CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS UNDER JOKOWI

Abstract

When Gen. (ret.) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's was president from 2004-2014, he established the strongest civilian control over the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) since the end of the New Order era. When Joko Widodo (Jokowi) took over the presidency in October 2014, many anticipated further reforms and stronger democratic civilian control of the TNI. After all, Jokowi is Indonesia's first president without ties to its authoritarian past, and was widely hailed as the "fresh face of Indonesia's democracy." However, civilian control over the TNI appears to have weakened under Jokowi vis-a-vis the Yudhoyono presidency. This has been most visible in the expansion of the TNI's internal security role. This paper questions why a former military general was able to exert stronger control over the TNI while civilian control has weakened under a president without ties to Indonesia's authoritarian past. By isolating structural factors, this paper theorizes that the agency of presidents offers the most compelling explanation for this divergence.