Chairman of the Ummat Party\u2019s Shura Council, Amien Rais, has spoken\nout regarding his viral video in which he mentioned a special\nrelationship between President Prabowo Subianto and Cabinet Secretary\nLieutenant Colonel Teddy Indra Wijaya.<\/p>\n
The video, which has now been removed from Amien Rais\u2019s personal\nYouTube account, was criticised by the Minister of Communication and\nDigital, Meutya Hafid, for containing defamatory narratives.<\/p>\n
During the National Deliberation of the Ummat Party in Yogyakarta on\nSaturday night, 2 May 2026, the former Chairman of the People\u2019s\nConsultative Assembly stated that his remarks in the video should be\nviewed as a form of citizens\u2019 freedom to express opinions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am confident that democracy functions well if the freedom to\nexpress opinions guaranteed by our Constitution is not restricted or\nsilenced,\u201d said Amien.<\/p>\n
Amien assessed that as a democratic country, Indonesia should\nguarantee freedom of speech even if those opinions contradict the\nauthorities or other groups.<\/p>\n
Regarding his accusations of the relationship between Prabowo and\nTeddy exceeding professional boundaries, Amien admitted he had his own\nreasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs for Teddy, I gathered information from various sources, from\nYouTube and various social media channels; I think it\u2019s almost\nconvincing that there is something very unusual about Mr Teddy,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n
That unusual something, according to Amien, is because Teddy is given\nexcessive power by Prabowo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see Teddy just sticking (clinging) to Mr Prabowo all the time. To\nthe point that who determines the guests, which ministers, which\ngenerals can meet Mr Prabowo\u2014it\u2019s Teddy,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
For that reason, said Amien, to avoid becoming a bad stigma in\nsociety, Prabowo should give Teddy a different occupation or position.\nBy not always sticking to Prabowo, Amien continued, Teddy would not\ninterfere with his government.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeddy is actually just the Cabinet Secretary, but he acts as if he\nhas the most authority, feeling more important than the cabinet\nsecretary,\u201d he said. \u201cHe can select guests, who can be received and who\ncannot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amien claimed he heard directly from a coordinating minister who told\nhim that the minister had difficulty meeting Prabowo because it was\narranged by Teddy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Coordinating Minister said, \u2018Mas Amin, sometimes I want to meet\nthe president but I can\u2019t because Teddy says there\u2019s no time or not\nyet,\u2019\u201d said Amien, imitating the minister.<\/p>\n
In fact, said Amien, the minister knew Prabowo was at the Palace and\nhe only needed about 5-10 minutes to meet to report his duties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis kind of thing becomes a blunder for Mr Prabowo\u2019s leadership,\u201d\nsaid Amien, who admitted he has not met Prabowo since he became\npresident.<\/p>\n
Amien also suggested that Teddy does not need to be punished,\nvilified, or discarded. \u201cJust give him (Teddy) another job, replace him\nwith someone who is not a burden. That\u2019s all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Regarding threats from the Ministry of Communication and Digital\n(Komdigi) to take the video\u2019s distributor to court, Amien responded\ncasually. \u201cI was told by legal experts that Komdigi has no right (to\nprocess legally),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Amien, the one entitled to prosecute his video is\nCabinet Secretary Teddy himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it goes to court, I am very confident. I will ask for statements\nfrom several specialist doctors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Minister of Communication and Digital Meutya Hafid\npreviously stated that Amien Rais\u2019s video statement dragging in the\nnames of President Prabowo and Cabinet Secretary Teddy contains\ndefamatory narratives and hate speech.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe narrative built is an attempt to demean the dignity of the\ncountry\u2019s highest leadership, lacks factual basis, and is part of an\neffort to provoke public unrest,\u201d said Meutya Hafid in a written\nstatement on Friday, 1 May 2026.<\/p>\n
For Meutya, Amien Rais\u2019s accusations have the potential to divide.\nShe emphasised that the digital space is a space for exchanging ideas,\nnot for producing hate content that attacks anyone\u2019s dignity.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/amien-rais-explains-his-viral-video-about-teddy-1777824716", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }