President Prabowo Subianto delivered a speech at a plenary Cabinet\nmeeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (21\nOctober).<\/p>\n
In his briefing, Prabowo addressed a range of political and economic\nissues concerning Indonesia. He praised the performance of his\nministers, describing it as satisfactory during the first two years of\nhis leadership, and said the Merah Putih Cabinet had worked hard and\ndone its best for the Indonesian people.<\/p>\n
Prabowo said his government had faced significant challenges,\nincluding global tensions, open warfare and trade wars.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs your leader, entrusted with a mandate by the people, I feel that\nyou, as my key aides, have carried out your duties for the nation and\nthe people. I feel that you have worked very hard,\u201d Prabowo said.<\/p>\n
Defending a broad coalition<\/strong><\/p>\n In his speech, Prabowo acknowledged that his political coalition was\nvery large. He said this reflected his intention to bring as many\npolitical forces together as possible to improve people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n \u201cOur coalition is large, that is true, because I want as many forces\nas possible to unite in order to improve the lives of our people,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n Prabowo said one of Indonesia\u2019s weaknesses was that its elites\nremained divided and put sectoral interests first. He also acknowledged\nthat political competition in a country as large as Indonesia could be\nintense, while the number of leadership positions was limited.<\/p>\n \u201cThey accuse us of having an oversized Cabinet, don\u2019t they, and of\nbeing inefficient. But I remind you that our country has almost 300\nmillion people and is physically as large as Europe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Prabowo said differences and competition were necessary in a\ndemocracy, but that national unity was also essential. He referred to\nwhat he described as chaos in Western countries, including Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we follow Western-style democracy, just look at the television\nnews: what is happening every day in France, Italy and Europe, the\nbirthplace of democracy that taught us about human rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Indonesia \u2018constantly\u2019 facing foreign\ninterference<\/strong><\/p>\n Prabowo also said that foreign powers had often intervened in past\nrebellions because, he claimed, they did not want Indonesia to become a\ndeveloped country.<\/p>\n \u201cMajor nations have always intervened, always troubled us, always\nincited division, financed rebellions and riots, and set us against one\nanother,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He cited several movements and rebellions, including Darul\nIslam\/Indonesian Islamic Army (DI\/TII), the Army of the Righteous King\n(APRA), the Republic of South Maluku (RMS), the Revolutionary Government\nof the Republic of Indonesia\/Universal Struggle (PRRI\/Permesta), and the\n1948 Madiun uprising.<\/p>\n Prabowo said Indonesia had nevertheless remained strong and\nresilient. He recalled that in 1997 and 1998 many people predicted the\ncountry would soon break apart, but that those predictions had proved\nwrong.<\/p>\n Food and trade as weapons<\/strong><\/p>\n Prabowo warned that food could now be used as a weapon in global\ncompetition. He said changing international conditions required\nIndonesia to consider the links between economic, political and defence\ninterests.<\/p>\n \u201cCurrency is now a weapon. Exports and imports are now weapons. Food\nis now a weapon; rice is a weapon. So we cannot view business as purely\nbusiness,\u201d Prabowo said.<\/p>\n He said that from the beginning of his government, and even before he\nwas formally inaugurated, when he was defence minister under President\nJoko Widodo, he had sought to maintain good relations with neighbouring\ncountries.<\/p>\n Forest and land fires blamed on human activity<\/strong><\/p>\n Prabowo said forest and land fires affecting parts of Indonesia were\nnot purely natural events and had been caused in part by human activity.\nHe ordered the police and intelligence agencies to investigate companies\nand others considered responsible.<\/p>\n \u201cWe regard this as environmental terrorism, a crime against humanity,\nbecause what they are doing is endangering the health of millions of our\npeople,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Prabowo instructed his ministers to revoke all permits held by\ncompanies found to have violated the law or been involved in the\nfires.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must not take this lightly. We will now deal with it on a massive\nscale, and we will investigate it thoroughly. This time, I\u2019m afraid, we\ncan no longer act as usual. If the evidence is clear, we will act and\nrevoke the permits of all companies that have violated the rules,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n Prabowo takes aim at MSCI<\/strong><\/p>\n On the economy, Prabowo sent an open message to global index provider\nMorgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) amid the threat of a\ndowngrade to Indonesia\u2019s capital market status. He said Indonesia would\nnot be intimidated by pressure, while acknowledging that the country\nstill faced major challenges and disruption.<\/p>\n \u201cMSCI wants to scare us. I would only say to MSCI: the Indonesian\nnation fears no one and will not be daunted,\u201d Prabowo said.<\/p>\n He said the government recognised that many challenges remained and\nthat the public expected greater results. Disruptions would continue to\narise, he said, but Indonesia had to face them with resolve.<\/p>\n Prabowo\u2019s remarks came after MSCI announced on 16 October 2026 a\nproposal to reclassify Indonesia from an emerging market to a standalone\nmarket. A final decision is due by 30 June 2027 at the latest.<\/p>\n MSCI said the proposal reflected market participants\u2019 concerns about\ntransparency in share ownership structures and alleged coordinated\ntrading. It also said reforms announced by Indonesian authorities had\nnot yet shown consistent progress or a significant impact.<\/p>",
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