Contentious legal revisions giving the military an expanded role in government has sparked outrage in Indonesia and raised fears of a slide back towards the country’s authoritarian past. The Indonesian parliament on Thursday voted unanimously to amend the 2004 Armed Forces Law to allow serving military officers to hold crucial civilian positions.

Al Araf, the director of Indonesian rights group Imparsial, said Thursday the new law is inconsistent with the spirit of the reforms that followed the end of more than three decades of rule by Suharto in 1998 and returned the military to the barracks.

Indonesia's parliament has passed controversial changes to legislation that will allow its military a bigger role in government. Critics warn that the move could return Indonesia to the dark days of Suharto's military dictatorship, which lasted 32 years until he was forced out of office in 1998.