The retired general who is now president has established 100 new army battalions and plans more – and critics say the move has echoes of the country’s authoritarian past
“A big nation like us,” Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto told the rank and file before him, “needs a strong military. No nation can be independent without having a strong military.”
In a speech before inaugurating military troops in West Java this month, Prabowo – the former special forces commandant – proclaimed that Indonesia must strengthen its defences to protect the nation’s sovereignty and resources.
