Bivitri Reveals Two Problems in Deploying Civil Servant Reserve Component to Guard Protest
Constitutional law lecturer at the Indonesia Jentera College of Law (STH), Bivitri Savitri, assessed that the deployment of the Reserve Component (Komcad) from the civil service to guard a demonstration titled ‘Indonesia Bankrupt’ on Friday, 12 June 2026, serves as a concrete example of strengthening militarisation in civilian spaces. According to her, the incident demonstrates how the expansion of the military’s role, long feared by civil society groups, is now becoming blatantly apparent. “This deployment of civil servant Komcad members is indeed a concrete example of the danger that many have long warned about regarding massive militarisation in this country,” Bivitri said when contacted on Saturday, 13 June 2026.
From a constitutional perspective, Bivitri argued there are at least two main problems with deploying civil servants holding Komcad status. First, she assessed that the Komcad mechanism grants the Ministry of Defence very strong authority, exceeding its sectoral function because it can deploy personnel from various other ministries and agencies. This condition is said to potentially damage and blur the boundaries between civilian and military institutions. “It is as if this country is becoming a state led by the military, because civilians can be employed for matters related to national defence,” she stated.
The second problem is the potential for horizontal conflict among civilians. Bivitri stressed that Komcad members are essentially civilians who have received limited military training, not professional soldiers serving full-time as troops. Therefore, assigning them to confront demonstrators directly makes them vulnerable to clashes among fellow citizens. “I am grateful that did not happen yesterday. But if the situation heats up and a clash eventually occurs between Komcad and citizens demonstrating, it has the potential to become a horizontal conflict,” she said.
Furthermore, deploying Komcad to guard a protest is also considered to exceed the provisions stipulated in Article 30 of the 1945 Constitution. This rule affirms that the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) is the state instrument in the field of defence, while security and public order matters should be the domain of the Police. Based on this interpretation, she argued that securing a demonstration does not fall under national defence affairs. This is because the party faced in a demonstration is not an enemy of the state or an external threat, but citizens exercising their constitutional right to express opinions. “So that has already violated the constitution,” she said.
Beyond the issue that the military should not be deployed for protest security, the summoning of civil servants by the Ministry of Defence under the pretext of being part of Komcad is also considered a serious violation. Bivitri stated that the Komcad status attached to civil servants who have undergone reserve component training does not automatically make them equivalent to TNI personnel, who can be summoned at any time for military agenda purposes. For civil servants, Bivitri explained, the duty of national defence, which has been one of the foundations for forming Komcad, must not be narrowly interpreted as activities resembling military actions alone. More than that, national defence in the constitution holds a much broader meaning for civil servants. “When someone excels in science, innovation, or brings Indonesia’s name to international competitions, that is also a form of national defence,” Bivitri said.
She then touched upon the birth of Law Number 23 of 2019 concerning the Management of National Resources for State Defence, which serves as the legal basis for forming Komcad. Although the law is formally valid because it was jointly created by the government and the House of Representatives (DPR), Bivitri assessed that the existence of this legal foundation does not automatically close the constitutional debate regarding Komcad. This is because the substance of the regulation can still be questioned if it is deemed contrary to constitutional principles. In this case, Bivitri argued that the expanded use of Komcad potentially contradicts the rule of law principle stipulated in Article 1 paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution. The article in question states that the rule of law requires the limitation of power and the protection of human rights, including clear restrictions on military authority. Therefore, she assessed that the TNI and Komcad should be strictly placed solely within the context of national defence, namely when facing threats of war or defence emergency situations. “What was faced yesterday was not an enemy of the state, so in my view, it is constitutionally problematic,” she concluded.
Previously, the alleged involvement of Komcad troops in assisting demonstration security was highlighted by the Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform. The concern arose after a Ministry of Defence letter dated 11 June 2026, Number B/572/VI/2026/BACADNAS, ordered approximately 500 civil servant Komcad troops from 49 ministries and agencies of the Red and White Cabinet to attend a Readiness Roll Call at the Ministry of Defence on the morning before the protest took place. “The attached officials are requested to order the male Civil Servant Reserve Component personnel in their respective ministries to carry out a Readiness Roll Call,” the document received by Tempo stated. Subsequently, the Head of the Defence Information Bureau at the Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait, denied that the readiness roll call was related to securing the student demonstration taking place on the same day. Rico stated that the roll call was part of a readiness test for Komcad members after completing training. “This activity is part of a post-training readiness test and development for Reserve Component members that had been planned beforehand,” Rico told Tempo on Saturday, 13 June 2026.