Oligarchs, Not Civil Society Organizations, Are The Threat To Democracy

President Prabowo delivered his hearty speech speech during the commemoration of Pancasila Day on June 2, 2025. Fiery and loud, it echoed the oratory style of Proclamation President Soekarno. However, Prabowo’s speech was a sharp contrast to that of the first president, which acknowledged the hardships inflicting the Indonesian people during the early days of the country’s independence.

Prabowo’s remarks, in comparison, failed to touch on the modern day predicament of his citizens—such as the plight of those in Papua, the environmental damage caused by nickel industry operations in Halmahera and Sulawesi, or the destruction of forests in Kalimantan and Sumatra due to brutal extractivism which brings tangible harm to Indigenous communities.

Rather than acknowledge these public concerns, President Prabowo used his platform to openly accuse civil society organizations (CSOs)—groups that advocate for democracy and environmental justice—of “sowing discord” among the public with alleged support from foreign nations. TuK INDONESIA finds it necessary to rectify this accusation, and we express deep concern over a message that risks discrediting the role of civil society in Indonesia.

From the outset, civil society organizations emerged from a democratic spirit committed to ensuring state accountability, expanding public participation, defending the rights of marginalized communities, and holding power accountable to constitutional principles and social justice. Our core mission is not to incite division, but to critically evaluate policies that do not serve the people, safeguard transparent governance, and defend the rights of vulnerable groups.

Accusations that vilify CSOs reveal an unease with the critical voices they raise—about economic inequality, the concentration of natural resource control in the hands of a few tycoons and politico-capitalist elites (oligarchs), the environmental destruction caused by resource exploitation, and the violations of rights affecting Indigenous peoples, farmers, workers, women, and minority groups.

Civil society organizations assert that a healthy system of democracy hinges on allowing an open space for critique. Democracy is threatened when criticism is viewed as an attack, when activists are persecuted, and when CSOs are silenced through slanderous rhetoric.

The kind of political climate witnessed today reveals a concerning fact; our political system is being consolidated by oligarchic forces. They have a shared goal to shrink spaces for dissent, weaken democratic institutions, erode the independence of law enforcement, and threaten civil liberties. Moneyed power, dynastic politics, the criminalization of activists, and the co-optation of civil society institutions are all patterns that reinforce oligarchic dominance across many sectors of life. Under such oligarchic practices, politics is increasingly indistinguishable from a transactional marketplace.

We must urge the government to leave public participation as widely open as possible. President Prabowo should see CSOs as partners to strengthen the cabinet he leads. The government can utilize the information and input from CSOs to devise more inclusive and targeted policies—whether in community-based resource management, strengthening rural economies, addressing agrarian conflict, or advancing environmental conservation. This would be far more constructive than treating CSOs as adversaries to be weakened.

TuK INDONESIA
Abdul Haris
Head of Advocacy and Public Education Department

This post is also available in: Indonesian