Activists hold posters during the 861st Kamisan (Thursday) peaceful protest on May 15, 2025 in front of the State Palace in Jakarta. The protest called on the Attorney General's Office to take concrete action on unresolved human rights violations that occurred in May 1998. - Photo: Antara
JAKARTA: Twenty-seven years after Indonesia emerged from the shadow of authoritarian rule, the nation now stands at a crossroads, as it reaches what some pro-democracy advocates describe as “the end of political reform,” marked by the dismantling of democratic institutions and the return of authoritarian tendencies.
The fall of Soeharto and his New Order regime on May 21, 27 years ago, marked the beginning of the Reform era, a transformative period that ended the military’s roles in civilian and political affairs, strengthened democracy, promoted greater regional autonomy and fostered a freer press, among other reforms.
In the years that followed, Indonesia became widely regarded as a rare democratic success in Southeast Asia, as it held regular competitive elections, empowered a vibrant press and civil society, and established independent institutions that symbolised a decisive break from authoritarian rule, such as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
New era?
Now, after more than two and a half decades have passed, some pro-democracy advocates and experts suggest that the reforms may be over, or at least nearing their end, as the nation drifts further from the spirit that defined the Reform era.
“One by one, the key mandates and institutions of reform have been dismantled, from anticorruption to civilian control over the military, everything the Reform era stood for has been undone,” said Wijayanto of the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education and Information (LP3ES).
“At this point, we have to admit that political reform in Indonesia is over. This is the close of an era and the rise of a new one, defined by authoritarianism dressed in democratic clothing,” he added.
Among the earliest signs of this shift, he said, was the declawing of the KPK, which once stood as a symbol of the Reform era's commitment to transparency and accountability.
The amendment of the KPK Law in 2019 stripped the once-independent anticorruption agency of its autonomy by placing it under a supervisory council appointed by the government.
Civil society, which has long been considered a crucial safeguard of Indonesian democracy, has also been under growing pressure, marked by a pattern of intimidation and online surveillance, as well as harassment targeting activists, students and academics, Wijayanto said.
Nicky Fahrizal of the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said democratic backsliding began in the final years of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s presidency, when legal and constitutional norms were increasingly bent to serve political interests.
An example was the controversial Constitutional Court ruling that altered the age eligibility rules for elections and which effectively enabled Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka to run for vice president alongside President Prabowo Subianto.
The trend has only accelerated under Prabowo, Nicky said, pointing to his growing reliance on the military to deliver his programmes, which was further reinforced by the recent passing of the amendment to the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law allowing active-duty officers to take on more civilian roles in government.
Nicky noted that the Reform era is drawing to a close, describing the country as transitioning into a “hybrid regime”, a system that maintains democratic facades like elections and civil liberties while quietly reintroducing authoritarian characteristics.
“We have entered the post-Reform era,” he said. “But what’s happening isn’t the strengthening of democratic or civil institutions, but the rise of a hybrid regime. Democracy is still maintained, but only in a formal and superficial way.”
Historical whitewashing
The potential nomination of late president Soeharto as a national hero and the plan by the Prabowo administration to release new history books have added to concerns about the rehabilitation of the former strongman’s legacy.
“What we’re seeing is an effort to rewrite history and portray [Soeharto’s] New Order regime as not all that bad,” Nicky said.
“This historical revisionism is dangerous because the reforms began as a response to the New Order’s suppression of civil liberties, corruption and human rights abuses.”
The attempts to rewrite history not only reflect strong nostalgia for the New Order among political elites, but also the broader public consciousness, with the military gaining traction in local politics and police officers being regarded with reverence by rural people, said Wijayanto of LP3ES.
“We haven’t truly left [New Order] behind. It still lives in our minds, it’s seen in the public’s admiration for military figures and uniforms. This isn’t just about Soeharto as a person, but about the kind of regime that existed with him,” he said.
Presidential Communications Office head Hasan Nasbi and State Secretary Supratman Andi Agtas were not immediately available for comment. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
