Indonesia lets active police hold civilian government
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- Indonesia's parliament passed the police law revisions unanimously in a plenary session on June 9, allowing serving officers to accept civilian posts in ministries or state agencies without resigning, provided the roles relate to police functions such as public security, law enforcement, and public protection.
- The amendments also extend the mandatory retirement age for police officers, including the national police chief, by one year.
- The law follows last year's revision of the military law that allocated more civilian posts to soldiers, and comes as President Prabowo Subianto's administration has appointed senior police and military officers to civilian roles since he took office in 2024.
- Amnesty International Indonesia's Haeril Halim said the government 'seems to replicate what they have done with military law,' calling it 'a sign of authoritarianism where defence and security forces are used to back those in power.'
- Muhammad Isnur of Indonesia's Legal Aid Foundation said the new law contradicts last year's constitutional court ruling that required police officers to resign before taking outside positions, warning it will harm police professionalism and disrupt civil service career paths and the merit system.
- On June 2, Prabowo sacked Dadan Hindayana, head of the National Nutrition Agency's free meals programme, amid corruption claims and reports of food poisonings affecting at least 33,000 children as of April; Hindayana was arrested in Jakarta the following day.
Why it matters: This law is the police counterpart to last year's military revision, building a civilian government architecture staffed by active security forces. Rights groups frame it as a direct override of a constitutional court ruling that required police to resign for outside posts. For Prabowo, it locks in the ability to deploy active officers across his administration just as a corruption scandal hits his signature food programme.
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