Retreat for new regional heads raises recentralization concerns

President Prabowo Subianto plans to hold a military-style retreat for incoming regional heads elected in last November’s elections, garnering mixed reactions from the public, with some critics raising concerns over the possible recentralization of governance. 

Days after he took office in October of last year, Prabowo hosted a similar three-day retreat for his Red and White Cabinet at the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, where they slept in tents and took part in a military-style parade and unconventional team-building exercises. 

The retreat was aimed at strengthening bonds and instilling discipline among ministers and their deputies, a diverse group of party politicians, technocrats, former military officials and religious leaders. Prabowo is not the first Indonesian president to have a military background. 

His one-time father-in-law, New Order leader Soeharto, was also a military man, as was the country’s sixth president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 

But Prabowo was the first to stage such a retreat for newly appointed cabinet members on military grounds. 

Prabowo described the retreat initiative as embodying “the military way", but insisted that he did not intend to impose a militaristic mindset but rather to inspire discipline and loyalty among cabinet members. 

Now, the President plans to send hundreds of incoming governors, mayors and regents from across the country on a similar military-style retreat, which his aides say will instill a shared understanding of Prabowo’s vision for the next five years among the local leaders. 

“There are plans [for a retreat]. But the idea [behind this retreat] is to make sure that the incoming regional heads share the same vision so that they can carry out the central government’s programs evenly across the archipelago for the sake of the people in the regions,” Sufmi Dasco Ahmad of Prabowo’s Gerindra Party said on Tuesday, adding that the move was important because the elected regional heads came from different political parties. 

Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the planned retreat would be a forum for President Prabowo to brief the regional heads on his agenda and how they should implement it at the local level. 

"All [new] local heads will gather so that they will have the same perception of how to deal with problems currently faced by the government," Yusril said, as quoted by kompas.com. 

Yusril said the retreat would take place only after the Constitutional Court issued the final rulings on election disputes filed by candidates in the regional polls.  

Last week, the court began hearing 310 election dispute petitions, which include 23 on gubernatorial races, 238 on regental races and 49 on mayoral races. 

It is scheduled to wrap up the process in mid-February. Yusril said President Prabowo had not yet settled on the site for the retreat but that Magelang would likely again be the venue. 

East Java governor-elect Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who supported Prabowo in last year’s presidential election, welcomed the retreat initiative, saying it would promote harmonious relations among regional leaders. 

"In my opinion, the retreat will be important, [a place] where we can share updates, adapt and mitigate,” Khofifah said on Tuesday.

But while Prabowo’s supporters welcomed the initiative, some observers expressed skepticism about the retreat, including whether it would be effective and whether military-style gatherings were appropriate for civilian government. 

Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) executive director Herman N. Suparman expressed concern that the retreat might not be effective at synchronizing regional planning and budgeting policies between central and local leaders. 

“The President should focus instead on improving relations [and the distribution of power] between central and regional governments, in terms of their respective scope of authority, finances and supervision,” Herman told The Jakarta Post. 

Rather than serving as a one-way forum where Prabowo gave directives to local leaders, Herman continued, the retreat should facilitate a two-way discussion between the central government and local leaders. 

“Local leaders should be able to voice the needs and challenges of their respective regions during the retreat. In principle, they should not simply agree with the central government’s direction if it contradicts the regional priorities. 

It is crucial to communicate this,” Herman said on Friday. Pointing to a growing trend of recentralization in recent years, Herman said Prabowo’s administration should lean toward an “asymmetric approach”, allowing all programs, including priority ones, to be adjusted to the needs, problems and capacities of each region. 

After the fall of Soeharto's authoritarian regime in 1998, Indonesia began its democratic transition and introduced a more decentralized political system, gradually giving greater authority and power to local administrations.  

Pro-democracy activist Muhammad Afif of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), meanwhile, raised concerns about the militarization of civil government, saying the retreat signaled Prabowo’s intention to prioritize a militaristic mindset in governance. 

“Having a military-style, top-down approach, practices in government could undermine public participation and accountability in decision-making,” Afif said on Friday.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2025/01/18/retreat-for-new-regional-heads-raises-recentralization-concerns.html.