Military observers have questioned and demanded clarity of the continuing military unit expansion, with latest plan being to establish five new Army battalions in Papua and five new Regional Military Commands (Kodam) across the country.

"The government’s military unit expansion is extraordinarily very fast. They are targeting five Kodams this year, namely in North Sumatra, Riau Islands, Central Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, and South Papua," Made Supriatma, a researcher at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, spoke to Indonesia Business Post on the sidelines of a discussion while attending a discussion on State Necropolitics held by the Pusaka Bentala Rakyat Foundation in Jakarta on February 26, 2025.

He cited that the areas targeted for the formation of these regional military commands have indeed strategic value, especially because of their abundant natural resources.

"Batam in Riau Islands is strategically located because of its proximity to Singapore. Meanwhile, South Sumatra and Lampung are also priorities because of their proximity to the Sunda Strait," he said.

He, however, questioned the continuing military unit expansion throughout the country in the next five years. He cited that this year alone there are 100 new battalions planned, and in the next five years, the number could reach 514 battalions.

"This will significantly multiply the number of Armypersonnel. Although the budget is taken from defensebudget, at the end of the day these funds originate from the taxpayers’ money," he said.

Transparency

Supriatma cited the lack of transparency and the timing for announcing the expansion. He said that the steps taken by the government often surprised the public. He gave an example of how the government announced the plan to establish five battalions in Papua in October 2024, but in December the battalions had already existed.

"Clearly this is an attempt to obscure public opinion. The government should be more open, because this involves recruitment of thousands of troops and large State funds. The public has the right to know and judge whether this policy is worthy of support or not," he said.

He also considered that the terms used by the government were often euphemistic or softened reality. According to him, rather than using words like "development" or "security", it would be better for the government to convey this plan openly so that the public can assess its impact objectively.

The plan to have five more Kodams was earlier revealed by Army Chief of Staff, General Maruli Simanjuntak, during a hearing with the House of Representatives’ (DPR) Defense Commission I on February 4, 2025.According to him, this step was taken to narrow the scope of the control command which is currently considered too broad.

"So we divide large regions into smaller regions area so that the control command is more effective,” Maruli said.

Triple functions

Meanwhile, Laksmi Savitri, an anthropologist at theGadjah Mada University, said miltary unit expansion would mean increased functions of the military. She cited that in Papua, especially in Merauke, military personnel do not only perform defense and security duties, but are also involved in the rice business.

"If we examine it one by one, such as research on the role of the military during the New Order era, the relationship between the military and business is very close. In fact, some call it now the TNI's triple functions, no longer just Dwifungsi (dual functions)," Laksmi said.

She cited that in Merauke, the head of the rice milling association is a member of the military. This shows that the military not only plays a role in security, but also has influence in the local economy, especially in the agricultural business, she added.

She revealed that there are indications of large-scale land ownership by military members in Merauke.

"The issue is that the largest landowner in Merauke is the owner of a rice mill. There are 70 hectares of land in one village owned by the military," he said.

The involvement of the military in business, according to Laksmi, reflects a pattern that has existed since the New Order. In fact, the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law prohibits active military members from doing business. However, until now no party has filed a lawsuit for the alleged violation.

"This actually violates the TNI Law, but no one says that this is a violation. Who wants to challenge it?" she said.