A person holds the Indonesian flag in a protest outside the Indonesian Parliament against revisions to the country's military law, in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 20, 2025. - Reuters
JAKARTA: Even as protesters took to the streets on Thursday (March 20) to reject the revised Law on the Indonesian Military (TNI), President Prabowo Subianto said his administration would plow ahead with bold initiatives he deemed were key to transforming the country.
In his speech at the designation ceremony of the Batang Industropolis special economic zone (SEZ) in Central Java, the President shrugged off criticism over some of his policies, including the downstreaming project, saying they were analogous to the bark of a dog.
"I must insist that [the criticism] is not correct and that we must press ahead. Let the dogs bark and we will continue moving forward. We will build a glorious future," said Prabowo, a former military general and defence minister.
He added that his signature policies, from the free nutritious meal and free health screening programmes to the expanded downstreaming policy, would propel the country toward a future of prosperity.
"Our future will be glorious and bright, despite the small efforts from some quarters to always [try and] dampen the spirit and hopes of our youths," the President said in his off-the-cuff remarks.
Thousands of students joined Thursday’s demonstration to protest the move of the government and the House of Representatives to pass the TNI Law revision to allow military personnel greater participation in civilian affairs, hearkening back to the dwifungsi (dual function) role of the armed forces under Suharto's New Order regime.
The protest followed weeks of economic turbulence that transpired in the wake of the President’s decisions to shake up the political establishment, including the establishment of the Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara) sovereign wealth fund, intended to function similarly to Singapore’s Temasek.
Earlier this week, the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) plummeted more than seven per cent, marking the biggest drop since September 2011, over concerns about the national economy and weakening consumer spending. This prompted the Indonesia Stock Exchange to halt trading for 30 minutes, the first time it has done so since the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
