The week of 13\u201319 March 2026 will be remembered as one of\nconsiderable political intensity in Indonesia, shaped by a brutal attack\non a human rights activist, a landmark reconciliation between the\nnation\u2019s two most prominent political figures, a swirling global crisis\nin the Middle East, and a series of domestic policy manoeuvres that\nrevealed both the strengths and tensions within the Prabowo Subianto\nadministration. Taken together, the events of this week offered a\nrevealing portrait of a government simultaneously projecting strength\nand navigating acute vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n
The dominant story of the week was the acid attack on Andrie Yunus,\nDeputy Coordinator of KontraS, the Commission for Missing Persons and\nVictims of Violence. The assault, which occurred on 12 March in central\nJakarta and left Yunus with sulphuric acid burns covering approximately\n24 per cent of his body \u2013 including severe trauma to his right eye \u2013\nprompted a cascading political and institutional crisis. By the middle\nof the week, the Indonesian National Armed Forces\u2019 Military Police\nCentre (Puspom TNI) had detained four personnel from the Strategic\nIntelligence Agency (BAIS), comprising Captain NDP, Lieutenant SL,\nLieutenant BHW, and Sergeant ES, from the Navy and Air Force branches.\nCCTV footage, assembled from 86 cameras producing over 2,600 video\nclips, confirmed that the attack was premeditated: the perpetrators had\nsurveilled Yunus from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation office in\nMenteng before executing a coordinated assault near Jalan Salemba I.<\/p>\n
President Prabowo Subianto\u2019s response was notably robust. He publicly\nlabelled the attack \u201cbarbaric terrorism,\u201d ordered the National Police\nChief, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, to pursue the intellectual\nmasterminds and financiers behind the operation, and assured the public\nthat no member of the state apparatus would be shielded from\nprosecution. Political analyst Bawono Kumoro praised the swift\ndetentions as evidence that no institution stands above the law during\nthe Prabowo era, whilst the National Police Commission (Kompolnas),\nunder Commissioner Choirul Anam, affirmed that the Metro Jaya Police\nwere handling the case with appropriate transparency, including the\nrelease of unmanipulated CCTV imagery of suspects identified by the\ninitials BHC and MAK.<\/p>\n
Yet the week also exposed significant fractures. Civil society groups\n\u2013 including KontraS, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI),\nAmnesty International Indonesia, Imparsial, and the Setara Institute \u2013\nunited in demanding that the case be tried in a general court rather\nthan a military tribunal, arguing that military courts have a historic\ntendency towards impunity and would be ill-suited to probe the chain of\ncommand above the four detained soldiers. The National Human Rights\nCommission (Komnas HAM), chaired by Anis Hidayah, announced plans to\nsummon TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto after Eid, citing\ndiscrepancies between the initials published by the police and those\ndisclosed by TNI headquarters. Legal expert Al Araf of the Centra\nInitiative urged the President to invoke Article 65 of the TNI Law or\nissue an emergency regulation to ensure general court jurisdiction,\nwhile the Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) presented independent CCTV\nanalysis suggesting five or more individuals were involved. Political\nobserver Ubedilah Badrun went further, arguing that the conflicting\ninstitutional narratives reflected deeper rivalry and mistrust between\nPolri and TNI \u2013 a structural problem compounded by budget competition\nand disputes over socio-political roles. The Ministry of Human Rights,\nled by Deputy Minister Mugiyanto, tried to bridge this divide, urging\ncoordination between the two institutions while calling for internal TNI\nreform to embed human rights perspectives in military training.<\/p>\n
On the diplomatic front, Prabowo\u2019s decision to join the Board of\nPeace (BoP), a US-initiated body involving eight Muslim-majority nations\naimed at stabilising Gaza, attracted considerable scrutiny. The\nPresident explained Indonesia\u2019s participation as a pragmatic strategy to\nadvance the Palestinian cause from within, citing points 19 and 20 of\nthe US\u2019s 21-point Gaza peace plan as aligned with Indonesia\u2019s\nlongstanding advocacy for a two-state solution. He was unambiguous,\nhowever, that Indonesia would withdraw without hesitation if BoP\nmembership proved counterproductive. This caveat gained immediate\nrelevance: amid the catastrophic escalation of the US-Israel-Iran\nconflict \u2013 which had seen the deaths of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah\nAli Khamenei, security chief Ali Larijani, and numerous military\ncommanders \u2013 Indonesia formally postponed the deployment of up to 8,000\nTNI peacekeeping troops to Gaza and suspended all BoP-related\ndiscussions. The Foreign Ministry emphasised that any future deployment\nmust occur under a UN Security Council mandate and full Indonesian\nnational control.<\/p>\n
The broader Middle East conflagration cast a long shadow over\nIndonesian economic policy this week. Coordinating Minister for the\nEconomy Airlangga Hartarto announced that the government was finalising\na work-from-home policy allowing civil servants \u2013 and potentially\nprivate sector employees \u2013 to work remotely one day per week to conserve\nfuel, with implementation expected after the Eid holiday. Finance\nMinister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa confirmed the government was also studying\nsalary cuts for cabinet members and members of parliament, citing\nPakistan\u2019s austerity model as a reference point, though NasDem chair\nIrma Suryani Chaniago pointedly noted that even a 50 per cent\nministerial salary cut would yield savings of only approximately Rp850\nbillion \u2013 a mere 0.02 per cent of the national budget. Meanwhile,\nPrabowo announced that efficiency measures targeting unproductive\nexpenditure had so far recovered Rp308 trillion from the state budget, a\nfigure he attributed to the administration\u2019s drive against bureaucratic\nwaste. Bank Indonesia simultaneously adjusted its foreign exchange\ntransaction thresholds, reducing the monthly cash purchase limit for US\ndollars from US$100,000 to US$50,000 per actor effective 1 April, in an\neffort to support a rupiah that had weakened to around Rp16,985 per\ndollar by mid-March.<\/p>\n
One of the week\u2019s most symbolically resonant moments was the meeting\nat Merdeka Palace between President Prabowo and former President and\nPDI-P Chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri. The encounter, their fourth\nsince Prabowo\u2019s inauguration in October 2024, lasted over two hours and\nwas attended by House Speaker Puan Maharani and Gerindra Deputy Chairman\nSufmi Dasco Ahmad. Megawati shared insights from her presidential\nexperience in managing multidimensional crises, discussed Indonesia\u2019s\nhistorical role in the Non-Aligned Movement, and reflected on her recent\nvisits to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. PDI-P Secretary General Hasto\nKristiyanto described the gathering as embodying Indonesia\u2019s spirit of\nmutual cooperation, or gotong royong, whilst political analyst Adi\nPrayitno characterised it as a \u201cwarm reunion between long-time friends.\u201d\nPAN leader Zulkifli Hasan praised Prabowo\u2019s inclusive approach, and\nanalyst Agung Baskoro described the President as demonstrating high\nstatesmanship by reaching across political lines. The meeting was widely\nread as a signal that the political gulf between Prabowo\u2019s coalition and\nthe country\u2019s principal opposition party is narrowing, with potentially\nsignificant implications for legislative dynamics ahead.<\/p>\n
Domestically, several other threads deserved attention. The\ngovernment officially set Eid al-Fitr 1447 Hijriah for Saturday, 21\nMarch 2026, following the Sidang Isbat \u2013 a decision based on the failure\nof hilal sightings at 117 locations nationwide to meet the MABIMS\ncriteria of a minimum 3-degree elevation and 6.4-degree elongation.\nMuhammadiyah had separately determined Eid for the preceding day,\ncreating the familiar one-day divergence that the Religious Affairs\nMinister, Nasaruddin Umar, and DPR Commission VIII Chairman Marwan\nDasopang both urged Indonesians to tolerate with goodwill. The\ngovernment\u2019s PP Tunas regulation \u2013 Government Regulation No.\u00a017 of 2025\non child protection in digital systems \u2013 formally came into effect this\nweek, with social media platform X committing to a minimum user age of\n16 from 27 March and announcing plans to deactivate non-compliant\naccounts. On the anti-corruption front, the KPK detained Ishfah Abidal\nAziz, alias Gus Alex, former special staff to ex-Religious Affairs\nMinister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, in connection with an alleged scheme\ninvolving the illegal reallocation of additional hajj quotas, with state\nlosses estimated at Rp622 billion. Three Central Java regents had also\nbeen arrested by the KPK within three months \u2013 a run of operations that\nthe regional watchdog KP2KKN described as indicative of systemic\ngovernance instability in that province.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, the acid attack on Andrie Yunus will remain the most\npolitically consequential issue of this period. The pressure from Komnas\nHAM, civil society coalitions, and DPR working committees to ensure the\ncase proceeds through the general court \u2013 and that the chain of command\nabove the four BAIS soldiers is genuinely investigated \u2013 will be a\ncredible test of the Prabowo administration\u2019s stated commitment to the\nrule of law. The government\u2019s broader challenge is to manage Indonesia\u2019s\nexposure to an increasingly volatile global energy market, navigate the\ndiplomatic minefield of the Gaza peace process without compromising the\ncountry\u2019s non-aligned principles, and sustain public confidence in\ninstitutions \u2013 military and civilian alike \u2013 that this week showed\nthemselves capable of both decisive action and troubling opacity. The\nRamadan season offered a moment of unity and reflection; whether that\nspirit carries into the weeks ahead will depend in no small measure on\nhow these unresolved tensions are handled.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/this-week-in-indonesian-politics-13-19-mar-2026-1774004544", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }