JAKARTA, Indonesia (MNTV) — When Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto accepted the United States’ invitation to join the Board of Peace (BoP) on Jan. 22, he cast it as a strategic step to achieve lasting world peace and elevate Indonesia’s global standing as a middle power. But public scepticism of Indonesia’s BoP participation has grown in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the death of three Indonesian peacekeepers in Lebanon last month, reports CNA.
The board was originally established to oversee reconstruction in Gaza devastated by Israeli attacks since October 2023.
With politicians, including figures from Prabowo’s own coalition, now urging a reassessment of Indonesia’s membership, observers say the president risks being caught between domestic backlash and preserving ties with the U.S.
“The Board of Peace has become the Board of Problems,” declared Teuku Rezasyah, an international relations lecturer at Indonesia’s President University.
Over half of the respondents in a survey conducted last month said they disagree with Indonesia’s decision to join the BoP.
Conducted by three Indonesian research companies, the survey found that 50.9% of more than 1,000 respondents disagreed with Indonesia’s decision to join the BoP.
Only 33.8% said they supported the decision while the rest were neutral, according to the findings released by Indikator Politik Indonesia, Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) and Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC).
The latest survey was conducted between March 12 and 31, meaning some responses were given before the Indonesian peacekeepers were killed on March 29 and 30. Experts said support for the BoP would have been even lower if the study had been conducted after the deaths.
A United Nations investigation found that a projectile fired from an Israeli tank resulted in the death of a peacekeeper on March 29.
Two peacekeepers were killed on March 30 by an improvised explosive device, according to the U.N.
Their deaths, the first among the U.N. peacekeeping force in the new war waged by Israel on Lebanon, which erupted on March 2, have also broadened criticism of Indonesia’s BoP participation.
“Indonesia’s benefits and diplomatic manoeuvring within the BoP are not clearly evident, thus it is understandable that there is much public resistance (to Indonesia’s membership),” Agung Nurwijoyo, an international relations expert from University of Indonesia told CNA.
Growing political backlash
Several political parties, including those in Prabowo’s coalition, have urged a rethink of Indonesia’s BoP involvement.
“Israel’s attack on an Indonesian soldier is a clear disregard for the very notion of ‘peace’ that is supposed to be a core value of the BoP,” Ahmad Doli Kurnia, deputy chairman of Golkar Party, said in a statement recently. “We encourage the government to rethink Indonesia’s presence in the BoP.”
Golkar is the biggest party in Prabowo’s coalition.
The Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), another member of Prabowo’s coalition, has issued a similar call.
“The PKS believes there needs to be a serious evaluation of Indonesia’s position in various international peace forums, including the possibility of reviewing its involvement in the BoP if it is no longer effective in upholding global peace and justice,” the party said in a statement.
Politicians from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), not a member of the coalition, have taken a firmer stance and called for a full withdrawal.
“The government should immediately take steps to withdraw. This is important to maintain consistency with the ‘free and active’ (foreign policy) principle mandated by our Constitution,” PDI-P politician Tubagus Hasanuddin said.