It shows that there is political instability [in Indonesia],” Bhima said, as quoted by SCMP.

Indonesia's central bank, Bank Indonesia, told Financial Times that it had taken action in both bond and currency market to stabilise the rupiah exchange rate and maintain market confidence.

House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani, also daughter of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, urged all parties to read the content of the revised military law "carefully" first, especially since it was just recently ratified, Kompas wrote.

Top image via AFP