January 12, 2026 | 06:36 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The draft law on Presidential Regulation concerning military role in combating terrorism reflects the resurgence of a New Order-style militaristic authority. This was conveyed by Andreas Budi Widyanta, a lecturer at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta.
The regulation centralizes and amplifies the military's authority in various terrorism-related aspects—from prevention, enforcement, to recovery—which the Andreas fear would lead to fascism. The draft regulation consists of seven chapters and 15 articles.
For instance, Article 9, paragraph 1, letter h, regulates law enforcement against acts of terrorism that threaten the state's ideology, sovereignty, the integrity of Indonesian territory, and the safety of the entire nation.
According to him, the rule demonstrates farce nationalism that belies the centralization of power under the influence of militarism. This is dangerous, as it will sideline various progressive civil society movements that oppose the current authoritarianism.
The draft regulation poses the risk of making way for the military to arrest people who do not align with President Prabowo. The government could arbitrarily label civil society movements protesting Prabowo as terrorists, as was the case during the August 2025 demonstrations.
At that time, President Prabowo accused the protests of sedition, which Andreas told Tempo on January 12 is "typical of the ultra-right nationalist ideology because it suppresses critical thinking."
"Fascism was strongly evident," he said, referring to the government's reaction to the series of protests.
He views the regulation as a serious threat to civil society movements, fearing misuse of power to arrest activists. According to Andreas, the terrorist label could target those the Indonesian government deems contrary to the state's ideology.
He cites various progressive movements that emphasize critical thinking, such as Marxism and Anarchism, as potential targets that could be labeled as terrorists. When in fact, these movements emphasize criticism of authoritarian and centralistic power.
State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi earlier claimed that the document was only a preliminary presidential letter that has much left to discuss. He urged the public not to view the draft as solely intended to expand military roles, but a regulation that is made and implemented if the circumstances call for it.
Eka Yudha Saputra contributed to the writing of this article
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