Five deaths in military-style training for a civilian job

Five people training to run Indonesia's new village cooperatives have died after a program of military-style drills, raising hard questions about President Prabowo Subianto's habit of using the army for civilian jobs. The trainees were preparing to manage part of a huge plan to set up 80,000 village cooperatives, a US$13.4 billion program meant to lift the rural economy. Their work is civilian, but the training, run by the Ministry of Defence and started on 18 June, included tough physical drills. As the South China Morning Post reports, the deaths have fed a wider worry about the military moving into everyday government.

The ministry said the five died from different causes: heatstroke, cardiac arrest (a sudden stop of the heart), tuberculosis, and pneumonia. It also confirmed that 32 pregnant women were pulled out of the training after gaps in medical screening came to light, though they stayed on the payroll. Two senior officers, Major General Ketut Gede Wetan and Brigadier General Hengki Yuda Setiawan, defended the drills and said the training was "not a burden." Critics disagree, noting that people hired for management and office work were put through soldier-style exercises.

The episode lands in the middle of a bigger debate. Since taking office, Prabowo, a former general, has given the military a growing role in areas once run by civilians, from food programs to rural development. Supporters say the army brings discipline and reach. Opponents say it blurs the line between soldiers and civil servants that Indonesia drew on purpose after the Suharto era.

Why it matters

If you or your family were counting on these cooperatives for jobs or cheaper goods, the deaths raise real doubts about how carefully the program is being run. More broadly, it tests how far the military should reach into daily government, a line many Indonesians fought to draw after 1998. Watch whether the deaths lead to a real change in how trainees are prepared, or just a promise that nothing was wrong.