Analysis-Indonesia's new leader expands military's role in test of fragile democracy


FILE PHOTO: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto reads out vows, taken by newly appointed ministers during an inauguration at the Presidential palace in Jakarta, October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Nearly three decades after the fall of Indonesia's authoritarian leader, General Suharto, the nation's new president is causing unease among liberals and others by increasingly turning to the once-all-powerful military to carry out his governing vision.

Critics of President Prabowo Subianto point to the former defence minister's early actions as a worrying sign of his tendency to replace civilian functions with the military, raising comparisons to a Suharto-era doctrine called "dwifungsi" (dual function) that allowed the armed forces to crush dissent and dominate public life.

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