Indonesia’s parliament passed revisions to the country’s military law on Thursday, allocating more civilian posts for military officers as hundreds of students and activists protested against the legislation.
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The revisions have been criticised by civil society groups, who say it could take the world’s third-biggest democracy back to the draconian New Order era of former strongman president Suharto, when military officers dominated civilian affairs.
Speaker Puan Maharani led the unanimous vote in a plenary council and officially passed the law, saying that it was in accordance with the principles of democracy, human rights and civil supremacy.
President Prabowo Subianto, who took office last October and was a special forces commander under Suharto, has been expanding the armed forces’ role into what were considered civilian areas, including his flagship programme of free meals for children.
Rights groups have criticised the increased military involvement because they fear it may lead to abuses of power, human rights violations and impunity from consequences for actions.
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