Red-White Village Cooperatives and the Shift in Indonesian Governance

• President Prabowo’s 'Red-White' village cooperative initiative reflects a growing trend of extra-legal governance in Indonesia, characterized by personal directives and military mobilization rather than formal legislative processes.
• The program bypasses constitutional oversight, sidelining parliamentary functions to implement a top-down model that conflicts with the organic, grassroots nature of traditional cooperatives.
• Land acquisition for these cooperatives has led to legal and ethical controversies, including the forced conversion of protected land and potential criminal liability for local officials.

Autocratic Legality and 'Act First, Law Later'

• The initiative operates via Presidential Instruction—a low-level executive order—rather than a robust legal framework.
• This approach marks a transition from the previous administration's tendency to modify laws before implementation to an 'act first, law later' strategy.
• Military battalions have been deployed to secure land and manage logistics, reinforcing the reliance on state power rather than legal compliance.

Top-Down Coercion

• The program imposes uniform structures and targets on villages nationwide, ignoring diverse local economic realities and spatial challenges.
• Village officials face 'coercive consent,' where they are pressured to comply with directives despite the lack of business rationale or potential violations of land-use laws.

Land Use and Legal Conflicts

• The project creates significant friction by forcing the use of 'tanah kas desa' (village treasury land), often utilizing unsuitable sites such as cemeteries or mountainous terrain.
• In regions like Batang and Sragen, large percentages of cooperative sites occupy protected zones, violating environmental and spatial planning regulations.
• Unlike national strategic projects, these cooperatives do not fall under the Job Creation Law, making the conversion of protected land technically unlawful and exposing local authorities to legal risks.