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View all search resultsPrabowo’s expansion of military commands fuels militarization concerns
President Prabowo Subianto’s expansion of the military’s command structure has raised fresh concerns over the widening military presence in civilian affairs, with critics fearing it would sidestep defense functions and only further weaken civilian supremacy across the regions.
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President Prabowo Subianto (left), accompanied by Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto (center) and other senior officers, passes by a contingent of Indonesian peacekeepers during a parade on Oct. 5 to celebrate the 81st anniversary of the military in Cilangkap, East Jakarta. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto marked the anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Monday with the expansion of its command structure, as critics raise fresh concern of growing militarization in civic spaces.
In the event at the TNI headquarters in East Jakarta, Prabowo inaugurated over 200 new military units, which include six new regional military commands (Kodam) that serve to boost the Army’s territorial defense.
The new military commands will cover Yogyakarta, Riau Islands, East Nusa Tenggara, North Maluku, Central Papua and West Nusa Tenggara, areas which were previously covered by neighboring military commands.
The addition of new Kodam, now totaling to 27 across the country, was hailed by the Army as an integral restructuring plan for its territorial command to strengthen defense in the country’s border areas and outer islands.
The Navy and Air Force also received a handful of new combat battalions during the inauguration, although contrasting in quantity to that of the Army.
Prabowo described the expansion as a necessary preparation for potential threats and an effort to strengthen the military’s ability to respond to them.
“Peacetime is the period to prepare [ourselves] against threats. Even the worst ones,” Prabowo said in his speech on Monday.
