by Dr. Yohanes Sulaiman, Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Relations at the Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani in Cimahi, Indonesia.

Production of the Southeast Asia Observatory, cycle 2019-2020, June 2019

Is there a growing militarization of Indonesian democracy? This article argues that at this point, the military as an organization does not willingly and independently interfere in civilian affairs. Rather, the military’s involvement should be put in its context, notably the weaknesses of successive civilian governments, especially Joko Widodo administration, that forces it to ask for the military for support; personal ambition of General Gatot Nurmantyo, the Chief of the Military, who was using the military as a tool for promoting himself for the Presidential Election of 2019; and the institutional weaknesses of the military itself, that created the condition for the involvement of the military in political affairs.

• Introduction
• The Weaknesses of Civilian Government
• General Gatot Nurmantyo’s Ambition
• Military’s Internal Weaknesses
• Conclusion