Speaker: Dr. Deasy Simandjuntak
Associate Fellow ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore; Visiting Fellow Center for Asia Pacific Area Studies (CAPAS) Academia Sinica 中央硏究院, Taipei
Date: June 1, 2021 – 10:20-12:10
Location: NTNU Main Campus – Zheng Building 402 (Changed to online)
Register here: https://forms.gle/YNpxpHqw1n7ETmfx8
Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism, Back to the Barracks: the Divergent Paths taken by the Military in Myanmar and Indonesia
Historically, Myanmar and Indonesian armed forces exhibited significant similarities: both fought wars of independence, liberated their countries from colonial rule and played a crucial role in the construction and protection of their new states. Both faced accusations of human rights’ abuses as well as held substantial business interests. In the authoritarian era, Indonesia’s military held 20% of the parliament’s seats. Myanmar, – who learnt from the Indonesian experience- followed suit in 2008 by giving their military 25% parliamentary seats. However, by that time, Indonesia, which went through a post-authoritarian reform in 1998, had scrapped the policy, thereby returning the military to their barracks. Indonesia has thereby succeeded in officially abolishing the military’s parliamentary position and making the military supportive of the democratization process. In contrast, Myanmar’s military has been reluctant to relinquish power and even staged a coup in February 2021. What accounts for the divergent paths that the militaries of Myanmar and Indonesia have taken?
Biodata
Dr Deasy Simandjuntak is political anthropologist and Associate Fellow at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute), Singapore. A recipient of the Taiwan Fellowship, Deasy is Visiting Associate Fellow at the Center for Asia Pacific Area Studies (CAPAS), Academia Sinica. Her main interests are Indonesian democracy, local politics and decentralization. She completed her PhD in 2010 at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Deasy regularly publishes policy articles on Indonesian politics and is invited to give comments on Indonesia’s politics in the mass media. She is co-editor of the book Aspirations with Limitations: Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (ISEAS Publishing, 2018). Her most recent publication is “Disciplining the Accepted and Amputating the Deviants: Segregated Religious Citizenship in Indonesia,” in Asian Journal of Law and Society, Cambridge University Press, 2021.
