Dani Aswara, Sukma N Loppies – The economic and public policy research institute Centre for Economic and Law Studies (Celios) has found that the majority of the public believes that the government of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka uses a militaristic approach to governance.
A survey conducted by Celios of 1,338 respondents showed that 63 percent of the public believe that the Prabowo-Gibran government uses a militaristic approach in exercising power. As many as 24 percent of respondents disagreed and another 13 percent said they didn't know.
"The survey question read: 'Do you think Prabowo-Gibran is implementing a militaristic approach in governance?'", said Celios in its survey results quoted Monday October 20 (the answer options were "Yes", "No" and "Don't know").
The survey was part of a one-year evaluation of the Prabowo--Gibran administration, which highlights public perceptions about the direction of economic, political and governance policies.
According to Celios, these results show the strong public perception that administrative management over the past year has taken place with a centralisation of power with a militaristic pattern. This model is considered to cause a narrowing of the space for civic participation in public policy.
Apart from assessing the character of the government, Celios also conducted expert judgment surveys on the performance of ministers and heads of agencies in the social and political fields. The results show the dominance of negative assessments of a number of ministers.
Prabowo's Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin relieved a score of -14 or in the bottom three, followed by Minister of Communications and Digital Affairs Meutya Hafid with -15 and Minister of Culture Fadli Zon, who was in the lowest position with a score difference of -39.
Celios noted that this negative score indicates a low level of satisfaction with ministers who deal with issues of public communication, defence and culture.
In the survey institute's notes, the assessment of Sjamsoeddin reflects a critical public perception of the way the Defence Ministry carries out its functions under the Prabowo-Gibran administration, especially amidst the spotlight on the militaristic approach to state governance.
Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) Director Ardi Manto Adiputra considers that the first year of the Prabowo-Gibran administration showed a strong tendency to reconsolidate militarism.
"The government together with the DPR [House of Representatives] have actually taken steps to encourage the military's dominant role in the civilian realm, both legally-normatively and factually-implementarilly", said Adiputra in South Jakarta on October 17.
The activist, who focuses on security issues, said that defence and security policies over the past year marked a serious setback for the military reform agenda.
"The government has not only failed to continue reforming the TNI [Indonesian Military], but has also strengthened militarism and restored the military's role in various aspects of state life", said Adiputra.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Survei Celios: 63 Persen Publik Nilai Pemerintahan Militeristik".]
Source: https://www.tempo.co/politik/survei-Celios-63-persen-publik-nilai-pemerintahan-militeristik-2081519
